TCU Football: Duggan Wins Inaugural Big 12's Bob Bowlsby Award

Commissioner Brett Yormark introduced the new award going to the bestowed to the a male and female student-athletes who represent the absolute best in the Big 12.

LM Otero/AP

At the Big 12 Media Days, happening this week at AT&T Stadium, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark announced the winners of the inaugural Bob Bowlsby Award. TCU's Max Duggan and Iowa State's Ashley Joens were honored as the first recipients of the award.

The honor was established by the Big 12 Board of Directors as the Conference's most prestigious individual accolade.

Named in recognition of former commissioner Bob Bowlsby, the award is bestowed to the two student-athletes (one male and one female) who represent the absolute best in the Big 12 for their leadership and excellence, on and off the field of competition. The winners were determined by a vote of the Big 12 Conference's athletics directors.

Each school was permitted to nominate one male and one female athlete of any classification who competed for his/her institution during the 2022-23 academic year in a Conference-sponsored sport.

In his decade leading the Conference from 2012-22, Bowlsby successfully navigated television rights deals, protected student-athletes' well-being, and innovated the field of college athletics. Most recently, Bowlsby led the way for BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston to join the league, while his inaugural year saw him successfully navigate the addition of TCU and West Virginia into the Conference.

Duggan was a Davey O'Brien Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award winner while finishing runner-up for the Heisman Trophy last season.

The 2022 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year was a unanimous First Team All-Big 12 selection while leading TCU to its first College Football Playoff appearance and a trip to the CFP National Championship Game after a 51-45 semifinal win over Michigan at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. The Council Bluffs, Iowa native's 41 total touchdowns (32 passing, nine rushing) during the 2022 season were the second most in TCU history.

Duggan was one of two Big 12 student-athletes to represent the league on the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee Student-Athlete Connection Group. The second-team All-American was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 member and was selected in the seventh round of the NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers.

Joens won the Cheryl Miller Award, given annually to the nation's top small forward, for the third-straight season in 2022-23. The three-time Academic All-Big 12 member was the 2022-2023 Big 12 Player of the Year and a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team member, her fourth straight unanimous selection. She was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship after leading the Cyclones to their first Championship title since 2001.

The Iowa City, Iowa native left Ames as ISU's career record holder for points (3,060), rebounds (1,391), games played and started (Big 12 record, 158), field goals (988), 3-pointers (344), free throws (740), double-doubles (65) and points per game (19.4).

Off the court, Joens completed student teaching last season while also participating in elementary school reading programs to talk about character and leadership. The two-time WBCA All-American was a second-round draft choice of the WNBA's Dallas Wings.

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