Click here to see the complete Hampshire Honor Society list (PDF)
By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Three departing members of the Tennessee Tech football team have been honored by the National Football Foundation with selection to the prestigious Hampshire Honor Society for outstanding academic achievement.
The three Golden Eagle seniors selected for the national honor are running back Radir Annoor, safety Stephen Bush and offensive lineman Brett Dillard.
Tech and Jacksonville each placed three players on the list, the most in the Ohio Valley Conference, which had a total of 10 players honored.
Annoor, Bush and Dillard are among the 868 student-athletes from 275 football playing schools from all divisions who qualified for membership as the society celebrated its 10th year, setting a new record for the number of players honored in the history of the program. Honorees are seniors in their final season of eligibility who maintained at least a 3.20 GPA throughout their undergraduate careers.
The Sonny Allen Team Leadership Award, as well as the Bill Dupes Inspiration Award, went to Bush in February at the team’s annual Awards Dinner. Bush, who made the move to safety after four years as a running back, posted 49 total tackles and led the team and ranked first in the OVC with three fumbles caused.
Dillard was recognized in March as Tech’s recipient of the NFF University Scholar-Athlete Award. Dillard closed his four-year Golden Eagle football career in the 2015 season, seeing action in 36 career games along the way and overcoming knee injuries to be a regular contributor in the offensive line.
Annoor recently accepted an impressive academic honor, as well, being named as an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar by the magazine Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
"Each of those seniors selected is an outstanding young man," said TTU head coach Marcus Satterfield. "We are sorry to see them all leaving our program. It would have been an honor to coach them."
"The number of colleges and universities who embrace the Hampshire Honor Society continues to increase each year," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Over the past decade, it has become a powerful vehicle for schools to recognize their college football players who have distinguished themselves both academically and athletically, and we congratulate the schools and 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 775 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide.
The 868 players honored in 2016 is a new high water mark, eclipsing the previous record of 838 honorees in 2014. The initiative has honored 6,620 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 top five for total honorees during the 10-year span of the program include Brown (104), Dayton (89), Yale (81), Nebraska Wesleyan (79) and Johns Hopkins [Md.] (77). Union College (N.Y.) holds the mark for the most honorees in a single year, boasting 18 members in 2012.
Joining the Tech threesome on the list of honored players are Adam Noble and Evan Toby of Austin Peay, Trey Pendergrass of Eastern Illinois, Josh Minor of Eastern Kentucky, and Spencer Goffigan, Jermaine Hough and Dalton Screws of Jacksonville State.
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-mandated progress towards degree requirements.
About the Hampshire Foundation:
The Hampshire Foundation is the charitable arm of The Hampshire Companies, a privately-held, fully-integrated real estate firm that has more than 50 years of hands-on, cycle-tested experience in acquiring, developing, leasing, repositioning, managing, financing and disposing of real estate. Founded by Jon F. Hanson, who served as NFF Chairman from 1994-2006, Hampshire is headquartered in Morristown, N.J., has 102 employees, and currently owns and operates a diversified portfolio of 259 properties in 28 states totaling more than 25 million square feet. Learn more at www.hampshireco.com.
About The National Football Foundation:
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame, the NFF Leadership Hall of Fame, the NFF Scholar-Athlete Awards presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF Showcases, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF Faculty Salute Initiative presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, and scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF also presents the William V. Campbell Trophy endowed by HealthSouth and hosted at the New York Athletic Club as well as bestowing several other major awards at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City. NFF corporate partners include the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, Liberty Mutual Insurance, the Sports Business Journal, and Under Armour. For more information, please visit www.footballfoundation.org.
