WKU Hilltoppers: The Towel Rack’s Official Ballot For The First Ever TOPSY Awards
Later this evening, WKU is going to…well, they’re going to do a thing. They’ll be holding the first TOPSY Award, which apparently other…
Later this evening, WKU is going to…well, they’re going to do a thing. They’ll be holding the first TOPSY Award, which apparently other schools do but I was unaware of that fact until earlier this week.
Apparently, UKY does this and a few other schools do too. I came across someone asking if WKU was going to start on Twitter earlier this week, and we are just a couple hours away!
But, before the festivities begin, I figure we’d take a stab at it, and submit who we think should win.
So, consider this The Towel Rack’s official ballot for the first ever TOPSY Awards.
Male Rookie of the Year
Taveion Hollingsworth, Men’s Basketball
I don’t think this was a surprise to anyone. The former Mr. Kentucky basketball was a stud this year for WKU, finishing third on the squad in points scored (13.3) and broke Courtney Lee’s freshman scoring record after he 506 total points this year.
In a season we thought would be dominated by Mitchell Robinson, it turned out to be Hollingsworth that the Tops will look to build around for, hopefully, the next three years.
Female Rookie of the Year
Raneem Elgedawy, Women’s Basketball
Raneem was the answer I don’t think a lot of us realized the Lady Tops needed. She was a force to be reckoned with on either side of the ball in the paint and was a monster on the boards, finishing her first year with 7.1 rebounds a game.
While I don’t think we would have seen a less successful Lady Topper team in terms of record, they wouldn’t have been nearly as fun to watch if Raneem wasn’t out there. She didn’t win C-USA Freshman of the Year for nothing. She’s going to be fun to watch for three more years.
Comeback of the Year
We actually aren’t going predict this because we’re unsure if its an actual game comeback or like a comeback player. So we’ll leave it blank.
Coach of the Year
Rick Stansbury, Men’s Basketball
Stansbury had been sporting a big game off the court for the Tops for a while, bringing in guys like Dwight Coleby and Darius Thompson, before the wins started to come, but this year they came in a big way. A 20+ win season where, for half of the year, only eight bodies were available is no small feat. In a year where Stans could have claimed everything was against him and mailed this season in, he nearly led the Tops to an NCAA tournament and did lead them to the NIT Final Four.
Plus, his continued success on the recruiting trail makes it hard not to be excited for what WKU will look like on the hardwood for years to come.
Honorable mentions: Travis Hudson, Volleyball. A great coach and an even better person, Hudson led the Tops to yet another conference title and tournament appearance, where they fell so close against UKY.
John Pawlowski: He has the baseball team in line to make the C-USA tournament for the first time since the Tops joined the conference, and surpassed last year’s win mark at nearly the halfway point this year. While there’s still a lot of room to grow, the room that’s already grown has been tremendous.
Game of the Year
WKU at Marshall, Basketball— Jan. 6, Huntington W.V.
Josh Anderson debuts, Darius logs a double-double and the Tops slaughtered Marshall, 112–87. What’s to dislike here?
Honorable mentions: WKU vs. MTSU, Football. It solidified bowl eligibility for the Tops and it was yet another 100MOH game that went into overtime. Again, what wasn’t to like?
WKU vs. Kentucky, Volleyball. In what may have been the most crushing defeat all year for WKU, the Lady Tops led 2–0 after two sets and the Cats came back to send it to a fifth and decisive set that, ultimately, belonged to the Cats. But still, it was a hell of a game and one the volleyball team should still hang their heads high after.
Male Athlete of the Year
Justin Johnson, Men’s Basketball
In a year where Justin Johnson needed to step up and be the man, he stepped up and was the man on the floor. He led WKU in points and rebounds this season, as well as was the seasoned vet the team needed to help be the glue to keep a team full of freshman and grad transfers together.
Honorable mention: Mike White, Football. While the overall season was disappointing for Mike Sanford’s maiden voyage, White certainly didn’t disappoint. Throwing for 4,177 yards and completing 65.7% of his passes, who knows how abysmal this season would have been if White wasn’t at the offensive helm.
Female Athlete of the Year
Tashia Brown, Women’s Basketball
I don’t think this comes as any shock — WKU without Brown is a WKU that’ll be very weird. She finished her senior campaign by scoring 22.5 points, 2.4 assists and 5.4 rebounds a night on her way to bringing home the conference’s Player of the Year award.
Hopefully, the NY Liberty like what they see in her so we can continue to watch her on the hardwood.
Honorable mention: Alyssa Cavanaugh, Volleyball. You’ll be hard pressed to find a player more dominant that Cavanaugh was throughout her career. A two-time C-USA Player of the Year, Cavanaugh led the conference in kills and is going to be a force the rest of the conference is going to be glad to not have to reckon with anymore. Until they realize Rachel Anderson is still around.
Jessica Lucas, Volleyball. Same things as above, except as a setter and not a pure attack.
We’ll see how our ballot fares against the real deal, which starts at (or around, I’m unsure) 7 p.m. CT.