Top 5 best players of all time who won the Dick Howser Trophy

College baseball's Dick Howser Trophy honors the nation's top collegiate player in a given year. The award began in 1987, the year its namesake, the popular manager of the Kansas City Royals, died of brain cancer. In nearly four decades, some amazing players have been honored.

Here are the top five best players of all time who won the award.

Top 5 best players of all time who won the Dick Howser Trophy

Shown here as a manager in 2016, Robin Ventura was a legendary college baseball star and winner of the 1988 Howser Trophy.

#5. Brooks Kieschnick, Texas

Modern fans have been impressed with Shohei Ohtani and Jac Caglianone as two-way stars. But Kieschnick, the only player to ever win the Howser Trophy twice (1992 and 1993), was another of that rare breed. In three years at Texas, Kieschnick hit .360 with 43 homers. On the mound, he was 34-8 with a 3.05 ERA.

Picked No. 10 in the 1993 MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs, Kieschnick's pro career was underwhelming. As a hitter, he batted .248 with 16 MLB home runs in 306 at-bats. On the mound, he was 2-2 with a 4.59 ERA in 96 innings. Still, nobody could take away his two-way days of college glory.

#4. J.D. Drew, Florida State

One of the first big-money MLB draft stars, Drew was a brilliant player at Florida State. He won the 1997 Howser Trophy after a season of hitting. .455 with 31 home runs and 100 RBIs. He batted .391 with 69 college home runs. Drafted No. 2 in 1997 by the Philadelphia Phillies, Drew refused to sign and was subsequently taken No. 5 by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998 for $7 million.

Drew was a good but perhaps not great player in MLB. He batted .278 with 242 career home runs and a single All-Star Game appearance in 2008. He also won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2007.

#3. Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State

Ventura won the second-ever Howser Trophy in 1988. A pure lefty slugger, Ventura hit .428 with 68 home runs in three years of college. That included a 58-game hitting streak, which is still an NCAA Division I record. Furthermore, Ventura went on to win a gold medal with the 1988 US Olympic baseball team.

As a pro, Ventura was taken No. 10 in the 1988 MLB draft. He had a solid career with the Chicago White Sox and other teams, finishing at .267 with 294 career home runs. Ventura made two All-Star teams and won six Gold Glove awards at third base. He had 18 grand slams, which is one of the highest marks in MLB history.

#2. Buster Posey, Florida State

Posey had a remarkable 2008 season, in which he won the Howser Trophy. Buster batted .463 that year, with 26 home runs and 93 RBIs. Posey had the athleticism of a middle infielder but was a rifle-armed catcher for the Seminoles.

Posey was chosen No. 5 in the 2008 MLB draft. A seven-time All-Star, Posey won the 2012 NL MVP award. His career was prematurely ended due to injury, as he retired at age 34 after an All-Star season in 2021. Posey hit .302 for his career with 158 home runs.

#1. Todd Helton, Tennessee

Helton is the only Howser Trophy winner to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. At one point a quarterback for the UT football team (before he lost the job to Peyton Manning), Helton hit and pitched for the Vols. He batted .407 with 20 home runs and 92 RBIs in 1995 while going 8-2 with 12 saves and a 1.66 ERA on the mound.

Helton won the 1995 Howser Trophy and was picked No. 8 in the 1995 MLB draft by the Colorado Rockies. A five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner, Helton hit .316 with 369 homers. Injuries slow him, but in the first half of the 2000s decade, Helton ripped 186 home runs. Not bad for a converted football player.

Which Howser Trophy winner did you think was the best? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.