AMES, Iowa – After putting together one of the best seasons in Iowa State history, Joshua Jefferson has been named the Gary Thompson Iowa State Male Athlete of the Year.
Jefferson is the 18th Iowa State Men’s Basketball player to earn the award, which started in 1947. The last men’s basketball player to earn the award was Monté Morris in 2017, as the program completed a run of having three in four years with Melvin Ejim (2014) and Georges Niang (2016) also winning.
Last week, Jefferson was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, a pick that was then traded to the Brooklyn Nets. Jefferson is the 42nd NBA Draft pick in school history and the 11th in the first round. Iowa State has had 15 players drafted since the Big 12 was formed in 1996-97, the fourth-best total in the league. The seven first round picks in that span are also the fourth-most in league history.
Jefferson, the fifth consensus All-American in program history, was Mr. Do-It-All for the Cyclones. He was the first player in Big 12 history to turn in multiple triple-doubles in Big 12 play. He averaged 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He was the only Power Conference player in the country to average those numbers last season. Only seven players have done so in an entire season in the country going back to 1974-75, with no one in the Big 12 having accomplished it. Jefferson scored in double figures in 34 games last season, the third-most games in double figures in a season in school history. His streak of 40-straight games going back to last season ranked as the second-longest in the nation before going down with an injury in the opening minutes of the NCAA Tournament. His 167 assists last season were tied for the 19th-most in program history, while his 276 over the last two seasons were the 18th-most in program history for a career.
A Naismith Trophy Top 10 Semifinalist and Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Top 5 Finalist, Jefferson earned All-American honors from six different organizations. Notably, he was a first team selection by The Sporting News and was a consensus second team All-American. Jefferson was also a two-time All-Big 12 selection in his two years at Iowa State, earning first team honors as a senior and second team honors as a junior. He was also named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer team his junior season after transferring from Saint Mary’s.
Jefferson will be recognized at the Iowa State football season opener against SEMO on Sept. 5 at Jack Trice Stadium.
