NCAA Inspiration Award

The NCAA Inspiration Award is awarded to one of the following who is associated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association: a current or former varsity letter-winner, a coach, or an administrator. The award is given to an individual who "when confronted with a life-altering situation used perseverance, dedication and determination to overcome the event and now serves as a role model to give hope and inspiration to others in similar situations."^[1]

The Inspiration Award was first awarded in 2002. The recipients of the award are:

Year	Individual	Sport	College affiliation	Ref
2002	Maggie Maloy	Track & Cross country	Defiance College	^[2]
2002	Sam Paneno	Football	University of California, Davis	^[2]
2003	Diane Geppi-Aikens	Lacrosse	Loyola College in Maryland	^[3]
	Amanda Walton	Field hockey	Yale University	^[4]
	Todd Williams	Football	Florida State University	^[3]
2004	Heather Denison	Volleyball	University of Portland	^[5]
	Emily Miller	Soccer	University of Tennessee at Martin	^[5]
	Mike Nyeholt	Swimming	University of Southern California	^[6]
2005	Kaia Jergenson	Basketball	Lipscomb University	^[7]
	Michelle Thomas	Track and field	University of Oklahoma	^[7]
	Macharia Yuot	Track and field	Widener University	^[7]
2006	Raul Altreche	Lacrosse	Amherst College	^[8]
	John Doar	Basketball	Princeton University	^[8]
	Lois Taurman	Basketball, volleyball, & softball	Bellarmine University	^[8]
2007	David Denniston	Swimming	Auburn University	^[9]
2008	Jim MacLaren	Football	Yale University	^[10]
2009	Kelly Brush	Skiing	Middlebury College	^[11]
2010	Gregory Gadson	Football	West Point	^[12]
2010	2007 Bluffton University Baseball Team	Baseball	Bluffton University	^[13]
2011	Merzudin Ibric	Track and Field	Wheaton College	^[14]
2012	Jill Costello^[a]	Rowing	University of California, Berkeley	^[15]
2012	Louis Zamperini	Track and field	University of Southern California	^[16]
2013	David Borden	Football	Kutztown University of Pennsylvania	^[17]
2014	Jason Church	Football	University of Wisconsin–La Crosse	^[18]
2015	April Holmes	Track	Norfolk State University	^[19]
2016	O. J. Brigance	Football	Rice University	^[20]
2016	Lauren Hill^[a]	Basketball	Mount St. Joseph University	^[20]
2017	Pete Frates	Baseball	Boston College	^[21]
2018	Jim Kelly	Football	University of Miami	^[22]
2019	Shaquem Griffin	Football	University of Central Florida	^[23]
2019	Maggie Nichols	Gymnastics	University of Oklahoma	^[24]
2020	Trey Moses	Basketball	Ball State University	^[25]
2020	Rocky Bleier	Football	Notre Dame	^[26]
2021	Chaunté Lowe	Track and Field	Georgia Tech	^[27]
2022	Bob Grant	Football	Wake Forest University	^[28]
2022	Steve Gleason	Football	Washington State University	^[29]
2023	Gracie Phelps	Basketball	Western Washington University	^[30]
2023	Black 14	Football	University of Wyoming	^[31]
2024	Esera Tuaolo	Football	Oregon State University	^[32]
2024	Roxanne Dunn	Track and Field	Slippery Rock University	^[33]
2025	Mike Hollins	Football	University of Virginia	^[34]
2026	Francesca Loiseau	Tennis	Marymount University	^[35]

1 2 Posthumous award

[post-15] 1 2 Posthumous award

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NCAA Inspiration Award

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