Sept. 20, 2012
Warner's Bio Page for the Senior CLASS Award
RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech offensive lineman Stephen Warner has been named one of only 30 candidates for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award.
Thirty NCAA® Football Bowl Subdivision student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates today for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate football. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
A senior civil engineering major with a grade point average of over 3.0, Warner has started 30 consecutive games on the offensive line for Tech and was a team captain in both 2011 and in 2012.
Classroom
Warner is a Civil Engineering major with a 3.39 cumulative GPA entering his redshirt senior year. He has received four major academic scholarships, including the Louisiana TOPS scholarship, the Louisiana Tech Board of Supervisors Scholarship, the Tech's Best Scholarship and the Scottish Rite Foundation Scholarship. He was named Academic All-WAC in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Character
A team leader, on and off the field Warner is a former walk-on who earned a scholarship. He was voted the team captain in 2011 and participated in more volunteer and community service events than any other Louisiana Tech football player and constantly urged others to volunteer more.
Community
Warner's volunteer work includes: visits with children at Shriner's Hospital and with children at Methodist Children's Home, reading to kids and assisting with Dr. Seuss Reading Day at Ruston Elementary School. He helped with an end of year awards ceremony at Choudrant Elementary School. He gave the keynote speech at the Tallulah High School Awards Ceremony. He coached drills and played games with kids at Fred Dean's Football Camp with Boys and Girls Club. He helped with the American Institute of Chemical Engineering Clean-Up day and visited with children at the Make-A-Wish Foundation Event at the 2011 Poinsettia Bowl.
Competition
Warner entered the 2012 season having started 28 consecutive games. The starting center has the unique task of calling the cadence during pre-snap moments on the field. He moved from right guard to center following the 2009 season. He was a 2011 First Team All-WAC and First Team All-Louisiana selection as well as a 2012 Preseason First-Team All-WAC honoree. He helped pave the way for a pair of Doak Walker Award Watch List honorees and back-to-back years of over 1,800 yards in rushing. He was named team captain as a junior.
The 2012 candidate class includes eight All-Americans from last season. Sixteen of the 30 candidates have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. Four of the candidates were recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America as 2011 Capital One Academic All-Americans. Twenty-four student-athletes play for teams that participated in a bowl game last season. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2012-13 bowl season.
The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, please follow @LATechFB and @LATechPWalsh on Twitter or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.
ABOUT THE AWARD
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring. Premier Sports Management manages the award.
ABOUT THE NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletics opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit NCAA.org and NCAA.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.
Football Candidates
Ryan Aplin, Arkansas State
Montee Ball, Wisconsin
Johnthan Banks, Mississippi State
Matt Barkley, USC
Jeff Braun, West Virginia
Rex Burkhead, Nebraska
Blaize Foltz, TCU
Rashard Hall, Clemson
Duron Harmon, Rutgers
Dustin Hopkins, Florida State
Travis Johnson, San Jose State
Barrett Jones, Alabama
Landry Jones, Oklahoma
Collin Klein, Kansas State
A.J. Klein, Iowa State
Jeff Locke, UCLA
Philip Lutzenkirchen, Auburn
Riley Nelson, Brigham Young
Kyle Quinn, Arizona
Sean Renfree, Duke
Adam Replogle, Indiana
Luke Ruff, Wyoming
Jason Schepler, Northern Illinois
John Simon, Ohio State
Caleb Sturgis, Florida
Matt Summers-Gavin, California
Manti Te'o, Notre Dame
Omoregie Uzzi, Georgia Tech
Stephen Warner, Louisiana Tech
Tyler Wilson, Arkansas
