By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
IRVING, Texas – It's hard to maintain a high level of academic achievement as a student-athlete, but not impossible.
Ask Tennessee Tech's Jordan Smith, who was named to the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame's prestigious Hampshire Honor Society on Wednesday.
Across the country, 1,089 players from 297 colleges and universities qualified for inclusion in the program's 11th season from 777 institutions eligible. Since its beginning in 2007, the Hampshire Honor Society has inducted 7,723 student-athletes.
To achieve eligibility, football players must be a starter or significant contributor in their final year of eligibility at an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III or an NAIA college or university, achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 and meet all NCAA/NAIA-mandated progress towards a degree.
Smith played in all 11 games last season for the Golden Eagles, helping the Tech squad finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference. He caught 21 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 26 yards a game.
Smith, who achieved a 3.6 GPA in EXPW/Physical Therapy, was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team in November and has also been named to the Tech Athletic Director's Honor Roll and the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Austin Peay (Trey Salisbury), Eastern Illinois (Pono Choy, Evan Kanz), Eastern Kentucky (Avery Pitt, Tyler Swafford) and Murray State (Toby Omli, Mitch Stults) also claimed representatives on the list among the fellow Ohio Valley Conference football institutions.
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
