Deo Benard Voted 2025 PBA Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award Winner
Deo Benard has been voted the 2025 PBA Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award winner.
Seventeen players were nominated for the award by players who competed in at least half of 2025 PBA Tour events. Benard received 76.67% of the final vote. Brad Miller, the 2020 recipient of this award, garnered the remaining 23.33%
“Getting the call from (Tom Clark) was unreal. I’m so thankful. Being nominated last year, honestly, I thought that was the coolest thing,” Benard said. “I try to make people smile. When I make other people smile, it makes me smile. I just like spreading love and giving out compliments. Anytime I can help people out, it helps me, too.
“I always try to make every interaction special,” Benard said. “Whether we're bowling a pro-am or competing with each other, I respect everyone and I want everyone to have a good time.”
The 21-year-old native of Roanoke, Texas is starting to build an impressive résumé at the age of 21. Benard has one PBA Tour title, 13 PBA Regional Tour titles and now a Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award.
“I've always felt like I was the youngest (on tour),” Benard said. “This is weird to me, that people way older than me actually accept me as a good person. Knowing that my peers accept me as a person will give me confidence.”
On tour, Benard often travels with Jake Peters and Richie Teece, who have combined to win three of the past four Nagy awards. Benard thanked Peters and Teece for taking him under their wing.
“They are such good people, so it's cool to win it with them,” Benard said. “Jake is always giving tips and helping me out. He’s always felt like a brother to me. Richie makes me laugh. We have a secret handshake.”
Deo Benard poses with past Nagy award winners and PBA Hall of Famers, Parker Bohn III and Mike Aulby, during 2024 PBA All-Star Weekend. Photo credit: PBA Commissioner Tom Clark
The PBA’s sportsmanship award honors Steve Nagy, a PBA Hall of Famer and founding member, and has been awarded since 1966, the year of Nagy’s death. He was instrumental to the early success of the PBA.
Recent PBA Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award Recipients
Deo Benard, 2025
Richie Teece, 2024
BJ Moore, 2023
Jake Peters, 2022
Jake Peters, 2021
Brad Miller, 2020
Martin Larsen, 2019
Tom Smallwood, 2018
Chris Loschetter, 2017
Tom Smallwood, 2016