2024 ESPY Award Winners

2024 ESPY Award Winners

* Winners in BOLD

BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs 
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels / Los Angeles Dodgers
Scottie Scheffler, Golf
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Caitlin Clark, Iowa Women’s Basketball
Coco Gauff, Tennis
Nelly Korda, Golf
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces 

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
Haleigh Bryant, LSU Gymnastics
C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
Juju Watkins, USC Women’s Basketball 
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
49ers Christian McCaffrey scores a TD for a record breaking 17 straight games
Caitlin Clark becomes NCAA’s All Time Scoring Leader breaking Pete Maravich’s Record 
Tara VanDerveer, Stanford Women’s Basketball – gets 1,203rd win to pass Coach K for most by any coach in NCAA basketball history
Max Verstappen wins record 10th consecutive race with victory at Italian Grand Prix

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
Michigan’s Blake Corum and Will Johnson, 2024 College Football National Championship MVPs
Kayla Martello, Boston College Women’s Lacrosse
Midge Purce, NJ/NY Gotham FC – NWSL Championship MVP
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics 

BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE
Simone Biles, Gymnast 
Paige Bueckers, University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball
Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans

BEST PLAY
Jayda Coleman calls GAME sending Oklahoma to their 4th Straight Championship – NCAA Softball 6/4/2024
Anthony Edwards Dunk of the Year – 3/18/24 – NBA
Alabama scores on 4th & 31 to win vs. Auburn 11/25/23
Lamar Jackson Caught His Own Pass & Ran With it – 1/28/24 – NFL — 

BEST TEAM
South Carolina Gamecocks, NCAA Women’s Basketball — **WINNER!
Kansas City Chiefs, NFL
Michigan Wolverines, NCAA Football
Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
University of Connecticut Huskies, NCAA Men’s Basketball
Oklahoma Sooners, NCAA Softball
Boston Celtics, NBA
Florida Panthers, NHL
Texas Rangers, MLB

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Jayden Daniels, LSU Football — **WINNER!
Zach Edey, Purdue Men’s Basketball
Ousmane Sylla, Clemson Soccer
Pat Kavanagh, Notre Dame Lacrosse

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Haleigh Bryant, LSU Gymnastics
Caitlin Clark, Iowa Basketball — **WINNER!
Sarah Franklin, Wisconsin Volleyball
Izzy Scane, Northwestern Lacrosse

BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
Jaydin Blackwell World Champion Sprinter
Ezra Frech, World Champion High Jumper
Brenna Huckaby Snowboarding Champion — **WINNER!
Oksana Masters, Cross-Country Skier/Hand Cyclist

BEST NFL PLAYER
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs — **WINNER!
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

BEST MLB PLAYER
Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels — **WINNER!
Corey Seager, Texas Rangers

BEST NHL PLAYER
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers — **WINNER!

BEST NBA PLAYER
Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks — **WINNER!
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

BEST WNBA PLAYER
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces — **WINNER!

BEST DRIVER
Ryan Blaney, NASCAR
Matt Hagan, NHRA
Álex Palou, IndyCar
Max Verstappen, F1 — **WINNER!

BEST UFC FIGHTER
Islam Makhachev
Sean O’Malley — **WINNER!
Alex Pereira
Zhang Weili

BEST BOXER
Terence Crawford — **WINNER!
Seniesa Estrada
Naoya Inoue
Oleksandr Usyk

BEST SOCCER PLAYER
Aitana Bonmatí, Spain
Naomi Girma, USWNT
Vinicius Junior, Brazil/Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappé, France/Real Madrid — **WINNER!

BEST GOLFER
Nelly Korda
Xander Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler
Lilia Vu

BEST TENNIS PLAYER
Carlos Alcaraz
Novak Djokovic
Coco Gauff — 
Iga Swiatek

Athlete of the Week and Team of the Week:

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Where are they Now? We feature athletes and difference makers from the past, standouts in sports who excelled over the years and have moved on. Know of a former athlete, coach, or difference maker who we should feature? Know of a former standout competitor whose journey beyond central Wisconsin sports is one we should share? Send us information on athletes and difference makers of the past with our simple form HERE

Baked or Fried! We also feature difference makers throughout central Wisconsin: coaches, booster club leaders, administration, volunteers, you name it. Send us your nominations for who you’d like us to interview HERE

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Author: David Keech

David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]