June 13, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; June 13, 2011 - A quartet of Penn State Football student-athletes have been selected the National Football Foundation's Hampshire Honor Society for the 2010 season.
Nittany Lions Brett Brackett (Lawrenceville, N.J.), Chris Colasanti (Leonard, Mich.), Kevion Latham (Greensboro, N.C.) and Stefen Wisniewski (Bridgeville) were selected for the honor.
Over the past five years, Penn State leads all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in CoSIDA Academic All-Americans® with 15; 13 of whom were first-team selections. During the 2010 season, Colasanti, Wisniewski and sophomore Pete Massaro (Newtown Square) were selected first-team Academic All-Americans®. An AFCA All-American, Wisniewski became the first Nittany Lion Football student-athlete to earn first team Academic All-America® honors three times.
In order to be considered for membership in the Hampshire Honor Society, a player must be a starter or significant reserve who maintains a cumulative 3.20 grade point average or higher in their last year of eligibility at an accredited NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III, or an NAIA college or university.
In its fifth year, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF's current National Scholar-Athlete program, greatly expanding the number of scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year and further strengthening its leadership role in encouraging academic performance by the student-athletes who play football at the more than 700 college and universities with football programs.
Since its inception, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program has awarded $9.5 million to 740 top scholars and community leaders. Wisniewski was selected Penn State's 16th NFF Scholar-Athlete last fall, earning an $18,000 scholarship for post-graduate studies.
Currently, the NFF distributes more than $300,000 a year at the national level through the program to 15 individuals. Each winner of a National Scholar-Athlete Award receives an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship. Additionally, the Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, is given to one member of each year's class as the absolute best. The winner of the Campbell receives a total scholarship of $25,000 and a 24-inch, 25-pound bronze trophy. Through, its chapter network, the NFF awards an additional $1 million to local high school student-athletes, bringing the NFF's annual scholarship total to more than $1.3 million.