Former Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon and men’s tennis player JJ Tracy were selected on Tuesday as Ohio State’s 2024 Athletes of the Year. The honor places Sheldon and Tracy, who both 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 following 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 a 25-5 record (16-2 in Big Ten) and their second Big Ten regular season championship in the last three seasons.
Sheldon’s efforts her senior season placed her among the program’s 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 be selected fifth overall by the Dallas Wings in the WNBA Draft held last April. She has averaged 2.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.4 steals in 13.5 minutes per contest across her first seven games with the franchise.
Tracy also had an impressive senior season. The Powell, Ohio, native finished his year with a combined record, both individually and in doubles, of 77-12, the second-most wins in a single-season in program history. He also captured a pair of championships this fall while taking the turf, first winning the doubles title at the ITA All-American Championship alongside Robert Cash in Oct, then becoming part of just the third Buckeye duo to win an NCAA doubles national 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 semifinals of the NCAA Championship this season, earned some other notable individual honors. 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.
Tracy, who is the second consecutive men’s tennis player to be named an Ohio State Athlete of the Year, joining James Trotter in 2023, finished his Ohio State career with 235 career wins, the fifth-most in program history.
