Desmond King already earned the title of the best defensive back in the Big Ten. Now he has the title of the best defensive back in college football.
Iowa's junior cornerback won the Jim Thorpe Award on Thursday night, taking home the hardware that honors the country's best defensive back.
King ranks second in the FBS with eight interceptions — the most in a single season in Iowa program history — and only five players in the nation have more passes defended than King's 20.
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Last week, King took home the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year award and earned all-conference honors. Now he'll have to clear some more room in the trophy case.
King is the first Iowa player to win the Thorpe Award and the seventh Big Ten player to earn the award. King's win gives the conference two of the last three winners. Michigan State's Darqueze Dennard won in 2013.
King joins Dennard, Ohio State's Malcolm Jenkins, Wisconsin's Jamar Fletcher, Minnesota's Tyrone Carter, Ohio State's Antoine Winfield and Michigan's Charles Woodson as Big Ten players to win the Thorpe Award.