For the second-consecutive year, WKU claimed a top award in Conference-USA as former Hilltopper quarterback Brandon Doughty was named the 2016 C-USA Male Athlete of the Year on Thursday, according to a WKU press release. 

Doughty joined Lady Hilltopper All-American Miranda Kramer (2015) as the players that received the prestigious honor, with the pair claiming the awards in each of WKU’s first two years in the conference.

Florida Atlantic University softball pitcher Kylee Hanson was named the C-USA Female Athlete of the Year this season. 

Doughty broke every passing record in program history and holds 37 school records, including 17 career records.

He finished his three years as WKU’s starting quarterback with a record of 27-11, including 12 wins in 2015 on the way to WKU’s first-ever AP Top 25 ranking, first FBS conference championship and a second consecutive bowl win in the 2015 Miami Beach Bowl. 

Doughty’s 97 touchdown passes over the past two seasons were the most in consecutive seasons in FBS history, and he led the FBS in passing yards and passing touchdowns each of the past two seasons.

Already one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the country, Doughty added to his national-best numbers by leading the country in completion percentage (71.9) in 2015, becoming just the third quarterback in the last 50 years to lead the country in all three categories, joining Steve Young (BYU, 1983) and Colt Brennan (Hawai’I, 2006). 

Following the season, Doughty was selected in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, becoming the first WKU quarterback to be taken in the NFL Draft.

He grew up playing football in Davie, Florida, where the Dolphins practice, and he also played his final game in college in Miami at the 2015 Miami Beach Bowl.