By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Academic success is a major part of any student-athlete's career at a college and university, and it is a challenge to balance both the student side and the athlete side.
Every year, the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame honors a select group of football student-athletes that have been able to do that over the course of their career and inducts them into the Hampshire Honor Society.
This season, the Tennessee Tech football team earned two selections with Mike Rhoades and Tavin Kilpatrick picked to join the roster.
Rhoades, an exercise science and physical wellness major from Jacksboro, Tenn., was a second-team all-Ohio Valley Conference selection in 2019 and was a preseason All-OVC pick before the start of the 2020-21 campaign. On the offensive line, Rhodes played a major part in a record-breaking offense in 2019. He has started 29 times in 30 games played.
Kilpatrick, a mechanical engineering major from Greenback, Tenn., has 352 receiving yards on 35 catches with four career touchdowns. He played in 31 career games.
The initial nomination process was before the start of the Spring 2020-21 season in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Across all levels of college football, 910 players from 255 schools were selected, bringing the NFF Hampshire Honor Society to 13,077 members.
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 60 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, New Jersey. Learn more at www.hampshirere.com.
About The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
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 Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Future for Football, The William V. Campbell Trophy®, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Goodyear, Jostens, the New York Athletic Club, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and the Sports Business Journal. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.
