LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the second consecutive season, Kansas running backs Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. have been selected as preseason candidates for the Doak Walker Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top running back. The 2024 watch list was announced Tuesday by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum.
The award is named for SMU’s three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. It is the only major collegiate award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification. Each Tuesday of this season, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum will announce a Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week.
Neal is on his second preseason watch list of the season after being recognized by the Maxwell Award on July 29. Neal enters his senior season after becoming the third player in Kansas football history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. In 2023, Neal ran for 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns on 203 attempts, averaging 6.3 yards per carry on his way to earning All-Big 12 Second Team honors. His 16 rushing touchdowns are tied for the second most in school history, while his 1,280 rushing yards is ranked No. 4 in school history for a single season.
A hometown native of Lawrence, Kansas, Neal is in position to pursue several school records at Kansas during his senior season. He enters the year ranked No. 4 on the career rushing list with 3,077 yards and No. 3 with 33 touchdowns. Neal has also accumulated 457 receiving yards, and he ranks No. 8 in school history with 3,534 all-purpose yards in his career.
Hishaw earns a spot on the watch list for a second-straight season after ranking second on the team in 2023 with 626 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. He ran for a career-high 134 yards and two touchdowns in KU’s 51-22 victory over UCF last season and averaged 5.2 yards per carry for the year.
From Moore, Oklahoma, Hishaw has appeared in 26 games as a Jayhawk, including all 13 last season as Kansas secured the program’s first bowl victory since 2008. In his career, Hishaw has rushed for 1,117 yards and 15 touchdowns, while averaging 5.1 yards per carry.
The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name ten semifinalists in November, and three finalists, as voted on by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, will also be announced in November. The committee will cast a second vote in December to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of past recipients, former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives. The recipient of the 2024 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on December 12, 2024.
2024 Kansas Football Preseason Watch Lists:
Maxwell Award – QB Jalon Daniels, RB Devin Neal
Patrick Mannelly Award – LS Luke Hosford
Bronko Nagurski Award – CB Cobee Bryant
Paycom Jim Thorpe Award – CB Cobee Bryant
Allstate Wuerffel Trophy – TE Jared Casey
Walter Camp Award – QB Jalon Daniels
Doak Walker Award – RB Devin Neal, RB Daniel Hishaw Jr.
