A pair of Minnesota standouts were recognized today as recipients of the Big Ten’s Sportsmanship Award. Volleyball’s CC McGraw and football’s Tanner Morgan were selected as the Maroon and Gold’s representatives.
McGraw was a two-time AVCA All-America honoree on the court and finished her Minnesota career with 1,924 digs (third all-time at Minnesota) in 133 career matches. She helped the Gophers to one Final Four, two Elite Eights and five Sweet 16s in her career from 2018-22.
She was a four-time AVCA All-Region honoree, four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and was an All-Big Ten selection three times. The 2022 Second Team All-Big Ten honoree tallied 3.35 digs per set as a fifth-year, helping Minnesota finish 22-9 (15-5 Big Ten) and make the Sweet 16 for the eighth consecutive season.
McGraw earned his undergraduate degree in psychology and finished her master’s in sport and exercise science last year. She was named a Second Team Academic All-American in December.
Morgan started 47 of the 51 career games he competed in and posted a record of 33-14 as a starter. His 33 wins are the most by a Minnesota quarterback in recorded history. He ended his career first in school history in completion percentage (62.2%) and second in completions (661), attempts (1,063) passing yards (9,454) and passing touchdowns (65).
Morgan, who was named Academic All-Big Ten four times, was named All-Big Ten Second Team in 2019 and was an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2020. In 2019, he was a finalist for The Manning Award and was also a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist. He was a semifinalist for the Jason Witten College Man of the Year award in both 2021 and 2022 and was one of three finalists for the Wuerffel Trophy in 2022.
The Big Ten announced 28 Sportsmanship Award winners for the 2022-23 academic year today, with two selections per member school.
Tanner Morgan
CC McGraw
(info and photos courtesy of Gopher Sports)
