Cole Receives Nickolich Award
April 22, 2023 05:44 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University receiver C.J. Cole, a redshirt sophomore from Washington, Pennsylvania, is the winner of the 2023 Tommy Nickolich Memorial Award, presented by the Blue & Gold News.
Each spring, the Blue & Gold News awards the Tommy Nickolich Memorial Award to a walk-on team member who has distinguished himself through his attitude and work ethic. The award is presented in memory of Tommy Nickolich, a former WVU player (1979-82) who died of cancer in 1983.
Cole is in his third year as a member of the football team and has made a mark as a valuable member of the special teams. He played in nine games in 2022 and saw action on more than 50 special teams plays. Because of his hard work, he saw his playing time increase last season. He was used on a season-high 11 snaps at Oklahoma State and was named the offensive and special teams scout player of the week for the Virginia Tech game and won the Juice Award for the Towson game.
Cole earned All-Academic Big 12 First Team honors im 2022 and has earned spots on WVU's Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll and the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Past Nickolich Award winners:
1991 Keith Taparausky, RB
1992 Brett Parise, WR
1993 Matt McCulty, WR
1994 Randy Fulmore, DB
1995 Rob Keys, DB
1996 Matt Ceresa, OL
1997 David Lightcap, DB
1998 Mark Corman, TE
1999 Bryan Lorenz, LB
2000 Ben Collins, LB
2001 Jeremy Knapp, TE
2002 Moe Fofana, RB
2003 John Pennington, WR
2004 Jeff Noechel, LB
2005 George Shehl, H/DB
2006 Tim Lindsey, LS
2007 Andy Emery, LB
2008 Adam Hughes, LS
2009 Josh Taylor, DL
2010 Matt Lindamood, FB
2011 Ryan Nehlen, WR
2012 Tyler Anderson, DE
2013 Connor Arlia, WR
2014 Michael Calicchio, OL
2015 Justin Arndt, LB
2016 Jon Lewis, DL
2017 Nick Meadows, LS
2018 Evan Staley, K
2019 Jake Abbott, LB
2020 Osman Kamara, S
2021 Graeson Malashevich, WR/H
2022 Nick Malone, OL
2023 C.J. Cole, WR
Each spring, the Blue & Gold News awards the Tommy Nickolich Memorial Award to a walk-on team member who has distinguished himself through his attitude and work ethic. The award is presented in memory of Tommy Nickolich, a former WVU player (1979-82) who died of cancer in 1983.
Cole is in his third year as a member of the football team and has made a mark as a valuable member of the special teams. He played in nine games in 2022 and saw action on more than 50 special teams plays. Because of his hard work, he saw his playing time increase last season. He was used on a season-high 11 snaps at Oklahoma State and was named the offensive and special teams scout player of the week for the Virginia Tech game and won the Juice Award for the Towson game.
Cole earned All-Academic Big 12 First Team honors im 2022 and has earned spots on WVU's Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll and the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Past Nickolich Award winners:
1991 Keith Taparausky, RB
1992 Brett Parise, WR
1993 Matt McCulty, WR
1994 Randy Fulmore, DB
1995 Rob Keys, DB
1996 Matt Ceresa, OL
1997 David Lightcap, DB
1998 Mark Corman, TE
1999 Bryan Lorenz, LB
2000 Ben Collins, LB
2001 Jeremy Knapp, TE
2002 Moe Fofana, RB
2003 John Pennington, WR
2004 Jeff Noechel, LB
2005 George Shehl, H/DB
2006 Tim Lindsey, LS
2007 Andy Emery, LB
2008 Adam Hughes, LS
2009 Josh Taylor, DL
2010 Matt Lindamood, FB
2011 Ryan Nehlen, WR
2012 Tyler Anderson, DE
2013 Connor Arlia, WR
2014 Michael Calicchio, OL
2015 Justin Arndt, LB
2016 Jon Lewis, DL
2017 Nick Meadows, LS
2018 Evan Staley, K
2019 Jake Abbott, LB
2020 Osman Kamara, S
2021 Graeson Malashevich, WR/H
2022 Nick Malone, OL
2023 C.J. Cole, WR
Players Mentioned
Ryan Ward | April 6
Monday, April 06
Coach Ryan Garrett | April 6
Monday, April 06
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 6
Monday, April 06
Geimere Latimer | April 2
Thursday, April 02
