Past Winners


Keenan Reynolds and Breanna Stewart, 86th Annual AAU Sullivan Award Winners

Keenan Reynolds and Breanna Stewart, 86th Annual AAU Sullivan Award Winners

Winner: Keenan Reynolds

Sport: Football

Hometown: Antioch, Tennessee

Biography: Keenan Reynolds is the finest Navy football player since Roger Staubach in 1963. He led Navy to a school record 11 wins against just two losses and a national ranking of No. 18, which is Navy highest final ranking in the AP poll in more than 50 years.

Reynolds finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and was named third-team All-American. He is the all-time leader in touchdowns scored (88) and rushing yards by a quarterback (4,559), and led the Navy senior class to a school-record 36 wins.

Well-respected by his peers, Reynolds was made a unanimous captain for the 2016 East-West Shrine Game, switching from quarterback to running back, and went on to win the Pat Tillman Award, which is presented to a player who best exemplifies character, intelligence, sportsmanship and service.

On February 28, 2016, the Naval Academy announced that Reynolds would be the last player to wear #19. Reynolds joins the list of Roger Staubach (#12), Joe Bellino (#27) and Napoleon McCallum (#30) whose numbers have been retired by the school

Reynolds is the third straight college football player to claim the award. Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott, who was on site to present the award this year, claimed the award last year after leading the Buckeyes to the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship in 2015. Penn State offensive lineman John Urschel took home the 84th AAU Sullivan Award the year prior.


Winner: Breanna Stewart

Sport: Basketball

Hometown: Syracuse, New York

Biography: Breanna Stewart is the only player in NCAA history to be honored as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player four times.

Stewart played forward for the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies women's basketball team. She led the Huskies to four national championships, was named the Final Four's most outstanding player a record four times, and was a three-time consensus national player of the year.

She was selected as the National Player of the Year by the Associated Press, the Atlanta Tip-Off Club (Naismith Trophy) and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association in each of the last three seasons and earned National Player of the Year accolades from WBCA (Wade Trophy) and the L.A. Athletic Club (John R. Wooden Award) during her junior and senior seasons.

In her amazing college career Stewart won 151 games and only lost 5, which included four straight National Championships. She is the first NCAA basketball player ever to tally 300 assists and block 300 shots.

She was one of only six Huskies, along with Tina Charles, Rebecca Lobo, Maya Moore, Stefanie Dolson, and Jamelle Elliott, with at least 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Stewart finished her career second on UConn's all-time scoring list at 2,676 career points, fourth with 1,179 career rebounds, first in blocks (414) and fifth in field goal percentage (53.0 percent). On April 14, 2016 Breanna was drafted by the Seattle Storm with the first pick of the 2016 WNBA draft

 

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The Award

Known as the "Oscar" of sports awards and older than The Heisman, the AAU Sullivan Award honors the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. It has been presented annually by the AAU since 1930 as a salute to founder and past president of the Amateur Athletic Union, and pioneer in amateur sports, James E. Sullivan. Based on the qualities of leadership, character, sportsmanship, and the ideals of amateurism, the AAU Sullivan Award goes far beyond athletic accomplishments and honors those who have shown strong moral character.

The AAU

The AAU was founded in 1888 to establish standards and uniformity in amateur sports. During its early years, the AAU served as a leader in international sport representing the U.S. in the international sports federations. The AAU worked closely with the Olympic movement to prepare athletes for the Olympic games. After the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, the AAU has focused its efforts into providing sports programs for all participants of all ages beginning at the grass roots level. The philosophy of "Sports for All, Forever," is shared by over 700,000 participants and over 150,000 volunteers.
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