Pinckney, Rice Named Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award Winners
July 31, 2025 | Track & Field, Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – UCLA student-athletes Michael Pinckney (men's track & field) and Kiki Rice (women's basketball) have been named winners of the Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award for the 2024-25 school year, the league office announced on Thursday.
The Bruin duo was selected from a group of 430 students honored throughout the academic year who have displayed positive sportsmanship.
One member of each varsity sports team on every campus was chosen by his or her institution as a Sportsmanship Award honoree, and two Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners were then selected from each institution. All of the Sportsmanship Award winners have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, these honorees must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
Pinckney is coming off a superlative junior season that saw him finish as one of the Bruins' top performers in the entire track & field program. The Queens, N.Y. native was a First Team All-American after placing fifth in the men's discus at the Outdoor NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. with a mark of 61.39m (201-5). He was also the lone UCLA student-athlete to win a gold medal at the Bruins' first-ever trip to the Outdoor Big Ten Championships, as he won the discus with a mark of 60.11m (197-2). Other top performances came at the Oklahoma Throws Series, where he hit a discus PR at 64.10m (210-4) to move into No. 6 all-time in school history, and the USC dual meet, where he scored in three events including a win in the discus to help the Bruins to a sweep over the Trojans, marking the first time UCLA downed its crosstown rival in dual meet action on both the men's and women's sides since 2013.
Off the field of competition, Pinckney has been heavily involved in several organizations and committees through UCLA and the Big Ten. Pinckney serves as one of the co-leaders of UCLA's Black Student-Athlete Alliance, helping with organizational recruitment and programming while facilitating discussions around topics such as NIL, mental health, and the evolving NCAA landscape. Pinckney serves as the track & field representative on UCLA's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and is also a UCLA rep on the Big Ten SAAC.
Rice helped UCLA to new program records in best start to a season (23-0), consecutive wins (23) and consecutive wins by double digits (22). The point guard finished her junior campaign with single-season career-best shooting splits in field goal percentage (.485) and 3-point percentage (.365) as the Bruins' second-leading scorer (12.8 PPG). Rice led the Bruins in assists on the year, dishing a career-best 170 dimes in 34 appearances; the Bethesda, Md., native has had 100 or more assists in each of her three seasons at UCLA. She was an All-Big Ten first team selection, an Associated Press (AP) All-America honorable mention and a College Sports Communicators Academic All-America first team member. Rice helped the program reach new heights as UCLA achieved its first-ever No. 1 ranking in the AP poll. UCLA sat atop the rankings for 12-consecutive weeks, setting a new Big Ten record after nine weeks in the No. 1 spot. Rice and the Bruins made their first-ever NCAA Women's Final Four appearance after defeating No. 3-seed LSU in a rematch from the 2024 Sweet Sixteen.
The point guard is an active member of the Los Angeles community; she makes regular visits to the Dream Center, which provides support to those affected by homelessness, hunger and lack of education through residential and community outreach programs. Rice and the women's basketball Bruins also volunteer at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital, often leading creative and meaningful sessions designed around interests and abilities of patients. On a monthly basis, Rice helps her teammates sort plastic bottles, cans and glass collected across campus before they are transported to local recycling center; funds go directly toward sponsors from Salvation Army, Team Impact and families living at Dream Center.
Players Mentioned
