November 6, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Hodges (256) 765-4595
TWENTY FOUR CANDIDATES VIE
FOR HILL TROPHY AS NCAA DIVISION II FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
FLORENCE - Ala. -- A total of 24 candidates are in the
running for the 2002 Harlon Hill Trophy as the NCAA Division II
College Football Player of the Year, including three players who
were candidates last season. The list of candidates was
announced by the National Harlon Hill Award Committee Voting
Coordinator Dee Corum. The list includes six players each
from the South, Northeast, Midwest and West regions.
Players are nominated and voted on by the sports information
directors at the 156 NCAA Division II football-playing
institutions. The 24 initial candidates will be placed on
regional ballots and the top two players from each of the four
NCAA regions will advance to the national ballot when regional
voting concludes on November 18.
The winner of the 2002 award,
which is presented by the National Harlon Hill Award Committee,
will be announced at the seventeenth annual Harlon Hill Trophy
Presentation Banquet on Friday, December 13 at the Florence
Conference Center at 6:30 p.m. This year's Hill Trophy Banquet
will also include the fourth inductions into the Division II
Football Hall of
Fame.
The NCAA Division II
Championship Game is scheduled for December 14 at Florence's
Braly Municipal Stadium at 3 p.m. The Hill Trophy is
sponsored by Coca-Cola, The North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic,
First Metro Bank and The Johnson Companies - Industrial and
Commercial Contracting.
There were 38 candidates
initially nominated by the sports information directors at their
respective schools and those nominations were then reviewed by
the Hill Regional Advisory Committees, which trimmed the list of
candidates to no more than six per region.
The 2002 list of candidates
includes Curt Anes, the senior quarterback from Grand Valley
State who was runner-up for the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2001; as
well as senior running back Ian Smart of C.W. Post and
senior quarterback Abel Gonzalez from Texas
A&M-Kingsville, who were both candidates last season.
Among the players vying for the
2002 award are Northeast region candidates, senior
quarterback Curt Anes of Grand Valley State (Mich.) University,
junior running back Robert Campbell of the University of Findlay
(Ohio), senior quarterback Brian Eyerman of Indiana
University of Pennsylvania, junior tailback Joe Johnson of
Michigan Tech University, sophomore wide receiver Dallas Mall of
Bentley College, and senior running back Ian Smart of C.W. Post
University.
South region candidates include
senior linebacker Khalid Abdullah of Mars Hill College (N.C.),
junior quarterback Zak Clark of University of Central
Arkansas, junior fullback Duron Croson of Fort Valley
State (Ga.) University , junior wide receiver Gerald Gales of
the University of West Alabama, senior quarterback Leonard
Guyton of Carson-Newman College (Tenn.), and senior linebacker
Brian Holliday of Fayetteville State University.
Candidates from the Midwest
region are senior wide receiver Andrew Blakley of Truman State
(Mo.) University, senior quarterback Josh Chapman of Missouri
Southern State College, sophomore running back Kegan Coleman of
Central Missouri State University, junior running back Kevin
Curtin of Winona State University, junior quarterback Keith
Heckendork of St. Cloud State (Minn.) University and senior
strong safety Dontaye McCoy of Emporia State (Kan.) University.
West region candidates are
junior quarterback Phillip Boggs of Midwestern State
(Tex.) University, senior tailback Gerome Castleberry of East
Central (Okla.) University, junior wide receiver Romar Crenshaw
of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, senior quarterback
Abel
Gonzalez of Texas A&M University-Kingsville, senior wide
receiver Michael Oliva of UC-Davis, and senior wide receiver
Brian Sump of Colorado School of Mines.
North Dakota State quarterback
Jeff Bentrim won the initial Hill Trophy in 1986, followed by
three-time winner - Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville)
running back Johnny Bailey - in 1987, 1988 and 1989.
Another North Dakota State quarterback, Chris Simdorn, claimed
the
1990 award, followed by Pittsburg State receiver Ronnie West in
1991, Pittsburg State running back Ronald Moore in 1992, New
Haven running back Roger Graham in 1993, Valdosta State
quarterback Chris Hatcher in 1994, North Alabama linebacker
Ronald McKinnon in 1995, Truman State running back Jarrett
Anderson in 1996, Bloomsburg University running back Irvin
Sigler in 1997, Emporia State running back Brian Shay in 1998,
Northern Colorado quarterback Corte McGuffey in 1999 and
Valdosta State quarterback Dusty Bonner in 2000 and 2001.
2002 Harlon Hill Trophy
Candidates
Click on Players Name for Bios, Stats, and
Photographs
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