Iowa’s Desmond King beats out UF’s Hargreaves for Jim Thorpe Award

Iowa’s Desmond King topped Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves III to win the Jim Thorpe Award Thursday night in Atlanta.

King, who told ESPN Wednesday that he is leaning toward returning to Iowa for his senior year, was a lightly recruited DB out of Detroit who didn’t even get offers from Michigan or Michigan State. He had a team-best 12 pass breakups and intercepted eight throws, tied for tops in the nation this year. He had two picks against Pittsburgh and Wisconsin twice apiece and took a pick back 88 yards for a score against Maryland.

He’s proven other coaches wrong.

“It’s kind of a vintage Phil Parker recruiting story,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz told the Detroit Free Press of his defensive coordinator.  “He had Desmond in the back of his mind. … I think the first time I saw him on tape was actually in January after our bowl game that year. The astute judge of talent I was, I figured he’d be a pretty good safety. The next fall he’s playing corner for us as a true freshman. That’s why Phil is in charge of evaluating the defensive backs.”

Jim Thorpe Award Finalists

Desmond King, Iowa

Stats: 8 interceptions, tied for No. 1 in the nation; 12 pass breakups, a team high.

Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida

Stats: 4 interceptions, tied for the team lead; 4 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble; 31 tackles.

Notes: Hargreaves was a key piece of Florida outstanding defense. He tied the team lead with four interceptions, which was an accomplishment in itself because most teams refusing to even test his side of the field.

Hargreaves is a likely first-round pick in the NFL draft this spring. The junior is leaning heavily toward going pro. “We’ve been talking about it. It’s not something we’ve been trying to hide. I most likely am going to declare for the NFL and see where it goes from there,” Hargreaves said after Saturday’s SEC title game. Hargreaves, a Tampa, Fla., native, has been a first-team all-SEC performer since his freshman year in 2013.

 Jeremy Cash, Duke

Stats: 101 tackles, 18.0 tackles for lost yardage, 2.5 sacks, eight quarterback pressures, four pass breakups, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Notes:  Cash, a senior from Miami, is one of only three active players with three or more 100-tackle seasons. Cash is ranked 12th in Duke history with 333 total tackles and sixth with 38.0 TFL. He is also the Blue Devils’ career leader in caused fumbles with nine.

Seven other SEC players have won the Jim Thorpe Award, which has been given out since 1986. They are Antonio Langham of Alabama (1993),  Lawrence Wright of Florida (1996), Carlos Rodgers of Auburn (2004), Eric Berry of Tennessee (2009),  Patrick Peterson and Morris Claiborne of LSU (2010, 2011) and Jonathan Banks of Mississippi State (2013)

Tom Brew

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist and author who is covering SEC football for Saturday Down South.