Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson was named the Golden Spikes Award winner as the best amateur baseball player in the country. The announcement was made on Monday.
The junior earned 2026 SEC Player of the Year honors after leading the conference in Triple Crown categories with a .396 batting average, 31 home runs and 86 RBI. Overall, he finished with a triple-slash line of .379/.473/.803. And with 26 stolen bases, Jackson became the third player in NCAA Division I history — and first catcher — to register 30-plus homers and at least 25 stolen bases.
The Bulldogs went 53-14 overall and 23-7 in the SEC, winning the Athens Regional and Super Regional to advance to the College World Series. Georgia was eliminated by eventual national champion Oklahoma.
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Jackson becomes the sixth consecutive SEC player and second Georgia player in three years to win the Golden Spikes Award, joining 2024 winner Charlie Condon.
Last year, Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy won the Golden Spikes Award after recording a .350/.434/.653 slash line with 21 homers and 68 RBI for the 50-15 Razorbacks, who finished second in the SEC with a 20-10 record before losing in the College World Series to national champion LSU.
Aloy was a first-round pick (No. 31 overall) of the Baltimore Orioles last year.
Prior to Aloy and Condon, LSU outfielder Dylan Crews, infielder Ivan Melendez of Texas (although the Longhorns were in the Big 12 in 2022) and Arkansas pitcher Kevin Kopps earned honors as the nation’s top college baseball player.
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Established in 1978, past Golden Spikes Award winners include current major leaguers Bryce Harper, Adley Rutschman, Andrew Vaughn, Andrew Benintendi and Kris Bryant. Other notable names to win the award are Stephen Strasburg, Buster Posey, David Price, Tim Lincecum and Jason Varitek.
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