CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ACC/SMU) – SMU diver and NCAA Champion Luke Sitz has been named the 2026 ACC Men's Diver of the Year, and head diving coach Darian Schmidt earned ACC Men's Diving Coach of the Year, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced in a release on Thursday. This is the first time a Mustang has claimed either ACC honor.

2026 CSCAA Diver of the Year Luke Sitz put on a clinic at the 2026 NCAA DI Men's Swimming & Diving Championships, coming back to Dallas with a national championship and a silver medal. On 1-meter, the diver put up a score of 428.10 to win SMU's first national title in the event. Sitz secured a silver medal on 3-meter after breaking the school record twice in a single day. At the finals, he posted a mark of 495.30, the highest 3-meter score in SMU history and just 2.45 points from a first-place finish.

Showcasing his immense improvement since the NCAA Championships in 2025, his score on 3-meter was an astounding 139.45 points higher than the year prior. He earned First-Team All-America honors on both events. The last time a Mustang earned an NCAA title in diving was in 1990, when Scott Donie earned gold on 3-meter and on platform. At the 2025 NCAA DI Swimming & Diving Championships, Sitz finished seventh overall as a freshman, earning him a spot on the All-America First-Team.

The sophomore also found success at the conference level, nabbing SMU's first individual ACC Championship. On 1-meter, he threw down a then-school record of 429.75 to place first. After scoring a 420.60 on 3-meter, Sitz earned a bronze medal. Throughout the 2025-26 season, the All-American was awarded five ACC Diver of the Week honors, bringing his career total to 11. He currently ranks second in the ACC for the most career Diver of the Week wins.

Outside of collegiate competition, the diver has already made a name for himself. At the 2025 USA Diving Winter Nationals, Sitz posted three podium finishes: bronze on 3-meter, silver on 1-meter and silver on 3-meter synchro. While competing at the World University Games in 2025, he earned a bronze on 3-meter and a silver on 3-meter synchro. Breaking a 28-year drought, Sitz's podium finish was the first medal for Team UniUSA on 3-meter springboard since 1997.

During his time at SMU, Schmidt has led the diving program to new heights. Four Mustangs have earned All-American status under Schmidt: Luke Sitz (2025, 2026), Parker Hardigree (2022), Peter Smithson (2020) and Bryce Klein (2018). All three program diving records have been shattered while Schmidt has been at SMU, with Sitz owning both the 1-meter record (429.75) and 3-meter record (495.30) and Peter Smithson holding the record on platform (419.50). The Indiana native has coached four Mustangs to conference diver of the year honors: Luke Sitz (ACC, 2026), Peter Smithson (American, 2020-23), Parker Hardigree (American, 2019) and Bryce Klein (American, 2018). 

Throughout Schmidt's nine seasons with the Mustangs, he has claimed eight conference diving coach of the year honors on the men's side. While in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2024, Schmidt was recognized as the Atlantic Sun Men's Diving Coach of the Year. Prior to that, Schmidt earned six consecutive American Athletic Conference Men's Diving Coach of the Year honors (2018-23) and was awarded an AAC Women's Diving Coach of the Year in 2021. In total, Schmidt has coached his divers to 18 conference championship titles.

As a student-athlete at Indiana, Schmidt was a four-time All-American and four-time Big Ten Champion. In 2013 and 2014, he was named the conference Diver of the Year, while earning Big Ten Diver of the Championships honors in 2012, 2013 and 2014.