DICK HOWSER TROPHY National Player of the Year Award presented by The Game
Headwear
About the Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is a national
sponsorship that was created on behalf of Dick Howser to promote baseball
excellence and scholastic achievement for collegiate baseball. Education
is one of the country's biggest concerns and through sports will bring an
enhanced national focus. As the baseball equivalent of the Heisman Trophy,
the Dick Howser Trophy is the annual national award for the outstanding
collegiate baseball player. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
(NCBWA) votes for the recipient based on nominees' performance, character,
leadership and courage all features to be emulated in memory of the late
Dick Howser. The trophy, a bronze bust of the late Dick Howser, is permanently
displayed at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Presenting sponsor: The Game Headwear The Game Headwear, a
division of MV Sport/Weatherproof (a family-owned and operated company founded
in 1948), is one of the leading national suppliers of custom decorated apparel
with outstanding custom-decorated baseball caps, sweatshirts, tees, and
accessories. The Game Headwear also is among the countrys largest and most
sophisticated screen printers and embroiderers.
2021 Winner: Kevin Kopps,
Arkansas | Presentation
video The 6-foot, 200-pound senior from Sugar Land, Texas
put together a magical campaign with statistics previously unheard of for
a closer in college baseball. He becomes the second Razorback to receive
the Dick Howser Trophy joining former Boston Red Sox and current Kansas
City Royals standout Andrew Benintendi in 2015. Kopps also has become the
first student-athlete to win the Howser Trophy and the coveted Stopper of
the Year Award for his mound exploits. Kopps, the 2021 Southeastern Conference
Pitcher of the Year and Collegiate Baseball magazine National Player of
the Year, had a hand in 23 of the Razorbacks 50 victories in '21 with a
12-1 record and 11 saves. He allowed just nine earned runs in 89-2/3 innings,
appeared in 33 contests (32 in relief), struck out 131 hitters (13.1 per
nine innings), walked only 18 batters, allowed 50 hits (just five hits every
nine frames), and had an 0.90 ERA to lead NCAA Division I Finalists
2019 Winner: Adley Rutschman,
Oregon State Rutschman is the second all-time winner from the
Pac-12 Conference after Mark Prior of USC captured the 2001 honor. A 6-2,
216-pound switch-hitting junior catcher from Sherwood, Ore., Rutschman was
the 2019 Pac-12 Player of the Year, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year,
and a finalist for the Buster Posey Award, which honors the nation's top
catcher and is named in honor of the 2008 Dick Howser Trophy recipient.
Rutschman earned unanimous first team All-America laurels as well as National
Player of the Year honors from every college baseball entity. He led the
Beavers and is fifth nationally with a .411 batting average to go along
with an impressive .575 on-base percentage (tops in NCAA Division I), 17
home runs, 58 RBIs and a .751 slugging percentage also all among the top
five individually in Pac-12 statistics. Semifinalists | Finalists
2018 Winner: Brady Singer,
Florida A 6-5, 220-pound right-handed pitcher from Eustis, Fla.,
was the 2018 SEC Pitcher of the Year. He also garnered 2018 consensus first-team
All-American honors and was the No. 18 player chosen in the recent Major
League Baseball Draft by the Kansas City Royals, the organization Dick Howser
managed to the 1985 World Series crown. After helping the Gators win their
first NCAA baseball title last season with a 9-5 overall record and CWS
All-Tournament honors, Singer enjoyed an even more stellar campaign as a
junior in '18. Singer is 12-1 this year with a 2.30 ERA, along with 107
strikeouts and only 21 walks in 101-plus innings. Semifinalists | Finalists
2017 Winner: Brendan McKay,
Louisville A 6-2, 220-pound pitcher/first baseman from Darlington,
Pa., McKay was the 2017 ACC Player of the Year, 2017 Collegiate Baseball
and Baseball America Player of the Year and a first team consensus All-America
choice this year. McKay entered the 2017 CWS with a .343 batting average,
17 home runs, 56 runs-batted-in, .657 slugging percentage, and a .464 on-base
percentage. His is ranked in the Top 10 in 2017 ACC individual statistics
in seven different categories. Just as effective on the mound, McKay was
10-3 overall with a 2.34 earned run average and 140 strikeouts in 104 innings
(12.1 whiffs every nine innings) and an opposing hitters batting average
of .188. Semifinalists
| Finalists
2016 Winner: Seth Beer,
Clemson Seth Beer is among the top three in virtually every ACC
hitting statistic with 18 home runs (tops in the conference), 70 runs-batted-in
(second overall), .700 slugging percentage (second), .535 on-base percentage
(second), and 2.29 total bases per game (second), and .369 (eighth in the
ACC). The 2016 ACC Player and Freshman Hitter of the Year also was among
national leaders in numerous batting categories. His .535 on-base percentage
is fourth in NCAA Division I individual stats. His 62 bases-on-balls ranks
third nationally and second in the conference while his 18-homer total is
tied for 13th nationally along with leading the league. Beer's 70 RBI is
ninth nationally while he is 21st in RBI per game with a 1.13 average over
62 contests in which he competed. His .700 slugging percentage is ninth
in NCAA Division I individually. Semifinalists | Finalists
2015 Winner: Andrew Benintendi,
Arkansas Andrew Benintendi is among the Top 15 in seven different
NCAA Division I categories and enters the '15 NCAA World Series with a nation-co-leading
19 home runs, 55 RBI, a .380 batting average, .715 slugging percentage,
a .489 on-base percentage, 158 total bases, and 23 stolen bases. He also
recently led the Razorbacks to their eighth all-time trip to the NCAA World
Series and fourth trek since 2004 under head coach Dave Van Horn after winning
the NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional over Missouri State. Midseason Watch List
| Finalists
2014 Winner: A.J. Reed,
Kentucky Reed, who leads the nation in home runs with 23, slugging
percentage at .735 and OPS (batting average plus slugging percentage) at
1.211, also had a 12-2 pitching record for coach Gary Henderson's Wildcats.
He is Kentucky's first national baseball player of the year and is bidding
to become the third consensus national player from the Southeastern Conference,
along with 2007 Howser Trophy recipient David Price of Vanderbilt and Alabama's
David Magadan, the 1985 honoree and current hitting coach for the Texas
Rangers. The native of basketball-famous Terre Haute, Ind., batted .336
with 73 RBI and a .476 on-base percentage for the '14 Wildcats. He also
started 16 games for Kentucky, had a 2.09 earned run average, gave up 98
hits in 112 innings of work, struck out 71 hitters, and walked only 29.
He accounted for just under one-third (12) of the 37-25 Wildcats' total
team victories. Semifinalists
| Finalists
2013 Winner: Kris Bryant,
San Diego The sterling junior third baseman led NCAA Division
I in home runs (31, 10 more than the individual runner-up), runs with 80,
total bases with 187, and slugging percentage at .820 while helping USD
roll to a 37-25 overall record and second place in the NCAA Los Angeles
Regional behind College World Series-bound UCLA. The consensus All-American
from Las Vegas paced the West Coast Congerence in virtually every power
hitting category as well and was 2013 WCC Co-Player of the Year. He also
was the second player chosen overall in the 2013 Major League Baseball draft
by the Chicago Cubs on June 6. Bryant has been one of the most honored student-athletes
in baseball in San Diego history and carries a cumulative 3.1 grade point
average. Besides being Academic All-WCC, he is a previous NCBWA Freshman
All-America in 2011 and All-WCC on the field from 2011-13 for Coach Rich
Hill's Toreros. Kris
Bryant video | Semifinalists | Finalists
2012 Winner: Mike Zunino,
Florida The consensus All-America and 2012 honoree from Cape
Coral, Fla., started all 64 games for coach Kevin O'Sullivan's Gators, had
a team-leading 28 doubles. 19 homers, 64 RBI, and nine sacrifice flies,
posted a .678 slugging percentage, had 162 total bases, fielded at a torrid
.994 clip (three errors in 493 total chances), and led Florida into the
2012 CWS with a 47-18 overall record. On June 4 he became the highest draft
choice in Gators' history as the No. 3 selection in the first round to the
Seattle Mariners. Semifinalists
| Finalists
2011 Winner: Taylor Jungmann,
Texas Jungmann, who hails from Georgetown, Texas, near Austin,
brought the Longhorns back to the 2011 NCAA World Series with a 13-3 mark,
five complete games, three route-going shutouts (five combined), a 1.60
ERA, 36 walks issued, and 125 strikeouts. He was the Big 12 Conference Pitcher
of the Year, helped UT to a 49-18 mark through Saturday's opener in the
CWS, has 19 appearances with 18 starts, and allowed opponents a batting
average of .165. The consensus All- America selection was selected No. 12
overall in the 2011 MLB draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. Jungmann won the
Howser Trophy over two other outstanding finalists: UCLA junior pitcher
Trevor Bauer and Virginia junior utility performer (P-DH-1B) Danny Hultzen.
Semifinalists |
Finalists
2010 Winner: Anthony Rendon,
Rice Rendon batted .402 in conference play and finished the season
hitting .394 overall. He led Conference USA in home runs with 26 and had
more homers than strikeouts (22) all season long. Rendon ranks among the
nation's leaders in runs scored (83) and walks (65) while maintaining a
.530 on-base percentage. He had 12 doubles and 85 RBI, while posting an
.801 slugging percentage. Semifinalists | Finalists
2009 Winner: Stephen Strasburg,
San Diego State The San Diego resident was the national leader
in strikeouts with 195 and No. 2 in NCAA Division I with a 1.32 ERA and
hits allowed per nine innings with 5.37 to compliment a 13-1 overall record.
The 2008 USA Baseball Player of the Year for all divisions, Strasburg was
the first selection in the 2009 Major League Baseball free agent draft by
the Washington Nationals in June. Strasburg totally dominated the Mountain
West Conference in '09. In round-robin league play, he was 7-0 with 111
strikeouts and a 1.50 ERA in eight starts. Overall, he pitched 109 innings
in 15 starts, had a pair of complete games, had a hand in four shutouts
(two in personal complete games), gave up 65 hits, and walked just 19 hitters
in 15 contests. Opponents batted just .172 against the Aztec standout.
Semifinalists |
Finalists
2008 Winner: Buster Posey,
Florida State The fifth player chosen overall in the June 2008
Major League Baseball free agent draft by the San Francisco Giants, Buster
Posey entered the College World Series with an NCAA-leading .460 batting
average and Top 10 individual credentials in seven of the NCAA's Division
I statistical categories. Through 66 games he topped the NCAA with 92 RBI,
26 home runs (tied for first place), 114 hits, 88 runs, a .564 on-base percentage,
and 220 total bases. He was one of the top defensive catchers in the country
with just eight errors in 474 chances for a .983 fielding percentage.
Watch List | Semifinalists | Finalists
2007 Winner: David Price,
Vanderbilt The consensus All-America left-hander led the Southeastern
Conference in five different pitching categories and was dominant in almost
every start for his 2007 squad. He led Vanderbilt to a school-record-season
victories' total at 54-13 overall and is the Commodores' first men's athletics
national player of the year in any sport. Price was chosen as the first
player in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
(Vanderbilt's first-ever initial draft selection) and ended the year at
11-1 overall with 194 strikeouts in 133 1/3 innings pitched. Watch List | Semifinalists | Finalists
