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Notre Dame Fighting Irish Slappy Awards: Best Male Athlete

By Mason Plummer

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 13: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly stands in the tunnel in front of his team before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 13: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly stands in the tunnel in front of his team before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /
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Continuing with our Notre Dame Fighting Irish Slappy Awards, we try to tab Notre Dame’s best overall male athlete.

The Slappy Awards are a full-go for the us at Slap the Sign. So far, we’ve dished out one Slappy, which was for best performance by male athlete. Make sure you go check that out. And make sure that you check out the rest of the Slappy Awards that are to come in the days ahead.

The next category is for Best Male Athlete. This is a tough decision, as this award is not necessarily a reflection of stats (although stats help highlight athletic achievement).

It was tough to come up with this one. Here are the nominees:

Dexter Williams:

After serving his four game suspension issued by Brian Kelly, running back Dexter Williams burst on to the scene for the Notre Dame offense. In his very first carry of the season, Williams took it to the house in what was one of the moments of the season against Stanford.

Williams finished the season with over 1,100 yards on the ground and 13 touchdowns in just eight games. The man was nearly unstoppable in the Irish offense as seemingly everything he touched turned into gold.

Ian Book:

Another guy who burst onto the scene for Notre Dame this past season was Ian Book. Taking over for Brandon Wimbush in Week 4, Book had an unreal game against Wake Forest that solidified him as QB1 at Notre Dame.

Against Wake Forest, Book was 25-34 for 325 yards and two touchdowns, along with 10 carries for 43 yards and 3 scores. Book put the world on notice in this game and truly took over at QB.

On the season, Book totaled over 2,600 yards passing and 23 total touchdowns. Not too shabby for a first-year starter who only started 9 games.

Miles Boykin:

Awfully quiet in his first two seasons in South Bend, Boykin burst onto the scene last year with his phenomenal performance against LSU in the Citrus Bowl. Many fans fondly Boykin’s miraculous one-handed catch that sealed the win for the Irish late on.

Ever since the Citrus Bowl, Boykin truly took over as Notre Dame’s No.1 receiver. This past season, Boykin led the Irish to a 12-1 season with an outstanding 59 catches for 872 yards and eight touchdowns.

John Mooney:

The man who nearly single-handedly carried the Notre Dame men’s basketball team was always going to get a nomination for Male Athlete of the Year.

Mooney averaged a double-double every time he touched the floor in a very bad 2018-19 Notre Dame basketball team. As the injuries piled up, the pressure on Mooney to carry the team on his back only increased.

Mooney was named to the All-ACC 3rd team which was probably less than he deserved,              but — as it is every year — the ACC was absolutely loaded with talent. It is hard to make the 1st or 2nd team with the likes of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Kyle Guy destroying the ACC week-in and week-out.

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