EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan State University’s Isaac Howard and Joseph Dzierwa are in the national spotlight for their sport. Howard is the USA Hockey Jim Johannson College Player of the Year, while Dzierwa is one of 16 semifinalists for the National Pitcher of the Year award.

Howard continues to earn national awards after being named the Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner and now is the Johnannson College Player of the Year. He is coming off a gold medal win at the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. The Johannson Award recognizes the accomplishments of the top American-born player in NCAA Division I college hockey. This year, he had a career-best 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games, ranking first nationally in points per game (1.41). The Big Ten awarded him as the Player of the Year, Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and All-Big Ten First Team, and he was an ACHA All-American first-teamer.

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Dzierwa is in the run for his third national award. He is also a semifinalist for the USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award and the NCBWA’s Dick Howser Trophy. The Big Ten Pitcher of the Year is All-Big Ten First Team and the only player as a unanimous selection. He is 8-3 with a 2.83 ERA, collecting 104 strikeouts in 91.2 innings pitched with 15 starts. The first Spartan in program history to be a four-time Big Ten Player of the Week, he earned back-to-back awards twice this year.

Both players are from the Midwest, as Howard is a native of Hudson, Wis., and Dzierwa is from Haskins, Ohio.