Middle attacker Cameron Thorne’s first season at UCLA will include a national accolade.
Off the Block announced Wednesday that a nationwide voting committee selected Thorne as the recipient of the 2025 Dain Blanton Diversity Award.
The Dain Blanton Diversity Award, which is named after the former Pepperdine All-American and U.S. Olympian, recognizes the top NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball player during the regular season of a minority ethnicity.
This is the only national award in college men’s volleyball created specifically to celebrate the outstanding individual performances of minority players. Players of all backgrounds have significantly contributed throughout the history of college men’s volleyball helping teams win NCAA championships and earning numerous All-American honors.
Thorne finished with a .521 attack percentage and had double-digit kills in six matches, including a season-high 17 kills on an .842 attack percentage in a regular season win against UC Irvine. The middle attacker also was in the nation’s top 15 with a 1.10 blocks per game average to help UCLA advance to the NCAA Tournament finals.
The voting committee for the Dain Blanton Diversity Award was comprised of more than 25 college men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball media members from around the nation. The top-three vote-getters were named finalists for this national award.
Thorne received 38 votes to beat the runner-up CSUN opposite Jalen Phillips by 11 votes. Princeton opposite Nyherowo Omene finished in third place with 16 votes.
This is the seventh year that Off the Block has presented the Dain Blanton Diversity Award.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage.
2025 Dain Blanton Diversity Award voting results
1. Cameron Thorne, UCLA – 38 votes
2. Jalen Phillips, CSUN – 27 votes
3. Nyherowo Omene, Princeton – 16 votes
4. Isaiah Fedd, Fort Valley State – 12 votes
T-5. D’Aaron McCraney, McKendree – 4 votes
T-5. DiAeris McRaven, Long Beach State – 4 votes
7. Oguzhan Oguz, Lewis – 3 votes
T-8. Anthony Cherfan, UC San Diego – 1 vote
T-8. Eliel Salva Torres, Lincoln Memorial – 1 vote
T-8. Mustafar Selcuk Uyar, Menlo – 1 vote