Jamal Shead Named Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year

HOUSTON – After a record-setting 2023-24 season, University of Houston point guard Jamal Shead was honored as the Big 12 Conference Male Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.

With Shead leading the way, Houston posted a 32-5 overall record and captured the Big 12 regular-season championship by two games in the Cougars' first year in the league.

Under Head Coach Kelvin Sampson's guidance, Houston also competed as a NCAA Tournament Region No. 1 seed for the second straight season and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth consecutive year, the nation's second-longest active streak.

Shead was named the National Defensive Player of the Year by Naismith Awards, National Association of Basketball Coaches, Field of 68 and Andy Katz and earned the Nolan Richardson Award, presented to the student-athlete who best represents the heart and soul of his team.

He also was a finalist for the Naismith and John R. Wooden Player of the Year awards.

Off the court, Shead received his bachelor's degree in health promotions. He now awaits the first steps of his professional career with the NBA Draft set for Wednesday and Thursday inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Texas Volleyball outside hitter Madisen Skinner was named the Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year.

Jamal Shead, Rings, Cap and Gown

ABOUT JAMAL SHEAD
Shead was a leader for the Cougars throughout his career and never more so than during the 2023-24 season. He finished his collegiate career with a 120-18 record in four seasons and ranked second in school history with his victory total.

The Cougars held 23 opponents to 60 or fewer points while the Manor, Texas, native recorded 22 games with multiple steals with 12 games with 3+ thefts, including a season-high six steals against rv/– Texas in a home win inside Fertitta Center on Feb. 17.

In the Houston records book, Shead ranked third in UH history with 226 steals and was sixth in school single-season history with 80 steals. He finished as the only student-athlete in school history to record 100+ wins, 1,300-points, 600+ assists and 200+ steals during his career.

He was named the Player of the Year by the league's head coaches and the Associated Press and also was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first player in conference history to accomplish that feat in the same season.

It also was the second straight season in his second different league in which Shead was named Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He joined forward and Houston great Bo Outlaw as the only Cougars to receive that honor multiple times.

Shead stood second among the Cougars with 12.9 points per game. Shead also led Houston and ranked among the Big 12 Top-Five leaders in assists per game (6.3, 3^rd), steals per game (2.2, 3^rd) and assist-turnover ratio (3.11, 2^nd) and was the only student-athlete to rank among the nation's Top-26 leaders in all three categories.

He was named the Big 12 Player of the Week twice during the regular season and was recognized as the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week for Feb. 26 and the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for Jan. 23.

Shead scored double-digit points in 27 games, including 13 of the last 15 . He also dished out 10+ assists in six games with a career-high 29-point, 10-assist performance at #21/19 BYU on Jan. 23. He was the only Cougar to record points-rebounds AND points-assists double-doubles in 2023-24.

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– UHCougars.com –

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