Wills, Boudia Earn Big Ten's Top Diving Honors

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Purdue’s Tyler Wills has been selected as the Big Ten Diver of the Year after winning silver on platform at both championship meets, guided to the dual-medalist showing by Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year David Boudia.

The Big Ten Conference announced its annual yearly honorees for men’s and women’s swimming & diving Thursday.

Wills becomes the sixth Boilermaker (fourth male) to win Big Ten Diver of the Year. With Olympic medalists Steele Johnson and Boudia both being three-time honorees during their collegiate careers, Purdue has produced 11 Big Ten Divers of the Year since Carrie McCambridge was the Boilermakers’ first honoree in 2004.

BIG TEN DIVERS OF THE YEAR – PURDUE MEN
• Steven LoBue – 2006
• David Boudia – 2009, 2010, 2011
• Steele Johnson – 2015, 2017, 2018
• Tyler Wills – 2026

Boudia was specifically recognized as Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year for his work with the Purdue men. In his second year as head diving coach, it’s the first such honor for a man who was also Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year as well as a three-time Big Ten Diver of the Year and three-time Big Ten Diver of the Championships as a student-athlete. Boudia succeeded his coach and mentor, Adam Soldati, in the summer of 2024 following Soldati’s ALS diagnosis. Soldati was a 10-time Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year, good for second most in conference history. He continues to serve as the director of diving at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.

As a sophomore this season, Wills won silver on platform at the NCAA Championships and Big Ten Championships. He accounted for the Big Ten’s top finish in a diving event at NCAAs this year. He became the first Boilermaker to medal in the same event at both Big Tens and NCAAs since Brandon Loschiavo (dual gold) and Ben Bramley (silver at NCAAs, bronze at Big Tens) in 2021.

Nathaniel Grannis and Wills were among the 21 men’s divers nationally (five from the Big Ten) to qualify for the NCAA Championships in all three events. Under the tutelage of Boudia and assistant coach Mark Bradshaw, all six of Purdue’s men’s divers qualified for NCAAs and the Boilers produced an All-American in all three events for the fourth time this decade.

Purdue accounted for three of the top 15, and four of the top 20 finishers on platform at NCAAs. Zach Welsh (10th on 1-meter), Max Miller (14th on 3-meter), Grannis (14th on platform) and Holden Higbie (15th on platform) all earned honorable mention All-America honors with their scoring finishes. All of Purdue’s 32 team points were scored in the diving events – a total that ranked sixth among diving only and placed the Boilermakers 29th overall at the national championship meet.

Wills medaled on the Tower at the Big Ten Championships for the second year in a row and demonstrated his overall improvement by finishing top 10 in all three events at Big Tens for the first time. He was a three-time Big Diver of the Week honoree after winning a combined five events at Purdue’s dual meets in January, becoming the first Boilermaker since the fall of 2019 to win three weekly awards in a span of four weeks. Wills was victorious on platform at the NCAA Zone C Championships with a lifetime best score of 465.20, moving into seventh place in program history.

Boudia also helped guide Miller to a Big Ten title on 1-meter, the Purdue men’s first in the event since Boudia in 2011. Even with Welsh not coming at Big Tens, the Boilermakers were the top-scoring team in the diving events – racking up 52 more points than second-place Minnesota. Grannis and Wills both finished top 10 in all three events, with Kaden Springfield and Higbie also scoring in all three events. Higbie and Grannis teamed up for a sweep of the consolation finals, which is believed to be a program first.

Purdue had silver medalists on platform at both the men’s and women’s Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships. Daryn Wright doubled up on the women’s side. The Boilermakers had both men’s and women’s diving medalists at NCAAs for the fourth time – also accomplishing the feat in 2008, 2011 and 2021. Avery Worobel (3-meter) and Miller also gave Purdue men’s and women’s Big Ten champions for the first time since 2020.

All six of the Boilers’ men’s divers are slated to return for the 2026-27 season.