College Sports
Michigan State’s Isaac Howard named USA Hockey’s college player of the year
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The accolades keep rolling in for rising senior Isaac Howard following a historic 2024-25 campaign, who was announced as the recipient of USA Hockey’s Jim Johannson College Player of the Year award on Tuesday. Howard is the fourth Spartan to earn this distinction, following in the footsteps of Jeff Lerg (2007), […]
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The accolades keep rolling in for rising senior Isaac Howard following a historic 2024-25 campaign, who was announced as the recipient of USA Hockey’s Jim Johannson College Player of the Year award on Tuesday. Howard is the fourth Spartan to earn this distinction, following in the footsteps of Jeff Lerg (2007), Ryan Miller (2001), and Mike York (1999). He’ll be officially recognized during the USA Hockey President’s Award Dinner on Friday, June 6 in Denver.
Howard previously became the program’s third all-time recipient of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award after delivering a career-best 26 goals and 52 points across Michigan State’s 37 games. He ranked first nationally in points per game (1.41), was third in goals per game (0.70), and finished No. 23 in assists per game (0.70). In addition to being named a First Team AHCA All-American, Howard earned Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and First Team All-B1G.
The Jim Johannson College Player of the Year award was first established in 1994 and recognizes the accomplishments of the top American-born player in NCAA Division I men’s college hockey. In 2019, the award was renamed in honor of Johannson, who won a national championship while playing at the University of Wisconsin and spent two decades as an executive at USA Hockey.
Howard is fresh off a gold medal at the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. The Hudson, Wis. native was named to the U.S. Hockey Men’s National Team in April, contributing an assist across four appearances in pool play in addition to an assist in an exhibition against Germany. Alongside Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale, who served as an assistant coach on Team USA, the pair helped the United States bring home its first gold medal at the World Championships since 1933.
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