Tag: Maggie Nichols

Every Oklahoma Sooner to win Big 12 Athlete of the Year

From football to softball, basketball to gymnastics, here are the 15 athletes who have won Big 12 Athlete of the Year.

With Jocelyn Alo taking home the Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year award, that makes 15 Sooners who’ve been recognized as the Big 12’s best.

Football leads the way with six awards, followed by softball with four. women’s gymnastics has recorded three Big 12 Athlete of the Year awards, while men’s and women’s basketball each has won the award once.

Josh Heupel got the ball rolling back in 2000-2001 after helping the Oklahoma Sooners win the 2000 national championship. Jocelyn Alo is the most recent recipient of the athlete of the year award after a dominating season at the plate for Oklahoma.

With Alo bringing home another Athlete of the Year award, let’s take a look at every Sooner to win the Big 12’s award.

NCAA Division I Council’s vote ends Oklahoma careers of Maggie Nichols, Kristian Doolittle

The downside of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on sports is the end of one’s career before competing for a championship one more time.Β 

The downside of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on sports is the end of one’s career before competing for a championship one more time.

That was the case for two of Oklahoma’s prominent winter sport athletes: basketball player Kristian Doolittle and gymnast Maggie Nichols. The NCAA Division I Council voted to give a year of eligibility back to spring sport athletes on Monday, but the same was not done for winter sport athletes.

Doolittle had a tumultuous career for Lon Kruger and the Sooners. He was suspended for the first half of the 2017-18 season, but then bounced back to earn Big 12’s Most Improved Player Award after his junior season in 2018-19. Oklahoma’s lone senior was named an AP All-Big 12 First Team selection after his senior regular season and Doolittle helped the Sooners get back to the now canceled NCAA Tournament.

Nichols had a much more storied career at Oklahoma. She is one of only 11 women’s gymnasts all-time to complete a Gym Slamβ€”scoring a perfect 10 on every event throughout a season. Nichols has won eight NCAA Championshipsβ€”two team titles with Oklahoma and six individual awards, including two all-around national championships.

Doolittle isn’t a bonafide NBA prospect, but some mock drafts have him going in the second round. Nichols will likely be seen representing the United States in the Olympics.

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