Former Ohio State women’s basketball guard Jacy Sheldon, men’s tennis player JJ Tracy named Ohio State Athlete of the Year

Former Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon and men’s tennis player JJ Tracy were selected Tuesday as Ohio State’s 2024 Athletes of the Year. The honor puts Sheldon and Tracy, both of whom exhausted their eligibility with the Buckeyes this past season, on the ballot for Big Ten Athlete of the Year, which will be announced later in June.

Sheldon, now a member of the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, earned the honor after a sensational fifth-year senior season at Ohio State in which she averaged 17.8 points, 3.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game , helping the Buckeyes secure 25 points. 5 record (16-2 in Big Ten) and their second Big Ten regular season championship in the past three seasons.

Sheldon’s efforts in her senior season placed her among the program’s all-time greats, ranking sixth all-time in points (2,024) and steals (250), tied for 10th in games played (130) and 11th in assists (399). These numbers helped her get selected fifth overall by the Dallas Wings in the WNBA Draft held last April. She averaged 2.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.4 steals in 13.5 minutes per game over her first seven games with the franchise.

Tracy also had an impressive senior season. The Powell, Ohio, native finished his year with a combined individual and doubles record of 77-12, the second-most wins in a single season in program history. He also captured a pair of championships while hitting the grass this fall, first winning the doubles title at the ITA All-American Championship with Robert Cash in October, then becoming part of just the third Buckeye duo to win an NCAA national doubles championship – again alongside Cash – in May.

Tracy, who also helped the Buckeyes secure their third ITA Indoor Team National Championship, an 18th consecutive Big Ten regular season title, a 17th Big Ten Tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA Championship semifinals this season, still earned a number of notable individual awards. . He was also named an All-American in both singles and doubles and earned a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection and an ITA Midwest Regional Senior Player of the Year award.

The second consecutive men’s tennis player to be named Ohio State Athlete of the Year, Tracy joined James Trotter in 2023 and finished his Ohio State career with 235 wins, the fifth most in program history.

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