IU Athletics will be prominent at the 2026 ESPY Awards.
The 2025 national championship football squad is up for Best Team, while quarterback Fernando Mendoza is up for Best Breakthrough Athlete and Best Men’s College Athlete.
Former IU basketball player OG Anunoby’s game-winning Game 4 tip-in at the NBA Finals is also up for Best Play.
IU football completed the first 16-0 season since 1894. Under the direction of head coach Curt Cignetti, their national title game win over Miami marked one of the most dramatic turnarounds in sports history. Indiana went 9-27 from 2021-23, and then 27-2 from 2024-25.
On his way to winning the Heisman Trophy, Mendoza improved across the board in 2025. He threw for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns.
Anunoby averaged 21.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.4 steals and 1.0 assists in the NBA Finals while shooting 52.5% overall and 50% from three. He hit the game-winning shot as part of a 33-point effort in Game Four.
Fans can vote on the ESPYs here.
The ESPN awards show began in 1993.
At the ESPYs, top celebrities from sports and entertainment will come together to commemorate the past year in sports by recognizing major athletic achievements, reliving unforgettable moments, and saluting the leading performers and performances. The ESPYS help to raise awareness and funds for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, the charity founded by ESPN and the late basketball coach Jim Valvano at the first ESPYS.
The 2026 ESPYS will broadcast live Wednesday, July 15 at 8pm ET / 7pm CT on ABC and the ESPN App.
The program will be hosted by comedian, actor, writer and producer Marcello Hernández. This year marks The ESPYS return to New York City, where the show will air live from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.
THE 2026 ESPYS NOMINATIONS:
BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
- Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
- Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
- Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
- Hilary Knight, Hockey
- Nelly Korda, Golf
- Mikaela Shiffrin, Ski
- A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
- Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
- Alysa Liu, Figure Skating
- Drake Maye, New England Patriots
- Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football
BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
- Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns – broke the NFL single-season sack record
- Megan Grant, UCLA Softball – broke the NCAA single-season softball home run record
- Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Cross-Country Skier – first athlete to win six golds at Winter Games
- Sabastian Sawe, Long-Distance Runner – first to finish a marathon in under two hours
BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
- Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
- Aerin Frankel, USA Women’s Hockey
- Connor Hellebuyck, USA Men’s Hockey
- Teagan Kavan, Texas Longhorns Softball
BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE
- Anthony Kim, Golf
- Savy King, Angel City FC
- Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
- Kyndal Stowers, Texas A&M Volleyball
BEST PLAY
- Golden Goal for Gold! – Olympic Women’s Hockey
- Golden Goal for Gold! – Olympic Men’s Hockey
- UConn stuns Duke with Braylon Mullins’ buzzer-beating 3 – NCAA Men’s March Madness
- OG Anunoby’s Tip-In – NBA Finals
- Caleb Williams Game Tying TD vs. Rams – NFL
BEST TEAM
- Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
- Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB
- Indiana Hoosiers, NCAA Football
- Carolina Hurricanes, NHL
- New York Knicks, NBA
- Texas Longhorns, NCAA Softball
- Seattle Seahawks, NFL
- Team USA Men’s Hockey
- Team USA Women’s Hockey
BEST SINGLE-GAME PERFORMANCE
- Tyce Armstrong, Baylor Baseball – hit three grand slams in a single game, tying a record set 50 years ago
- Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat – scored 83 points for the Miami Heat in a 150–129 win against the Washington Wizards, recording the second-highest single-game total in NBA history
- Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame Basketball – broke the NCAA record for most steals (16) in a game
- Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers – pitched six scoreless innings, struck out 10 batters and hit three home runs
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
- Cameron Boozer, Duke Basketball
- Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football
- Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State Wrestling
- Donavan Phillip, NC State Soccer
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
- Olivia Babcock, Pittsburgh Volleyball
- Lauren Betts, UCLA Basketball
- Madison Taylor, Northwestern Lacrosse
- Faith Torrez, Oklahoma Gymnastics
BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
- Jake Adicoff, Para Nordic-Skiing
- Declan Farmer, Para Hockey
- Oksana Masters, Para Cross-Country Skiing
- Susannah Scaroni, Wheelchair Racing
BEST NFL PLAYER
- Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
- Drake Maye, New England Patriots
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks
- Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
BEST MLB PLAYER
- Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
- Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
- Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
BEST NHL PLAYER
- Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
- Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
- Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
- Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
BEST NBA PLAYER
- Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
- Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
BEST WNBA PLAYER
- Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
- Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
- Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix Mercury
- A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
BEST DRIVER
- Kimi Antonelli, F1
- Lando Norris, F1
- Alex Palou, IndyCar
- Tyler Reddick, NASCAR
BEST FIGHTER
- Terence Crawford, Boxing
- Gabriela Fundora, Boxing
- Justin Gaethje, MMA
- Claressa Shields, Boxing
BEST SOCCER PLAYER
- Temwa Chawinga, KC Current
- Ousmane Dembélé, PSG/France
- Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
- Alexia Putellas, Spain/Barcelona
BEST GOLFER
- Nelly Korda
- Rory McIlroy
- Scottie Scheffler
- Jeeno Thitikul
BEST TENNIS PLAYER
- Carlos Alcaraz
- Elena Rybakina
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Jannik Sinner
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on X: @daily_hoosier and find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
