Sandfort Earns Chris Street Award; Thelwell Kenny Arnold Spirit Award

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Senior Payton Sandfort and graduate student Drew Thelwell earned the top team honors for the University of Iowa men’s basketball team for the 2024-25 season. Sandfort was awarded the Chris Street Award, while Thelwell was the recipient of the Kenny Arnold Spirit Award.

The Chris Street Award is presented annually to a Hawkeye player, or players, who best exemplify the spirit, enthusiasm, and intensity of Chris Street. Street was an Iowa basketball player who died in an auto accident in 1993, midway through his junior year.

The Kenny Arnold Spirit Award is bestowed upon the player who best embodies Arnold’s spirit of leadership, character, courage, determination, and poise.  Three years after graduating, Arnold was diagnosed with a brain tumor and battled the disease for more than 30 years before passing away in April 2019.

Sandfort earned honorable mention All-Big Ten recognition after averaging 16.7 points, six rebounds and 2.9 assists as a senior. He scored in double figures in 27 games, had a team-high 14 20-point contests and tied for the team lead with three double-doubles.

The Waukee, Iowa, native, who was on the midseason top 10 list for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year, led the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage, making 34 percent of his attempts.  His 84 3-point field goals were third-most in the conference.

Sandfort closed out his career by matching a career-high with 30 points in the Big Ten Tournament against Illinois. He tied a Big Ten Tournament record with eight 3-pointers, which are tied for the third most in a game in program history.

He finished his Hawkeye career first in free throw percentage (.896), second in 3-point field goals (271) and 11th in scoring (1,619).

In his lone season in Iowa City, Thelwell was a fan favorite and emotional spark plug. The Orlando, Florida, native averaged 9.5 points, three assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals.  He reached double digits in 15 games with two 20-point and six 15+ point contests. 

Thelwell, a transfer from Morehead State, went over the 1,000-career point mark on Nov. 26 against USC Upstate.  He finished with 1,086 points, 425 assists, 354 rebounds and 138 steals in 143 career games.