Hill named to NFF Hampshire Honor Society
4/29/2015 1:46:00 PM | Football
Complete List of NFF Hampshire Honor Society Selections
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today the members of the 2015 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college career.
Sam Houston running back Keshawn Hill is one of the 817 players from 278 schools qualified for membership in the society's ninth year, setting a new record for the number of schools represented in the history of the program, which began in 2007.
Hill, a general business major, was a first team All-Southland Conference selection as a running back. The senior from Klein led Sam Houston's league championship team in rushing (1,150 yards), scoring (126 points), kickoff returns (23.4 yard average per return) and all-purpose yards (1,722).
Hill completed his four-year career ranked as Sam Houston's fourth in all-time Bearkat rushing (2,546 yards), all-purpose yards (3,934) and scoring.
“We continue to raise the bar each year for the number of student-athletes who qualify for membership in the Hampshire Honor Society,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “The Hampshire Honor Society plays an important role in highlighting that college football players clearly play a leadership role in the classroom as well as on the playing field. We congratulate each of these young men for their commitment to excellence.”
The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF's National Scholar-Athlete program by greatly expanding the number of scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year. The program further strengthens the organization's leadership role in encouraging academic performance by the student-athletes who play football at the 772 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide.
The initiative has honored 5,744 student-athletes since its inception, and the program has experienced growth every year in either members or school participation since its launch in 2007. The 278 schools represented in 2015 is a new high water mark, eclipsing the 267 schools in 2014. The total of 817 players in the 2015 class is the second-most in the program's history, only 21 behind the 838 honored last year.
Qualifications for membership in the NFF Hampshire Honor Society include:
* Being a starter or a significant contributor in one's last year of eligibility (or a senior who has declared for the NFL Draft) at an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III or an NAIA college or university;
* Achieving a 3.2 cumulative grade point average throughout entire course of undergraduate study; and
Meeting all NCAA/NAIA-mandated progress towards degree requirements.
The Hampshire Honor Society represents a powerful component in the organization's rich history as an innovator in promoting the scholar-athlete ideal, which began in 1959 with the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards. Launched with a donation from Hall of Fame coach Earl “Red” Blaik, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments, became the first initiative in history to grant postgraduate scholarships based on a player's combined academic success, football performance and community leadership. Since its inception, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program has awarded $10.7 million to 804 top scholars and community leaders.
