2022 ESPY Winners
Team of the Year Presented by QC Kintex:
Bellarmine Basketball (A Sun Champs) – 39% of the Votes
Bellarmine University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men’s basketball season. They finished the season in second place in ASUN play to West division. They defeated Florida Gulf Coast, Liberty, and Jacksonville to win the ASUN Tournament championship. Because the Knights were in the second year of a four-year transition period from Division II to Division I, the Knights were not eligible for the NCAA Tournament due to league rules automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament went to regular season champion Jacksonville State.
Perseverance Award:
Mike Pratt (71% of the votes)
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Pratt went to the University of Kentucky where he was a three-year letter winner under coach Adolph Rupp from 1967 through 1970. Pratt went on to become an iconic voice with radio analysis with UK basketball. In 2009, he was inducted into the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame. He then cohosted Stockton Mortgage Sports Talk with Dan Issel and Mike Pratt on ESPN Louisville. Pratt was 73 when he passed in June.
Kentuckiana Male High School Athlete of The Year
– Kaleb Glenn – Male High School (27% of the vote)
Male’s Kaleb Glenn, a University of Louisville commit. The 6-foot-7 Glenn averaged 21.6 points and ranked fifth in the state in rebounding (12.6 rpg) last season. Glenn spent the last 3 years at Male under head coach Tim Haworth. Glenn will play his senior season of basketball at La Lumiere. La Lumbere is a college prep boarding and day school in La Porte, Indiana. Glenn’s top moment may have come in the Seventh Region championship game, when his buzzer-beating jump shot clinched an 82-80 triple-overtime victory over Ballard.
– Kentuckiana Female High School Athlete of The Year
Brooke Gray is a Pitcher in the Class of 2023 for Ballard H.S. in Louisville, KY. 2022 KY State Championship Softball Video finishing 39-0. (41.8% of the votes)
Brooke Gray throw-70-miles-per-hour pitcher. The junior is a flawless 27-0 with the third most strikeouts (340) and the eighth-lowest ERA (0.74) Ballard was 35-0 at the time as of May 5 2021 written by Phillip Steinmetz of Courier Journal.
Male Athlete of The Year
Oscar Tshiebwe – Kentucky Basketball (48% of the votes)
Tshiebwe took home the Wooden Award Tuesday, becoming the first player in UK history to sweep the six NCAA-recognized National Player of the Year awards. Tshiebwe was previously announced as the winner of The Sporting News Player of the Year, Associated Press Player of the Year, National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy and Naismith Trophy.
Female Athlete Of the Year
Hailey Van Lith – Louisville WBB (25.1% votes)
Junior to be Hailey Van Lith, majoring in business from Wenatchee, Washington, turns 21 in September was named All-ACC First Team after her sophomore year. Van Lith in ACC play, ranked sixth in the league with 15.4 points per game, while shooting 45.7 percent from the floor. Scored a career-high 34 points in the win at Clemson.
Coach of The Year
Jeff Walz Louisville WBB (24.1% of Votes)
Jeff Walz took the Cards to the final four for the fourth time in Walz’s 15 years with the Unversity. The Fort Thomas native,
On March 18, 2022, was announced that his contract with the University of Louisville had been extended through 2028-29. Walz is the all-time winningest coach in program history with a record of 414-113 and averages 27.6 victories per season.