National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 3, 1997

Football finalists named for NACDA postgraduate scholarships

Twenty football finalists for the annual Preseason Games Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarships have been announced by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

The finalists were chosen from 55 nominees, all football players. Ten of the finalists are from Division I-A institutions and 10 are from other institutions. Fifteen additional finalists, representing all sports other than football, will be chosen in April.

These 35 finalists then will be reviewed by NACDA's Blue Ribbon Committee, which consists of some of the top figures in the athletics world. The committee will review the finalists and select 10 winners who will each receive a $5,000 grant to be used toward postgraduate studies.

The $50,000 in scholarships is funded by proceeds from NACDA's two preseason football games, the Kickoff and Pigskin Classics.

The winners will receive their awards at NACDA's 32nd annual convention June 15-18. The NACDA Scholarship Awards Luncheon will be June 17.

To be nominated, a student-athlete must have a minimum grade point average of 3.000 or above (4.000 scale) in undergraduate study and have been named to an athletics all-American or all-conference team.

The 20 football finalists are:

Division I-A

Greg Bellisari, Ohio State; Jeff Caldwell, Arkansas State; Carlton Hendrix, Air Force; Jon Hesse, Nebraska; David Janoski, Washington; Devin Kendall, Arizona State; Matt Keneley, Southern California; Steve Scifres, Wyoming; Mike Vrabel, Ohio State; and Jason Winship, Rice.

Non-Division I-A

Daniel Avansino, Carroll (Montana); Jeb Dougherty, San Diego; Scott Farnham, DePauw; Stephen "Lance" Funderburk, Valdosta State; Troy Harcey, Wisconsin-La Crosse; Josh Lemmon, Dayton; Blaine McElmurry, Montana; Mitchell Pruett, Augustana (South Dakota); Rob Stoltz, Wisconsin-Oshkosh; and Tim Tibesar, North Dakota.