Texas Tech was the top dog in the Big 12 last year and the Red Raiders will look to cement that status with two of its top performers.
Texas Tech was arguably the best the Big 12 had to offer this past season, and now the Red Raiders will have the chance to cement that status with a final pair of awards.
The Big 12 Athletes of the Year are set to be announced on Thursday, July 23 and will honor both the male and female athlete that went above and beyond while donning the name of one of the 16 programs that make up the conference.
Every school got to nominate one athlete for each award that best met the criteria, with the selections for the Red Raiders being none other than superstar pitcher NiJaree Canady and sensational linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.
Since making the switch from Stanford to Texas Tech, Canady was a spark plug for a Texas Tech softball program that was frankly irrelevant in the grand scheme of the sport.
Her efforts led the Red Raiders to back-to-back Women's College World Series Championship appearances and highlighted the most successful stint to date.
Specifically focusing on her accomplishments from this past season, Canady was named the Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year and was a consensus All-American selection. She also drew serious consideration for the National Player of the Year Award, finishing within the top 10 of voting.
Moving over to the male nominee, Rodriguez had a storybook ending to his anything but conventional journey through college football.
Originally attending Virginia as a quarterback, he made his way back to Lubbock as a walk-on linebacker and worked this way through the ranks of the Red Raiders before serving as their de-facto front man in their incredible run this past year.
While Rodriguez profiled as a smaller at the position, he made the most of his athleticism and knack for creating turnovers to anchor a Texas Tech defense that was one of the most devastating in the history of the sport.
His phenomenal outing earned him not only the eyes of several across the nation, but also a wide array of awards that were seldom granted to the same individual, let alone one that suited up for Texas Tech.
Rodriguez took home the Butkus Award, Bednarik Trophy, Nagurski Trophy and Lombardi Trophy and became the first Red Raider to win any of those prestigious award. He was also only the third player all-time to win the Butkus, Bednarik and Nagurski in the same season.
The Heisman Trophy was another real possibility for Rodriguez and he fell just shy of a finalist finish after coming in fifth place of voting, which was the highest a linebacker ranked since 2012.
Needless to say, Canady and Rodriguez are more than worthy of being the representatives for a year that saw great success across numerous sports for Texas Tech. The question that stands now is are they worthy enough to be the sole representatives of the entire Big 12?
