In its first year in the Big Ten, UCLA Athletics had its fair share of glory-filled moments. Whether it was perfect 10s, buzzer beaters or last-minute thrillers, these nine athletes forever cemented themself in Bruin history. Take a look at who earned Daily Bruin Sports’ honors.

Male Athlete of the Year: Roch Cholowsky
Kai Dizon, Daily Bruin senior staff

Every broadcast seems to say the same thing.

Roch Cholowsky could’ve gone straight to the pros out of high school.

But the sophomore shortstop didn’t.

He could’ve been a late-first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

But he wasn’t.

He came to UCLA – his dream school – committing three years he could’ve spent with an MLB organization to play college baseball.

And while his freshman campaign wasn’t anything too out of the extraordinary – most players would dream of an .899 OPS and Second Team Freshman All-American honors – it seemed like there was more left in the tank.

2025 proved that there was.

Heading into the NCAA tournament – UCLA’s first since 2022 – Cholowsky is slashing .369/.507/.783. His 23 home runs are a single-season program record in the BBCOR era, breaking former Bruin and 2019 MLB Draft first-round pick Michael Toglia’s previous mark of 17. His 183 wRC+ leads all Power Four hitters and his 5.85 regular season WAR leads the nation in the regular season, per 643 Charts.

He was named Big Ten Player of the Year and, playing his first full collegiate season at shortstop, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. And even after going 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the Big Ten tournament title game, Cholowsky took home Big Ten tournament Most Outstanding Player honors.

But the shortstop’s contributions don’t end in the batter’s box.

Cholowsky has continuously been commended by coach John Savage and teammates for his leadership as one of the team’s three team captains.

The squad has continuously improved team chemistry and camaraderie as the catalyst to their 2024-to-2025 turnaround, and Cholowsky has been at the heart of that change.

When UCLA was forced to vacate Jackie Robinson Stadium due to a judge’s September order, Cholowsky told D1Baseball that one of the first things the team did was get together for a team bonfire.

And when sophomore third baseman Roman Martin ordered an undersized glove to man the hot corner this season, Cholowsky lent him his glove from when he played third base this last year.

Cholowsky would likely be quick to say baseball’s a team sport – that no one player really wins or loses a ballgame.

But when the NCBWA awards the best collegiate player its annual Dick Howser Trophy, don’t be shocked if that’s just another thing the sophomore needs to make space for in his increasingly cluttered trophy case.

Female Athlete of the Year: Lauren Betts

Sam Garcia, Daily Bruin staff

Lauren Betts left Stanford after her freshman season in 2023 feeling defeated, constantly fearing she was not good enough to be on the team.

Searching for a new program to call home, the center set her sights on Westwood and has since emerged as UCLA’s first-ever national Defensive Player of the Year.

Betts’ 100 blocks this season led the Big Ten, however, she brought more to the squad than defensive prowess around the rim. The First Team All-American ranked second in the NCAA with 294 converted field goal attempts.

The rising senior’s ability to shine in big moments is ultimately what helped UCLA finish its 2025 campaign with just three losses.

The 2025 All-Tournament team selection scored back-to-back 30-point games in the Round of 32 and Sweet Sixteen rounds of March Madness, converting 15 shots against No. 5 seed Ole Miss, propelling the Bruins to a rematch against No. 3 seed LSU, where they beat the Tigers to advance to UCLA’s first Final Four in the NCAA era.

And if one Betts was not enough, she announced her plan to return to UCLA next season to join forces with her incoming freshman sister and McDonald’s All-American Sienna Betts.

Coach of the Year: Billy Martin
Badri Viswanathan, Daily Bruin contributor

Coach Billy Martin began his season with the worst start of his career.

Yet, he finished his 32nd season with a conference championship and an NCAA tournament super regional win.

Martin has accomplished just about everything in his career at the helm of the men’s tennis program, winning national titles for UCLA as both a player and a coach in 1975 and 2005, respectively.

Before entering the Big Ten, Martin amassed an .815 win percentage and five Coach of the Year honors in the Pac-12.

The Bruins started the season 2-6, crippled by a wave of injuries. Instead of backing down, Martin questioned himself and vowed to make adjustments.

After their sixth loss of the season, Martin had seniors Alexander Hoogmartens and Giacomo Revelli play as a doubles team in the Pacific Coast Doubles championships, and despite playing together for the first time, the pair won the title.

And after watching his new tandem come together, Martin had seen enough, securing his No. 1 doubles team for the rest of the season. He continued refining his approach, never hesitating to make drastic shifts to his lineups based on matchups or his intuition.

Martin’s adjustments paid off as the Bruins finished the season 17-3, winning 11 of their 13 conference matches and nabbing the doubles point 75% of the time.

The head honcho also seamlessly integrated Spencer Johnson back into the lineup after the All-American sophomore suffered an injury that sidelined him for 10 weeks.

Martin’s ability to galvanize the team helped UCLA defeat postseason opponents – Ohio State, California and USC – that had bested the Bruins in the regular season.

He was also masterful in developing young talent, utilizing four underclassmen in his singles lineup. Under the leadership of Martin, the first-year class amassed numerous accolades, including Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in Rudy Quan and Emon van Loben Sels, respectively.

In his first season in a new conference, Martin has continued to build his laundry list of accomplishments.

But it was the ability to stay calm and adapt amidst struggles that helped him achieve greatness.

Male Rookie of the Year: Ryder Dodd
Una O’Farrell, Daily Bruin senior staff

Ryder Dodd started the 2024 season with zero collegiate playing experience.

But while the attacker may have never suited up for the Bruins before this fall, the freshman entered the pool with something the majority of his opponents lacked: international pedigree and an Olympic medal.

As the youngest member of the 2024 bronze medal-winning USA men’s water polo team, Dodd didn’t just aid the Bruins, assisting them to their thirteenth national championship in his freshman campaign, he led the team in scoring.

The younger Dodd brother led the team in scoring in 16 of the Bruins’ 28 games, posting a career-high eight goals in a win against Pepperdine on Oct. 12, 2024 – the same number of goals he scored across the Olympics.

And in a historic ending to a storied season, the Long Beach, California, local notched two points in UCLA’s NCAA championship win over USC to set an MPSF single-season record with 102 goals.

In just four months, Dodd had led his squads to an Olympic medal and NCAA title, picking up ACWPC Player of the Year honors in the process – all within his first quarter in Westwood.

The freshman’s accolades speak for themselves, and if Dodd’s 2024 stats are any indication, the future of UCLA men’s water polo is bright.

Female Rookie of the Year: Kate Fakih
Chloe Agas, Daily Bruin staff

Kate Fakih came to Westwood with Grand Slam experience.

Despite the professional experience, she leapt into her first season of collegiate tennis, where new pressures, unfamiliar team dynamics and dual-match formats presented a whole new set of challenges.

Yet, none of it fazed her.

She opened the fall with five consecutive wins, earning a spot in the ITA All-American championships main draw. The feat alone landed her the Big Ten Player of the Week honor Sep. 25 – a recognition that marked just the beginning of the freshman’s impact on the tennis scene.

And Fakih wasn’t only finding her rhythm in singles. She fought her way to the highest national stage alongside doubles partner and fellow freshman Olivia Center. The pair finished as runner-ups in the 2024 NCAA doubles championships, marking the first time the Bruins contested in the final round of the event since 2019, when former Bruins Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield hoisted the championship trophy.

Even in a season full of firsts, Fakih showed no signs of slowing down as the stakes increased. She won nine straight matches to begin 2025 – two of them against ranked opponents – and became a dependable closer in conference play.

She notably clinched the final decision in a 4-3 affair against Wisconsin on April 5 and avenged the last point against crosstown rivals USC on April 16.

Fakih finished this season with a 14-6 singles record, earned Big Ten All-Freshman team honors and, alongside Center, became one of the Bruins’ two 2025 ITA All-Americans. With the imprint she has left this season as just a freshman – it’s clear that this won’t be the last we hear of Fakih.

Most Improved: Carson Schwesinger
Ira Gorawara, Daily Bruin senior staff

Not sure you can argue with this one.

At this point, Carson Schwesinger’s origin story is campus folklore. Walk-on linebacker, Big Ten bruiser, NFL Draft pick – rinse, repeat, repost.

The walk-on-to-NFL pipeline has been covered, podcasted and probably turned into a case study, so I won’t chronicle it again.

If anything, the real flex is that the UCLA football redshirt junior linebacker made his Cinderella story impossible to ignore.

Improvement isn’t solely about stats – but even if it was, the case for Carson would still be equally as robust – it’s about leapfrogging expectations so fast you leave your former self in the dust.

This time last year, Schwesinger was a stranger to preseason watchlists or fan forums.

By September, he was a Butkus Award finalist and the threat opposing quarterbacks feared. He was a tackling machine who led the Bruins – and the country – with 90 solo stops, chasing down plays like he had something personal against first downs.

In 2023, Schwesinger was rotating in on kickoffs. In 2024, he was calling the shots on defense. From 12 tackles and two tackles for loss, Schwesinger soared to 136 and 8.5, respectively. Most improved? That might even be underselling it.

Schwesinger commanded the field on all cylinders. Orchestrating coverages, diagnosing plays mid-snap and leading by example for a brain miraculously wired for blitz timing.

He was a gift UCLA once only had on its Christmas wishlist.

Somewhere between cracking helmets and offenses, he cracked the code – both for himself, and for the Bruins’ entire defensive unit.

From overlooked to overachieving, Schwesinger is no longer a hidden gem. He’s proof that stars can be built, not just recruited.

Unsung Hero: Skyy Clark
Ira Gorawara, Daily Bruin senior staff

There were louder players than Skyy Clark, and flashier moments than anything on his highlight reel.

Even still, no one steadied UCLA men’s basketball quite like he did. The junior guard restored something the storied Bruin program had been missing.

“Skyy’s a great athlete, he’s just a winner,” said coach Mick Cronin. “Skyy’s a smart player, but Skyy Clark’s brought something to our program that we didn’t have last year. We lost with Dave Singleton.”

That something? Accountability and poise under pressure. While others chased the box score, Clark often kept the Bruins afloat.

His average statline of 8.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists weren’t gaudy.

But Clark brought steadiness where chaos lingered, composure where panic used to sit. He became the guy Cronin praised the most, the guy who dove for loose balls, stepped into big shots and kept the offense humming when others stalled.

And that “something” showed up when it mattered most. Against Arizona in December, Clark calmly drained a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds on the clock to pencil in a 57-54 victory – the punctuation mark on his best game as a Bruin in 2024.

After weeks buried beneath a shooting slump, he erupted for 15 points, drilling a trio of 3s and nailing 5-for-9 shot attempts on the night. But it was the hint of his control that continued to unravel itself through the season.

And when his teammates struggled and the turnovers piled up, Clark brought order. He paced the Bruins with a 2.4 assist-turnover ratio and brought the kind of efficiency that Cronin could build his roster around.

He also emerged as one of UCLA’s most trusted defenders. His 45 steals – second best on the roster – quantified his imposing presence in the passing lanes, earning him Cronin’s superlative of “probably our smartest player.”

So while No. 55 never wore a cape, a title like that from Cronin surely earns hero status in Westwood.

The muted, unsung hero.

Jack of all Trades: Kaitlyn Terry
Sam Garcia, Daily Bruin staff

Kaitlyn Terry stepped out of the circle and into the batter’s box just three times in 2024.

But this year, the sophomore pitcher/outfielder has become a regular in UCLA’s batting order, striking batters out in the circle and launching balls over the left field fence, most notably a grand slam against then-No. 22 Ohio State on April 4 to mark her first career home run.

The 2024 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year boasts a .257 batting average while recording 35 hits and 24 RBIs from the batter’s box this season. Terry also logs a 2.64 ERA alongside 11 complete games, while leading the Bruins with 172 strikeouts through a team-best 148.1 innings.

Yet, Terry’s hitting prowess complements her pitching success.

The Glendale, Arizona locals’ versatility came in clutch when UCLA trailed UC Santa Barbara by one run in game 1 of the NCAA Los Angeles regional, hitting a go-ahead three-run home run in the fourth inning – catalyzing the Bruins’ offense while spearheading a run-rule victory.

And after putting UCLA on the board, Terry headed for the circle to record her second save of the season.

Whether the Bruins need someone to spark their offense or silence their opponent’s bats Terry contributed on all fronts to send UCLA to its record-breaking 33rd trip to the Women’s College World Series this season.

Transfer of the Year: Tyler Bilodeau
Matthew Niiya, Daily Bruin staff

UCLA men’s basketball’s 2023-24 campaign was one to forget.

The Bruins struggled in nearly all facets of the game, but one stuck out like a sore thumb – scoring.

There was no go-to guy who could get a bucket when UCLA really needed one.

And that is exactly what Tyler Bilodeau was brought in for.

The junior forward transferred to Westwood following two seasons with former Pac-12 foe Oregon State, where Bilodeau was the second leading scorer in his sophomore season, averaging 14.3 points per game.

Although Bilodeau was just one of eight newcomers to don the four letters, he quickly cemented himself as the centerpiece of the offense. The Kennewick, Washington, local started in 33 of the 34 contests for Cronin and posted double-digit points in 24 of those affairs.

By season’s end, Bilodeau spearheaded the Bruins’ scoring efforts with 13.5 points per game – over two points higher than the next best mark – while also leading the squad in 3-point shooting percentage, sitting at 40%.

Despite being known more for his offense, Bilodeau was second on the team in rebounding – snatching 4.6 boards per contest – and was tied for third in blocked shots.

And with another year of development in Cronin’s system, Bilodeau will be a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the court in his senior season.