OKLAHOMA CITY -- John Brown University sophomore Marcos Miranda was named the 2025 Sooner Athletic Player of the Year, capping a season in which seven Golden Eagles earned All-Conference honors and the program advanced to the SAC tournament final, the league office announced Wednesday morning (Nov. 12).
Miranda, who repeated as an All-Conference selection after earning second-team honors a year ago, headlined a JBU contingent that placed two players on the first team and five on the second team. He becomes the program's sixth Player of the Year since 2000 after producing two goals and three assists across eight conference starts, ranking fifth in the league in assists and tied for ninth in points (7).
Joining Miranda on the All-SAC first team was junior Atim Roper, who ranked among the conference's most consistent attacking threats. Roper finished tied for fifth in the Sooner in points (10) and tied for third in assists (4), collecting three goals in eight league matches – while converting both of his penalty attempts. The pair fueled an offense that produced goals in every conference outing but one and finished as the league's highest-scoring unit with 21 goals in nine matches.
The second team group featured a balanced mix of experience and versatility. Sophomore Alejandro Gallardo, the 2024 Freshman of the Year, returned to all-conference form despite limited action, notching two goals and an assist in four league appearances. Junior Amaury Jarry contributed two goals in eight starts, while junior Kendal Madrigal added two goals and three assists, matching Miranda for ninth in the conference in points (7) and fifth in assists (3).
Senior Ahmed Abess anchored the Blue and Gold back line and was one of two Golden Eagles to log all 810 minutes of the nine-match conference schedule. The veteran's consistency guided a unit that conceded just 13 goals in league play – an average of 1.44 per match – and helped record two clean sheets.
Between the posts, senior Adam Tebbs joined Abess on the second team after finishing fifth in the SAC in both goals allowed (10) and save percentage (.730). Tebbs appeared in seven conference matches, producing two shutouts and a 3-1-3 record while helping the Golden Eagles maintain one of the league's stingiest defensive marks.
John Brown's collective balance carried into the postseason, where the Golden Eagles defeated Texas Wesleyan in the quarterfinals and Mid-America Christian in overtime in the semifinals before falling to Oklahoma City in overtime of the championship match. The postseason performance capped a 5-1-3 league campaign that secured a second-place regular-season finish and marked the program's first appearance in the conference final since 2019.
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