Elite

Every Elite Rookie of the Year

See all the Rookie of the Year winners from 2004 to today.

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The Bassmaster Rookie of the Year trophy has been awarded to debuting anglers since 2004. Find out who claimed the top rookie prize over the years.
2004 – Greg Hackney
Greg Hackney, who claimed the 2004 ROY, won the AOY a decade later in 2014. In 2004, Hackney finished inside the Top 10 on the Bassmaster Tour three times. It was a great start to a great career that includes six career victories, which stands tied for fifth among active Elites. Hackney, who has 19 Bassmaster Classic appearances, is the leading active B.A.S.S. money earner with $2.9 million.
2005 – Dave Wolak
Dave Wolak won his Rookie of the Year title in 2005 after finishing inside the top 25 four times on the Bassmaster Tour. Wolak competed on the Elite Series until 2011, qualifying for five Bassmaster Classics.
2006 – Steve Kennedy
Steve Kennedy finished in the Top 10 four times in his 2006 ROY campaign, the first year of the Elite Series. Kennedy, in his 20th year on the Elites, has won three Elite titles and qualified for 11 Classics. He is among a handful of Elites with more than $2 million in earnings.
2007 – Derek Remitz
Derek Remitz made his presence known quickly on the Elite Series, winning his first entry on his way to the 2007 ROY. In the season opener on Texas’ Lake Amistad, Remitz totaled 111 pounds to take down some of the biggest names in fishing. He became the fourth youngest winner on the Elite Series at 24. Remitz would go on to qualify for three Bassmaster Classics.
2008 – Bobby Lane
“Big Fish” Bobby Lane placed inside the top 20 three times en route to his 2008 ROY title. Lane, who is fishing the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens in hopes of returning to the Elites, has won an Elite and an Open. He qualified for 12 Classics and has earned more than $1.4 million with B.A.S.S.
2009 – Billy McCaghren
Billy McCaghren of Arkansas took the Rookie of the Year honors in 2009 with three top 25 finishes. McCaghren fished the Elites until 2016, qualifying for two Classics.
2010 – Bradley Roy
Bradley Roy, the youngest person to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series at 19, claimed the Rookie of the Year title over Cliff Crochet and Keith Poche in 2010. Roy went on to qualify for three Classics.
2011 – Ott Defoe
Ott Defoe claimed the 2011 Rookie of the Year title with two top five finishes followed by winning the 2011 Evan Williams Bourbon All-Star Championship on the Alabama River. Defoe finished fourth in the AOY standings that season. He would become the first ROY to win a Classic, which he accomplished in 2019 on his home waters of the Tennessee River. Defoe won six B.A.S.S. events, including three Opens on Douglas Lake, and has earned $1.6 million.
2012 – Brandon Card
Brandon Card, the first Bassmaster College Series angler to qualify for the Elites, has been a fixture on the Elites since his ROY in 2012. Card has qualified for seven Bassmaster Classics and is closing in on joining the Millionaires Club with $961,048 in earnings.
2013 – Hank Cherry
Hank Cherry won the 2013 ROY and took home that year’s All-Star week trophy. In the 2013 Classic on Grand Lake, Cherry lost the potential winning fish on the final day and finished third. Seven years later, Cherry won the Classic on Lake Ray Roberts then went back-to-back in the 2021 Guntersville Classic. One of seven anglers to win multiple Classics, he is only ROY to accomplish it. Cherry has four B.A.S.S. titles and has earned $1.58 million.
2014 – Jacob Powroznik
Jacob Powroznik had a stellar 2014, when he almost added AOY to his ROY. Powroznik only missed one Top 50 cut and won the Toledo Bend Elite and the AOY Championship tournament. Powroznik, who has qualified for the Classic nine times, has five victories and is a B.A.S.S. millionaire.
2015 – Brent Ehrler
Californian Brent Ehrler was the first angler from the West to capture an ROY, narrowly edging Jordan Lee and bringing out a change in rookie status based on previous earnings. Ehrler fished the Elites from 2015 to 2018 and qualified for four Classics, nearly winning in 2018 behind Lee.
2016 – Drew Benton
Drew Benton has been one of the most consistent anglers since joining the Elites and taking ROY in 2016. In his first year, Benton missed only one cut and reached the final day twice. Benton added a second Elite title in 2023 and has qualified to eight Classics while earnings $1.14 million at B.A.S.S.
2017 – Dustin Connell
Dustin Connell had four top 25s and an Elite win in claiming the 2017 ROY. Connell edged out Kevin VanDam on Ross Barnett to become the first former Bassmaster College Series angler to win an Elite.
2018 – Jake Whitaker
In 2018, Jake Whitaker got off to a slow start but made five consecutive cuts, including a fifth at the Sabine River, to take the ROY. Whitaker, who has qualified for three Bassmaster Classics, had posted 13x Top 10 finishes with B.A.S.S.
2019 – Drew Cook
Only missing one cut, Drew Cook won ROY by topping the likes of Lee Livesay and Patrick Walters. Cook notched five top 20 finishes, which included three Top 10s. An annual Classic qualifier, Cook won his first Elite in 2022 on Santee Cooper, earning a Century Club belt with 105 pounds, 5 ounces. He’s competed in six Classics, made 16 Top 10s and earned $867,405.
2020 – Austin Felix
Austin Felix finished in the top 25 six times in 2020, including two top fives, to take the ROY. Felix, who won the Elite title at Lake Oahe in 2022, has been to four Classics.
2021 – Josh Stracner
Josh Stracner climbed over four others in the final event to edge the rookie field in 2021. Stracner, who is no longer on the Elite Series, had an impressive run in 2021 that consisted of four top 25 finishes, qualifying him for his only Classic.
2022 – Jay Przekurat
Jay Przekurat began his Bassmaster career with two co-angler titles in Opens, then made the Elites the next year and stacked up impressive feats in taking the 2022 ROY. His victory the St. Lawrence River made him the youngest Elite winner at 23 years and 26 days. He was the first person in Elite Series history to earn a Century Club belt with only smallmouth. He won the 2024 Lake St. Clair Open and has finished in the Top 10 in AOY each of his four years.
2023 – Joey Cifuentes
Arkansan Joey Cifuentes held off a stacked rookie field in 2023 to become the only Elite Series Rookie of the Year to win twice in a rookie season. In 2023, Cifuentes finished inside the Top 25 in seven out of nine Elite tournaments. His two wins in 2023 were at Lake Seminole and Lake St. Clair.
2024 – Trey McKinney
Trey McKinney, the Carbondale, Ill., teenager, capped his first Elite season by winning the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year title on the St. Lawrence River. McKinney, who also led the Bassmaster Angler of the Year race for much of the season, became the youngest ROY winner in the history of the Elite Series. He won the 2025 St. Clair Elite and has now twice been AOY runner-up.
2025 – Tucker Smith
Tucker Smith added to his impressive list of accolades by becoming the 2025 Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year. Smith battled all season with his roommate Paul Marks before taking the title on Day 2 at the Upper Mississippi River. During his ROY campaign, Smith won a Century Club belt shootout at Lake Fork.

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