OKLAHOMA CITY — With the highly anticipated 2026 NCAA Division I Softball season approaching, USA Softball has officially announced the Top 50 Watch List (including ties) for the 2026 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. This award recognizes outstanding athletic achievement among Division I collegiate softball players from across the nation.
Click here to view the 2026 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List »
The 2026 Top 50 Watch List draws from 24 universities representing five athletic conferences. Oklahoma and Texas lead all programs with five student-athletes each, followed by Florida State and Texas Tech with four selections apiece. Six programs — Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, LSU, Oregon and UCLA — are represented by three athletes, while three universities tab two athletes and 11 programs tally one. Among the 53 athletes and returning to the spotlight of the prestigious award is 2024 Player of the Year and 2025 Top 3 Finalist, NiJaree Canady (Texas Tech) along with 2025 Top 3 Finalist, Jordy Frahm (Nebraska) — while four additional 2025 Top 10 Finalists also return to the list including Lyndsey Grein (Oregon), Karlyn Pickens (Tennessee), Isa Torres (Florida State) and Jordan Woolery (UCLA).
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) leads all athletic conferences with 24 athletes selected, followed by the Big 12 Conference with 10. The Big Ten Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) are each represented by nine athletes, while the Sun Belt Conference rounds out the list with one selection.
| PLAYER | COLLEGE | POSITION | CURRENT YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reese Atwood | Texas | C/UTL | Sr. |
| Jaysoni Beachum | Florida State | INF | Jr. |
| Maci Bergeron | LSU | C | Sr. |
| Sydney Berzon | Oklahoma | P | Sr. |
| Ilove’a Brittingham | BYU | C/OF | So. |
| Kenzie Brown | Arizona State | P | Sr. |
| NiJaree Canady | Texas Tech | P/UTL | Sr. |
| Macey Cintron | Clemson | RHP/UTL | So. |
| Cassidy Curd | Duke | P | Sr. |
| Mihyia Davis | Texas Tech | OF | Sr. |
| Alexis DeBoer | Washington | 1B | So. |
| Tori Edwards | LSU | 1B | R-So. |
| Jocelyn Erickson | Florida | C | Sr. |
| Addisen Fisher | Georgia | P | So. |
| Jordy Frahm | Nebraska | RHP/UTL | Sr. |
| Jazzy Francik | Florida State | P | So. |
| Gabbie Garcia | Oklahoma | INF (SS) | So. |
| Megan Grant | UCLA | UTLIL | Sr. |
| Lyndsey Grein | Oregon | P | Sr. |
| Kennedy Harp | Florida State | OF | Jr. |
| Amari Harper* | Oregon | UTL | Sr. |
| Jayden Heavener | LSU | P | So. |
| Kayden Henry | Texas | OF | Jr. |
| Robyn Herron | Arkansas | P | Sr. |
| Georgia Hood | Coastal Carolina | 1B | 5th Year |
| Grace Jenkins | Arizona | UTL | Sr. |
| Teagan Kavan | Texas | P | Jr. |
| Dakota Kennedy | Arkansas | OF | Sr. |
| Taryn Kern | Stanford | INF | Sr. |
| Ava Kuszak | Nebraska | INF | Sr. |
| River Mahler | Stanford | INF | Sr. |
| Ashton Maloney | Texas | OF | Sr. |
| Rylee McCoy | Oregon | 1B | So. |
| Ella McDowell | Arkansas | INF | So. |
| Nelly McEnroe-Marinas | Oklahoma | INF (3B) | R-So. |
| Ruby Meylan | Oklahoma State | P | Sr. |
| Taylor Pannell | Texas Tech | INF | Jr. |
| Ella Parker | Oklahoma | UTL | Jr. |
| Mya Perez | Texas A&M | DP/1B | Jr. |
| Karlyn Pickens | Tennessee | P | SR |
| Kasidi Pickering | Oklahoma | OF | Jr. |
| Arianna Rodi | South Carolina | 1B | Sr. |
| Keagan Rothrock | Florida | P | Jr. |
| Regan Shockey | Arizona | CF | Jr. |
| Taylor Shumaker | Florida | OF | So. |
| Sydney Stewart | Arizona | C/UTL | Sr. |
| Katie Stewart | Texas | UTL | Jr. |
| Kaitlyn Terry | Texas Tech | P/UTL | Jr. |
| Taylor Tinsley | UCLA | P | Sr. |
| Isa Torres | Florida State | INF | Jr. |
| Audrey Vandagriff | Alabama | OF | So. |
| Aminah Vega | Duke | 2B | Sr. |
| Jordan Woolery | UCLA | INF | Sr. |
Branded as the most prominent individual honor in NCAA Division I Softball, previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award include Stacey Nuveman (UCLA – 2002), Cat Osterman (2003, 2005, 2006 – Texas), Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State – 2004), Monica Abbott (2007 – Tennessee), Angela Tincher (2008 – Virginia Tech), Danielle Lawrie (2009, 2010 – Washington), Ashley Hansen (Stanford – 2011), Keilani Ricketts (2012, 2013 – Oklahoma), Lacey Waldrop (2014 – Florida State), Lauren Haeger (2015 – Florida), Sierra Romero (2016 – Michigan), Kelly Barnhill (2017 – Florida), Rachel Garcia (2018, 2019 – UCLA), Jocelyn Alo (2021, 2022 – Oklahoma), Valerie Cagle (2023 – Clemson), NiJaree Canady (2024 – Stanford) and most recently, Bri Ellis (2025 – Arkansas).
The Top 25 Finalists for the 2026 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced on April 29. While an athlete does not have to be on the Watch List to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 Finalists. The Top 10 Finalists will be revealed May 13, with the Top 3 being released May 18. The 2026 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be announced prior to the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS).
In addition to crowning the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, USA Softball is now in its 24th season of presenting the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, which is announced on Tuesdays during the regular season. The 2026 Preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll was released on Jan. 20 with Texas (1), Texas Tech (1), Oklahoma, Tennessee and Oregon ranking in the Top 5, respectively.
Follow along with NCAA Softball all season long at USASoftball.com.