OU’s Jalen Hurts and Maggie Nichols named Big 12 Athletes of the Year
By Chip Rouse
Quarterback Jalen Hurts spent one year at Oklahoma as a graduate transfer from Alabama, and on Thursday he was named Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year.
Oklahoma swept the Big 12 Athletes of the Year award for the third time in the last five years, with the female honor going to gymnast Maggie Nichols.
Hurts and Nichols are the 12th and 13th Sooners to be recognized in the 24-year history of the Big 12 Conference as its Athletes of the Year.
Hurts helped lead Oklahoma to a 12-2 record in the 2019 season, throwing for 3,851 yards and 32 touchdowns, and carrying the ball for 1,298 rushing yards and 20 more scores.
He led all Football Bowl Subdivision players in yards per pass attempt (11.3) and finished second in passing efficiency (191.2, fourth best in school history), yards per completion (16.3) and points responsible for per game (22.9).
Hurts was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy this past season, was named a second-team All-American by the Sporting News and third-team All-American by the Associated Press. In addition, he was a All-Big 12 First Team selection and the conference’s Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
Maggie Nichols joins Jalen Hurts as 2019-20 Big 12 Athletes of the Year.
Nichols is one of the most decorated female gymnasts in Oklahoma gymnastics history. This is the second time in the last three years that she has been named Big 12 Women’s Athlete of the Year.
The two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Year was a big reason the Sooners were a perfect 16-0 this season and ranked No. 1 in the country before the NCAA shut down all winter and spring sports activities nationally because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nichols, from Little Canada, Minnesota, recorded five perfect scores of “10” this season and had a total of 22 in her Oklahoma career. During the time she has been a Sooner gymnast, Oklahoma has put together a 111-2 record along with two national championships, three Big 12 titles and three undefeated seasons.
When the senior won the Big 12 Athlete of the Year honor in 2017-18, it was the first time a gymnast had won the award.
Nichols and Baker Mayfield swept the Big 12 Athlete of the Year award in 2017-18. Two years before that, in 2015-16, OU basketball star Buddy Hield and softball pitcher Paige Parker claimed the honor.