Ty Bryant Honored with New York Athletic Club Endowed Scholar-Athlete Award
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky senior safety Ty Bryant has been awarded the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) Endowed Scholar-Athlete Award, the organization announced on Tuesday. This recognition honors a senior football player for combining academic achievement, athletic performance and community leadership.
There is no better representative of those three attributes in college football than UK’s senior standout.
Bryant, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, boasts a 3.83 grade-point average and earned a degree in communication from UK in May of 2026. He is currently pursuing a second major in psychology. The senior is a two-time Southeastern Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll member after being named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll as a freshman. He has also been named to the UK’s Dean’s List five times.
In 2025, Bryant was the first Wildcat to be named a First-Team Academic All-American since Will Levis in 2022. Bryant is the 23rd player in school history to earn the official Academic All-America honor bestowed by College Sports Communicators (formerly College Sports Information Directors of America). Those 23 players have been named first or second team a total of 27 times. Bryant is the 14th Wildcat to be voted a first teamer. He was named to the Division I Academic All-District Team by CSC as a sophomore.
He’s also a leader off the field, serving on UK’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council and the SEC’s Football Leadership Council.
On the gridiron, Bryant has been a central piece to the Wildcats success in 2026 as one of the team’s leaders under first-year head coach Will Stein. He is currently a Campbell Trophy finalist and a Lott IMPACT Trophy quarterfinalist.
He has appeared in 46 career games and racked up 230 tackles, five tackles for a loss, nine interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and five pass breakups. With nine career picks, he ranks tied for fifth among all current FBS players. His four interceptions in 2026 are tied for the most the SEC with teammate Jordan Castell and ranks sixth nationally this season.
Bryant snared his fourth interception of the season in a win over Vanderbilt, marking the third straight game he picked off a pass. He’s the first UK player to achieve that feat since Danny Trevathan in 2011.
The senior safety had two picks in the win at Oklahoma, marking the second time in his career he has had multiple interceptions in the same game against an SEC opponent. He also achieved the feat against Ole Miss on Sept. 6, 2025. The 6-foot, 196-pounder also contributed nine tackles in the win over the Sooners.
He recorded his first interception of 2026 in the win over No. 10/10 LSU. Against Alabama, he registered his first career sack with 0.5 credit on a third-down play to couple with 10 total tackles. Bryant had 10 stops in the upset win at No. 9/8 Texas A&M, achieving double-digit tackles in consecutive games against ranked foes.
Bryant has amassed 68 tackles this season, tied for the second most on the squad. He has posted five or more stops in all nine games, including two outings with double-digit stops. He is a mere nine tackles away from setting a new career-best single-season mark. Bryant has also chipped in with a career-best three pass breakups in 2026.
For his career, Bryant has tallied four double-digit tackling efforts and has logged five or more stops in 21 career games. He is 10 tackles shy of amassing 250 for his career.
A three-year letterman, Bryant earned second-team All-SEC honors in 2025 after leading Kentucky with 76 tackles and tying for the conference lead with four interceptions as a junior.
Bryant and the Cats return home on Saturday to face Florida. Kickoff is slated for 6:15 p.m. ET and the game will air live on ESPN.
For more information on the UK football team, visit ukathletics.com/football and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and X.
