Spencer Lee Named Co-Winner of James E. Sullivan Award:
University of Iowa junior Spencer Lee was named co-winner of the AAU James E. Sullivan Award on Wednesday, presented annually since 1930 to the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.
The winner is determined by public vote, media vote, and committee vote.
Lee shared the award with Oregon women’s basketball player Sabrina Ionescu.
It is the third time in the 90-year history of the Sullivan Award that co-winners were selected.
Lee is the fourth wrestler to be recognized. He joins Bruce Baumgartner, Rulon Gardner, John Smith, and Kyle Snyder as past amateur wrestling award winners.
The Sullivan Awards are held annually at the New York Athletic Club. This is the first year they were held virtually.
All 10 of this year’s finalists will be invited to visit the NYAC in 2021.
Lee and Ionescu are both invited to celebrate their awards with the AAU at Walt Disney World.
Iowa’s Stanley Awarded Big Ten Medal of Honor:
University of Iowa seniors Hannah Greenlee (rowing) and Nate Stanley (football) were named Iowa’s Big Ten Medal of Honor winners for 2019-20 as announced by the UI Department of Athletics.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor is the conference’s most exclusive award, and the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work.”
Stanley, who is a native of Menomonie, Wisconsin, was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the recently completed 2020 NFL Draft.
He started all 13 games in 2019, passing for 2,951 yards and 16 touchdowns, and all 39 games the past three seasons.
Iowa posted a 27-12 record in Stanley’s three seasons as starting quarterback. He ranks second in career passing touchdowns (68), career passing yards (8,302), career completions (673), and career pass attempts (1,155), and ranks third in career total offense (8,198).
Stanley is one of five quarterbacks in program history to start three bowl games in their careers, and the second to win all three.
Cyclone Basketball Team Adds Memphis Transfer:
Iowa State has signed Memphis transfer Tyler Harris as announced Tuesday by head coach Steve Prohm.
Harris is a 5-9 junior guard from Memphis, Tennessee.
Named the 2017 Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee, Harris connected on 138 career 3-pointers and averaged 8.7 points as a sophomore for the Tigers averaging 9.9 points over his two-year career in Memphis while shooting 37 percent from the field and 33 percent behind the arc.
Harris scored a season-high 19 points in a home win against Wichita State in 2020, connecting on five 3-pointers and reached double figures in six of his final nine games of the season.
Harris was a four-star recruit, ranked among the top 150 players nationally as a senior in high school.
NCAA Takes Steps Towards Student-Athlete Endorsements:
At its meeting this week, the Board of Governors supported rule changes to allow student-athletes to receive compensation for third-party endorsements both related to and separate from athletics.
It also supports compensation for other student-athlete opportunities, such as social media, businesses they have started and personal appearances within the guiding principles originally outlined by the board in October.
While student-athletes would be permitted to identify themselves by sport and school, the use of conference and school logos, trademarks or other involvement would not be allowed.
The board emphasized that at no point should a university or college pay student-athletes for name, image and likeness activities.
The board directed all three divisions to consider appropriate rules changes based on recommendations from its Federal and State Legislation Working Group.