NDSU’s Keller Finalist for Fred Mitchell Award

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State kicker Adam Keller is one of 10 finalists for the Fred Mitchell Award, which is presented annually to one kicker in all of college football that excels on the football field and in the community.

The winner will be announced Dec. 18 and the award will be presented Feb. 16 at the National Football Foundation Chicago Chapter Awards Ceremony at Halas Hall in suburban Chicago.

Keller, a senior from Lewisberry, Pa., broke NDSU's career records for PAT kicks (180) and field goals made (52) in last week's second round playoff win over South Dakota State.  He is also the NDSU record holder for PAT attempts (186) and ranks second in field goal attempts (65) eight shy of tying the record.

He is 47 of 47 on PATs and has converted 106 straight PAT kicks over the past 25 games, a streak which is third longest in MVFC history.  Keller has made a school-record 25 field goals this year, two shy of the FCS record of 27 set this year by Northern Iowa's Michael Schmadeke, another finalist for the award.

Keller made a school-record five field goals in the 22-10 home win over Montana and booted a career-long 50-yarder against Indiana State.  He has made eight straight field goals entering the FCS quarterfinal game with Coastal Carolina, and is 9-for-11 this season from 40 yards and beyond.

2014 Fred Mitchell Award Finalists
Jonah Bowman, Colgate
Paul Graham, Wayne State (Mich.)
Conner Hollabaugh, West Texas A&M
Adam Keller, North Dakota State
Michael Marando, Fordham
Ryan McCrum, Southeast Missouri State
Scott Miller, Indianapolis
Tom Obarski, Concordia St. Paul
Michael Schmadeke, Northern Iowa
Mike Self, Cumberland

NFF Names NDSU’s Thorton Campbell Trophy Semifinalist

IRVING, Texas - The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame today announced North Dakota State senior linebacker Esley Thorton from Bismarck, N.D., as one of 167 semifinalists for the 2014 William V. Campbell Trophy®, presented by Fidelity Investments® and hosted at the New York Athletic Club, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2014.

The award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation, and up to 16 of the candidates will be named recipients of a prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award, also presented by Fidelity Investments. Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete program awards $18,000 scholarships that can be used for the honorees’ postgraduate educations. This year’s recipients will be announced Oct. 30, and one will be declared the winner of the Campbell Trophy Dec. 9 at the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner.

Named 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 increases the amount of the recipient’s grant by $7,000 for a total post-graduate scholarship of $25,000. A total distribution of $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, pushing the program’s all-time distributions to more than $10.7 million.

“These 167 impressive candidates truly represent the scholar-athlete ideal,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. “It is important for us to showcase their success on the football field, in the classroom and in the community. This year’s semifinalists further illustrate the power of our great sport in developing the next generation of influential leaders.”

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

2014 William V. Campbell Trophy Semifinalists
Football Bowl Subdivision
Alabama - Arie Kauandjio
Arizona - Jared Tevis
Arizona State - Taylor Kelly
Arkansas - Alan D'Appollonio
Army - Terry Baggett
Baylor - Troy Baker
Buffalo - Lee Skinner
BYU - Kevin O'Mary
California - Chris Adcock
Central Florida - Sean Beckton
Central Michigan - Michael Kinville
Colorado - Will Oliver
Colorado State - Kivon Cartwright
Connecticut - Adam Mueller
Duke - David Helton
East Carolina - Warren Harvey
Eastern Michigan - Lincoln Hansen
Georgia - Chris Conley
Georgia Southern - Garrett Frye
Indiana - Mark Murphy
Iowa - Mark Weisman
Iowa State - Jacob Gannon
Kansas State - Tyler Lockett
Kent State - Nate Vance
Kentucky - Tyler Brause
Memphis - Charles Harris
Michigan - Desmond Morgan
Michigan State - Mike Sadler
Middle Tennessee State - Leighton Gasque
Minnesota - Tommy Olson
Mississippi - Deterrian Shackelford
Missouri - Matt Hoch
Nebraska - Mark Pelini
North Carolina State - Tyler Purvis
Northern Illinois - Robert Sterling
Northwestern - Brandon Vitabile
Notre Dame - Cam McDaniel
Ohio - Josh Kristoff
Old Dominion - Josh Mann
Penn State - Sam Ficken
Purdue - Justin Sinz
Rice - Dylan Klare
Rutgers - David Milewski
San Jose State - Vince Buhagiar
SMU - Stephon Sanders
South Alabama - Jesse Kelley
South Carolina - Damiere Byrd
Southern Mississippi - Corey Acosta
Stanford - Jordan Richards
Syracuse - Sam Rodgers
TCU - Geoff Hooker
Texas  - Nate Boyer
Texas A&M - Josh Lambo
Texas Tech - Bradley Marquez
Toledo - Greg Mancz
Tulane - Sam Scofield
Utah - Eric Rowe
UTSA - Nate Leonard
Wake Forest - Jordan Garside
West Virginia - Michael Molinari
Wisconsin - Michael Trotter
Wyoming - Stuart Williams
 
Football Championship Subdivision
Alabama State - Edward Mosley
Austin Peay State - Ben Campbell
Brown - Dan Giovacchini
Bucknell - Derek Maurer
Campbell - Adam Lutz
Charleston Southern - Christian Reyes
Dayton - Will Bardo
Delaware - Laith Wallschleger
Eastern Kentucky - Caleb Watkins
Fordham - Brett Biestek
Georgetown - Alec May
Harvard - Michael Mancinelli
Holy Cross - Sam Jones
Idaho State - Austin Graves
Illinois State - Chris Highland
Incarnate Word - Casey Jennings
Jacksonville State - Max Holcombe
Lamar - Keith Curran
Lehigh - Josh Parris
Liberty - Mitch Hanson
Missouri State - Caleb Schaffitzel
Montana - Shay Smithwick-Hann
Montana State - Cole Moore
New Hampshire - Rob Bowman
Nicholls State - Cole Frazier
North Dakota State - Esley Thorton
Northern Arizona - Austin Hasquet
Northern Iowa - David Johnson
Sam Houston State - Keshawn Hill
San Diego - Troy McClelland
South Dakota State - Zach Zenner
Southern Illinois - Corey Boemer
Tennessee at Chattanooga - Nick Pollard
Wagner - Trevor Loveland
Western Carolina - Richard Sigmon
William & Mary - John Carpenter
Yale - Tyler Varga
 
Division II
Angelo State (Texas) - Rush Seaver
Azusa Pacific (Calif.) - Kalvin Davis
Bentley (Mass.) - Danny Guadagnoli
Brevard (N.C.) - Andre Overholt
Carson-Newman (Tenn.) - William Alderman
Chadron State (Neb.) - Sam Parker
Colorado State-Pueblo - Chris Bonner
Concordia, St. Paul (Minn.) - Thomas Obarski
East Stroudsburg (Pa.) - Bryan Thomson
Eastern New Mexico - Seth Bailey
Edinboro (Pa.) - Cody Harris
Henderson State (Ark.) - Kevin Rodgers
LIU-Post (N.Y.) - Steven Laurino
Newberry (S.C.) - AJ Booker
Ohio Dominican - Mark Miller
Pittsburg State (Kan.) - Keeston Terry
Shippensburg (Pa.) - Brian Sourbor
South Dakota Mines and Tech. - Sam Cowan
Southern Connecticut State - Jack Mallis
Southwest Minnesota State - Charlie Kern
Stonehill (Mass.) - Brian Harrington
Tarleton State (Texas) - Charles Moore
Wayne State (Mich.) - Thom Box
Wingate  (N.C.) - Will Poteat
Winona State  (Minn.) - Ryan Gerts
 
Division III
Allegheny (Pa.) - Jesse Battaglia
Bates (Maine) - David Kurey
Bethel (Minn.) - Josh Treimer
Case Western (Ohio) - Sean Lapcevic
Concordia (Wisc.) - Austin Damaschke
Gallaudet (D.C.) - Nico Santiago
Grinnell (Iowa) - David Ternes
Hardin-Simmons (Texas) - Bryce Johnson
Heidelberg (Ohio) - Austin Hunter
Hendrix (Ark.) - Casey Caton
Hobart (N.Y.) - Troy Robinson
Hope (Mich.) - Kirby Crook
Illinois College - Michael Bates
Johns Hopkins (Md.) - Michael Longo
Juniata (Pa.) - Ethan Wilt
Kenyon (Ohio) - Nick Gasbarro
King's (Pa.) - Daniel Kempa
Lycoming (Pa.) - Craig Needhammer
Manchester (Ind.) - Collin Huffine
Monmouth (Ill.) - Jake Wilson
Mount Union (Ohio) - Kevin Burke
Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.) - Josh Sinnen
Ohio Wesleyan - Calvin Cagney
Redlands (Calif.) - Aaron Hinkle
Rowan (N.J.) - Chris Alvarez
Saint John's (Minn.) - J.T. Ford
Trinity (Conn.) - Mike Mancini
Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) - John Wanner
Wisconsin-Eau Claire - Dalton Evertz
Wisconsin-Oshkosh - Beau Steffens
Wisconsin-Stout - Tyler Naatz
Wisconsin-Whitewater - Brady Grayvold
Wittenberg (Pa.) - Clay Mangen

NAIA
Bethel (Kan.) - Seth Tarrent
Carroll (Mont.) - Sean Condon
Central Methodist (Mo.) - Luke Mayer
Cumberland (Tenn.) - Reed Gurchiek
Dakota State (S.D.) - Zach Ely
Montana Western - Jesse McCloud
Nebraska Wesleyan - Seth Wardyn
Northwestern (Iowa) - Levi Dykshorn
Peru State (Neb.) - Tyler Ford
William Penn (Iowa) - Evan Ressler

NDSU's Phillips Named Finalist for Award

BOSTON – The fifteen finalists for the 2014 Hugh Durham Award presented to the top Division I mid-major men’s basketball coach were announced Wednesday by CollegeInsider.com. North Dakota State’s Saul Phillips is among the finalists.

The list of finalists includes Mike Brennan (American), Rick Byrd (Belmont), Tim Clues (Iona), Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan), Bob Hoffman (Mercer), Ron Hunter (Georgia State), Tony Jasick (IPFW), Tod Kowalczyk (Toledo), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central), Jeff Neubauer (Eastern Kentucky), Saul Phillips (North Dakota State), Monte Ross (Delaware), Brad Underwood (Stephen F. Austin) and Will Wade (Chattanooga).

Phillips won his second Summit League Coach of the Year award this season, directing the Bison to a school record-tying 26 wins and an 80-75 overtime win over fifth-seeded Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. NDSU swept The Summit League’s regular season and tournament titles for the second time in six years.

The Hugh Durham Award is given annually to the nation’s top mid-major coach. The award is named in honor of Hugh Durham who retired at the end of the 2004-05 season. Durham is one of just twelve coaches to have led two different programs to the NCAA Final Four (Florida State in 1972 and Georgia in 1983). He is the only coach among that group to have led both schools to their lone Final Four appearance.

The winner of the 2014 Hugh Durham Award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet on April 4 in Dallas, site of the 2014 Final Four.