Martin, Leonard-Baker, Mehaffey Win Bill Kajikawa Award
TEMPE, Ariz. – Three Sun Devil student-athletes were selected as the 2021 recipients of the Bill Kajikawa Award: Remy Martin from men's basketball, Cairo Leonard-Baker from gymnastics and Olivia Mehaffey from women's golf.
The award is annually presented to one male and one female (two this year due to a tie in the voting) graduating senior student-athlete in recognition for his and her contributions at Arizona State University in honor of legendary Sun Devil Bill Kajikawa. Sun Devil Athletics selects the Kajikawa Award recipients based on demonstrated academic excellence, athletic accomplishment, leadership and service in the community.
For men's basketball and gymnastics, these are their second honorees since the start of the award in 2016. Mehaffey is the first to win the award for women's golf.
Remy Martin, men's basketball
Remy Martin (BS, sociology, 2020) earned All-Pac-12 first-team honors in 2020-21 and 2019-20 and was a second-team pick in 2018-19. He led The Sun Devils to three straight 20-win seasons (2017-20) and back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2018 and 2019 for the first-time since 1980 and 1981. He was the league's co-Sixth Man of the Year in his freshman season (2017-18 and became just the second Sun Devil to earn All-Pac-12 honors three times, joining Ike Diogu (2003-05).
He finished his career on the ASU charts sixth in points (1,754), second in assists (466), 10th in field goals (591), third in free throws made (396) and eighth in steals (151). His impact on the home crowd was overwhelming, as in his first three years ASU averaged more than 10,140 fans per game after averaging 6,087 in the three years prior to his arrival.
Cairo Leonard-Baker, gymnastics
Cairo Leonard-Baker (BA, interdisciplinary studies, 2021) made her case to be a Sun Devil Gymnastics legend right from the start of her career and has only strengthened that case over her four years. The Oakland, California, native has been a dominating force on the team, winning 36 event titles over her career, including 17 on bars alone. She has also scored a 9.900 or higher 48 times.
A three-time All-American, she is the first All-American since 2010 for ASU. She earned All-America regular-season honors in 2018 in the all-around and 2019 on bars. She also earned All-America Second Team honors after her performance on bars at the NCAA Championships in 2019, scoring a 9.900 to take ninth place. She won NCAA Regional bars titles in 2019 and 2021. Leonard-Baker has qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual three times: 2021 (bars), 2019 (bars) and 2018 (all-around). She was the first Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year in program history, which she won after her strong freshman season in 2018. Cairo has also earned all-conference honors at the end of each season, the first Sun Devil to do so since 2006.
Olivia Mehaffey, women's golf
Olivia Mehaffey (BS, sociology, 2019) is a three-time First Team All-Pac-12 performer (2017, 2018, 2019) and four-time WGCA All-American (Second Team - 2018, 2019; Honorable Mention - 2017, 2020), Mehaffey has completed her undergraduate degree in sociology with a 3.75 grade-point average and is pursuing a graduate degree in organizational leadership with a current 4.00 GPA. She was the recipient of the 2021 Pac-12 Women's Golf Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Electing to exercise her fifth year for the 2020-21 season, Mehaffey has recorded three top-10 finishes for the Golfstat No. 7 nationally ranked Sun Devils, highlighted by a second-place showing in ASU's victory at the Clover Cup. That runner-up performance featured a career-best and program-record 10-under-par 62 in the final round. Additional career accomplishments include four individual event victories, highlighted by the 2019 Pac-12 individual and 2019 NCAA Norman Regional titles, along with a contributor on ASU's 2017 NCAA National Championship team. She has amassed 23 career top-10 performances and 69 rounds under par including 22 rounds in the 60s, all totals that rank among the best in NCAA history.