FRESNO, Calif. - There are plenty of college football awards handed out during the course of the season, but few have as big an impact as the William V. Campbell Trophy, also known as the "Academic Heisman". For the second time in eight years, a Bulldog football player has been selected a finalist for the award.
Senior safety Moses Harris has been selected one of the nation's top student-athletes and will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship.
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) today announced the 2009 National Scholar-Athlete class, who will vie as the finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth. Selected as the best and the brightest from the college gridiron, from a nationwide pool of 154 semifinalists among all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, the 16 members of the 2009 class are:
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE - POSITION - SCHOOL - GPA
JON ASAMOAH - OG - University of Illinois - 3.82
BAUMAN - LB - Brigham Young University - 3.91
ERIC DECKER - WR - University of Minnesota - 3.42
Moses Harris - S - Fresno State - 3.56
TIM HILLER - QB - Western Michigan University - 4.00
PAUL JASINOWSKI - DT - Brown University - 3.70
BEAU KILDOW - WR - Morningside College (Iowa) - 4.00
JOSH MAHONEY - LB - University of Northern Iowa - 4.00
COLT McCOY - QB - University of Texas - 3.33
JARRELL NeSMITH - TE - Tusculum College (Tenn.) - 3.84
JOE PAWELEK - LB - Baylor University - 3.71
TODD REESING - QB - University of Kansas - 3.64
ZaVIOUS ROBBINS - WR - Hardin- Simmons University (Texas) - 3.90
TIM TEBOW - QB - University of Florida - 3.66
BLAINE WESTEMEYER - OT - Augustana College (Ill.) - 3.93
REED WILLIAMS - LB - West Virginia University - 3.86
A finance major who graduated in last May, Fresno State's Moses Harris is described by head coach Pat Hill as "the epitome of a Bulldog student-athlete and a major contributor to the academic and social leadership of our team". Harris is currently pursuing an MBA from the Craig School of Business at Fresno State.
Moses is an Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Award winner and has won Fresno State's Bulldog Spirit Award. He is a three-time Academic All-WAC selection and a two- time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection. He has been named to both the President's and Dean's lists and spent Summer 2008 studying International Finance in Hong Kong.
A three-year starter, Harris was a 2008 Second Team All-WAC selection, ranking third on the team with 75 tackles, which included four tackles for loss. As a sophomore, he blocked two kicks and recorded a career- high 10 tackles versus Louisiana Tech. Currently, he ranks second on the team with 33 tackles and one interception. During his career, Moses has tallied 179 tackles, two interceptions and 14 pass breakups.
The two-term president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, Harris is a participant in the Big Heroes/Little Heroes program. The Stockton, Calif., native frequently reads to youth at elementary schools and serves as a mentor to young children. He has also participated in Fresno State's Vintage Days as well as the Walk for the Cure and Corner Stone Church's feeding program.
"There is no doubt that this year's class of NFF National Scholar-Athletes is one of the greatest of all time," said NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. "Mediocrity is not in their lexicon in any aspect of their lives. They have exhibited the same drive to compete in the classroom that distinguished them on the field, and they have found the time to be leaders in their communities too. We will be very excited and proud to name one of these extraordinary young men the recipient of the 20th Anniversary William V. Campbell Trophy on Dec. 8."
The NFF's National Scholar-Athlete program, launched in 1959, is the first initiative in the history to award scholar-athletes post graduate scholarships for their combined athletic, academic and leadership abilities. This year's class members finds themselves in good company, as former National Scholar-Athletes include NFL standout Derrick Brooks (Florida State); actor Mark Harmon (UCLA); NASA astronaut Leland Melvin (Richmond); former Dateline NBC anchor Stone Phillips (Yale); chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters Tournament, Billy Payne (Georgia); famed NFL quarterback Steve Young (BYU); and Heisman Trophy winners Terry Baker (Oregon State), Gary Beban (UCLA), Doug Flutie (Boston College) and Danny Wuerffel (Florida).
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
Selected by the NFF Awards Committee, the 16 National Scholar-Athlete Award recipients will be honored at the 2009 NFF Annual Awards Dinner December 8 at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. The event will also include the induction of the 2009 College Football Hall of Fame and the presentation of several major awards.
"The 2009 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class boasts the highest average GPA in the history of our awards," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell winner) and Eli were NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "They are truly the best of the best among all college sports and the epitome of our mission to build leaders through football. Bob Mulcahy and the NFF Awards Committee should be credited for the research, time and commitment it took to select this outstanding group."
Each finalist will receive an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship, and one of the 16 will be announced as the recipient of the 20th Anniversary William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth (and formerly known as the Draddy Trophy), which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar- athlete in the nation.
Renamed this fall in honor of Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal, the award comes with a 25-pound bronze trophy and a $25,000 post- graduate scholarship. A total distribution of $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded that evening.
"Being at Fresno State has been a real amazing experience," said Harris. "It's a great University and a place where we have great coaches who put together great game plans for games and a great game plan for academic success. I want to thank Coach (Pat) Hill for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of the program and giving me the tools to be successful. I guess it proves that hard work pays off. I've tried to work hard and keep my head down and just keep moving forward. I'm so thankful to the coaching staff, everyone at Fresno State and especially my Mom. She's been my biggest fan and supporter and I wouldn't have been in college without her."
Harris is the second Bulldog to become an NFF Finalist, joining Vernon Fox who was honored in 2001. Louisiana Tech is the only other WAC school to produce an NFF finalist in the last 30 years. New Mexico State and Utah State are the only other current WAC schools to ever produce a finalist, but neither has since 1975.
Fresno State is one of 18 schools to have multiple award finalists this decade, but is the only school on the West Coast, including the Pac-10 Conference, with more than one.
"We are very proud of Moses," said Hill. "He's a special young man and the caliber of student-athletes we want to continue to attract here at Fresno State. He's a hard worker, a good leader, a good player and obviously an excellent student. I'm proud that our program has been able to produce young men who can excel nationally for such awards and having two finalists for this prestigious award in recent years is proof that we have high quality young men in our program."
Courtesy: Fresno Bee
