Award History

Champaign, Ill. – The University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) announced Thursday that volleyball's Jordyn Poulter and baseball's Bren Spillane are recipients of the 2017-18 Dike Eddleman Awards, which are presented annually to the top Fighting Illini female and male athlete. The recipients were selected by vote of Illinois head coaches, DIA executive staff and the DIA athletics awards committee.

Poulter becomes the ninth volleyball player to be named Eddleman Athlete of the Year since the female award was first handed out in 1977. She joins three-time winner Mary Eggers (1987, '88, '89), Laura Bush (1990), Tina Rogers (1994), Christy Chapman (1999), Colleen Ward (2012) and Jocelynn Birks (2016) as volleyball Eddleman Award winners. 

Spillane is the third baseball player in the last six years and 13th baseball player overall to win the male Eddleman Award, which dates back to 1940. Recent baseball recipients include Illinois Hall of Famer Darrin Fletcher (1987), Jason Anderson (2000), Justin Parr (2013) and Tyler Jay (2015). 

As Fighting Illini Athletes of the Year, Poulter and Spillane become Illinois' nominees for Big Ten Athlete of the Year honors, which will be announced later this month.

The Eddleman Awards are the final major individual honors announced by the DIA this year. Nicole Choquette (track and cross country) and Isaiah Martinez (wrestling) were recipients of the Big Ten Medal of Honor, and Taylor Edwards (softball) and Carver James (wrestling) took home the Spirit Awards at the annual OSKEE Awards in April. Mia Rabinowitz (tennis) and Jon Davis (indoor track) won Freshman of the Year, announced Wednesday. 

 

JORDYN POULTER | 2018 Eddleman Female Athlete of the Year

• PrepVolleyball.com Second-Team All-American
• American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Third-Team All-American
• All-Big Ten and AVCA All-Northeast Region selection
• University Park Regional All-Tournament Team after helping lead Illini to NCAA Sweet 16 appearance
• Cardinal Classic MVP and Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Ranked 48th in the nation in assists on the season (1,357) and was named Big Ten Setter of the week (Nov. 6)
• Second on the team in blocks (116) and digs (306)

 

BREN SPILLANE | 2018 Eddleman Male Athlete of the Year

• 16th student-athlete in Illinois history to win a national player of the year award – with 10 of the 11 eligible in the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame
• Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year, becoming the first national player of the year in Illinois baseball history and just the fourth in Big Ten baseball history
• All-America first team by all five organizations that have announced awards
• One of five finalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, which will be awarded June 16
• Big Ten Player of the Year and NCBWA District 5 Player of the Year
• No. 82 overall pick in the MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds, becoming the highest drafted position player in Illinois history
• Won the Big Ten regular season triple crown (.407, 22 HR, 57 RBIs), and led the nation in slugging percentage, home runs per game, OPS and weighted on-base average
• First Power 5 player to lead the nation in slugging at over .900 since 1996 when Pat Burrell slugged .948 for Miami (Fla.)

2017-18 Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year Finalists

Female  
Senior Grace Park, Golf
Sophomore Rae Balthazor, Gymnastics
Junior Kiana Sherlund, Softball
Junior Jaclyn Switkes, Tennis
Senior Nicole Choquette, Track & Field/Cross Country
Junior Jordyn Poulter, Volleyball

Male  
Junior Bren Spillane, Baseball
Senior Nick Hardy,  Golf
Junior Alex Diab, Gymnastics
Senior Aleks Vukic, Tennis
Senior David Kendziera, Track & Field
Senior Isaiah Martinez, Wrestling

THE DIKE EDDLEMAN AWARD

The University of Illinois Athlete of the Year was first awarded in 1940. The award was given annually until it was discontinued for a brief period in 1973. Since 1983, the University of Illinois has recognized both a Male and Female Athlete of the Year. In 1993, the awards were named in honor of the 11-time UI letterman and former Olympian Dwight "Dike" Eddleman.

Poulter and Spillane join the list of all-time Fighting Illini greats who have been bestowed the Eddleman Award, including names like Dike Eddleman himself (football, basketball and track, 1948 & '49), Dick Butkus (football, 1964 & '65), Nancy Thies (gymnastics, 1977), Craig Virgin (track and cross country, 1977), Tony Eason (football, 1982 & '83), Mary Eggers (volleyball, 1987-89), Kendall Gill (basketball, 1990), Renee Slone (Heiken) (golf, 1991 & '92), Tonya Williams (track, 1995-96), Ashley Berggren (basketball, 1997 & '98), Perdita Felicien (track, 2001-03), Justin Spring (gymnastics, 2004 & '06), Deron Williams (basketball, 2005), Kevin Anderson (tennis, 2007), Angela Bizzarri (track and cross country, 2008-10), Paul Ruggeri (gymnastics, 2009), Scott Langley (golf, 2010), Andrew Riley (track, 2011 & '12), Janelle Flaws (soccer, 2014), Tyler Jay (baseball, 2015) and last year's winners, Nicole Evans (softball) and Isaiah Martinez (wrestling), a repeat winner in 2016 and '17. 

Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year History