Oct. 13, 2008
DALLAS -The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame has announced that Louisiana Tech's senior linebacker Quin Harris has been selected as a semi-finalist for this season's Draddy Trophy, presented by HealthSouth.
"The Draddy Trophy is one of college football's most sought after and competitive awards," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning whose sons Peyton (Draddy winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "It recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership, and we're incredibly proud to select the next winner from this remarkable group of semifinalists."
Harris was selected due to his hard work and efforts on and off the playing field. His accomplishments on the field include; registering over 200 tackles in his Tech career, earning Second Team All-WAC honors in 2007, Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-Louisiana Team in 2006 and 2007 and Rivals.com All-WAC Team in 2007.
In addition to excelling on the field, Harris has played a large role in helping out the Ruston community amassing over 50 hours of community service throughout college which includes; Habitat for Humanity, St. Jude Radioathon, Northeast Louisiana Food Drive, Lift for Learning, Louisiana Tech Halloween Carnival, reading to kids at A.E. Phillips Elementary in Ruston and the A.E. Phillips Elementary Spring Carnival.
Harris accomplished all of this while maintaining a 3.8 grade point average throughout college. He graduated in the spring of 2008 and is now pursuing a master's degree in Exercise Physiology and Sports Performance.
The Visalia, Calif., native has already been selected as one of thirty finalists for the inaugural Lowe's Senior CLASS Award earlier this year.
Each semi-finalist 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. Established to honor former NFF Chairman Vincent dePaul Draddy, a Manhattan College quarterback who developed the Izod and Lacoste brands, the award comes with a 25-pound bronze trophy and a $25,000 post-graduate scholarship.
"The Draddy semi-finalists represent everything good about college football," said NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. "They are another fine example of how football builds leaders, and it is the NFF's duty to promote their accomplishments while encouraging future generations of gridiron standouts to aim high on and off the football field."
The NFF Awards Committee will select and announce up to 15 finalists on Oct. 29. Each finalist will be recognized as part of the 2008 National Scholar-Athlete Class, receiving an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship. The Draddy winner, who will receive a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship, will be announced at the NFF's Annual Awards Dinner on December 9 at the prestigious Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. A total distribution of more than $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded that evening.
FOOTBALL BOWL SUBDIVISION SEMI-FINALISTS
School - Nominee
Louisiana Tech - Quin Harris
Air Force - Travis Dekker
Arizona State - Anthony Reyes
Arkansas - Jeremy Davis
Army - Lowell Garthwaite
BYU - Kellen Fowler
California - Alex Mack
Central Michigan - Brian Brunner
Colorado State - Jeff Horinek
Connecticut - Tyler Lorenzen
Florida - James Smith
Fresno State - Tom Brandstater
Georgia - Brian Mimbs
Georgia Tech - Darryl Richard
Houston - Thomas Ebner
Illinois - Ryan McDonald
Indiana - Austin Starr
Iowa - Matt Kroul
Kansas - Mike Rivera
Kentucky - Tim Masthay
Louisiana-Lafayette - Michael Desormeaux
Maryland - Daniel Gronkowski
Memphis - Brandon Pearce
Miami (Fla.) - Michael Byrne
Mississippi State - Anthony Strauder
Missouri - Chase Daniel
Nebraska - Todd Peterson
Nevada - Andy McIntosh
New Mexico - Zach Arnett
Northern Illinois - Jon Brost
Northwestern - Eric Peterman
Ohio State - Brian Robiskie
Ohio University - Michael Brown
Oklahoma State - Seb Clements
Oregon - Nick Reed
Oregon State - Andrew Levitre
Penn State - Gerald Cadogan
Pittsburgh - Conor Lee
Purdue - Ryan Baker
Rice - David Berken
Rutgers - Jason McCourty
South Carolina - Ryan Succop
Southern California - Jeff Byers
Syracuse - Ryan Durand
Texas - Chris Ogbonnaya
Texas A&M - Stephen McGee
TCU - Shae Reagan
Texas Tech - Graham Harrell
Troy - Will Chambliss
Tulsa - David Johnson
UCF - Sha'reff Rashad
UCLA - Logan Paulsen
Utah - Louie Sakoda
Washington State - Vaughn Lesuma
West Virginia - Reed Williams
Western Michigan - Dustin Duclo
Wisconsin - Chris Pressley
