2026 D-I College Awards Watchlist

A look at the early shortlists for end-of-season college awards.

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Now that we’re entering the final stretches of the regular season, it feels like a good idea to share some of our staff’s ongoing internal college awards dialogue. Here are some of the players currently on our radar. A few disclaimers: first, while this is a pretty good snapshot of now, things can change in a hurry. Second, and as is always the case, awards consideration will be heavily influenced by what we see on the field at Nationals. Finally, these lists are not exhaustive by any means.

Player of the Year

Women’s Division

UPenn’s Grace Maroon at the 2025 D-I College Championships. Photo: William “Brody” Brotman – UltiPhotos.com
  • Esther Filipek (Stanford Superfly)
  • Chagall Gelfand (Carleton Syzygy)
  • Lili Hobday (Notre Dame Echo)
  • Mika Kurahashi (UBC Thunderbirds)
  • Grace Maroon (Penn Venus)

Men’s Division

Oregon’s Raekwon Adkins at the 2026 Presidents’ Day Invite. Photo: William “Brody” Brotman – UltiPhotos.com
  • Raekwon Adkins (Oregon Ego)
  • Declan Miller (Carleton CUT)
  • Anton Orme (Cal Poly SLO SLOCORE)
  • Zeke Thoreson (Colorado Mamabird)
  • Toby Warren (UC Santa Cruz Slugs)

Surprised to see some familiar names at the top? Don’t be. Most PotY candidates (and winners) remain fixtures at the top of the division until their careers are done. Welcome back to the big board, Declan Miller and Mika Kurahashi. But are they the favorites?

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