The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- November 8, 1999

NACDA chooses scholarship winners for preseason classics

The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Foundation has announced recipients of special scholarship grants provided to one member of each team that participated in the 1999 Kickoff Classic and Pigskin Classic, the two NACDA-sponsored preseason football games.

Four $5,000 grants are awarded annually to a varsity football letter-winner from each team. The student-athlete must be in his final year of eligibility and carry a minimum grade-point average of 3.000 (4.000 scale). NACDA's charitable arm, the NACDA Foundation, provides the funds for the scholarships for use in postgraduate study.

In the 1999 NACDA preseason games, Pennsylvania State University beat the University of Arizona, 41-7, in the Pigskin Classic, while the University of Miami (Florida) stopped Ohio State University, 23-12, in the Kickoff Classic.

Winners of the 1999 scholarship grants are: Travis Forney, Penn State, place-kicker, elementary education; Kevin Houser, Ohio State, tight end, finance; Jeff Popovich, Miami (Florida), safety, biomedical engineering; and David Vasquez, Arizona, linebacker, accounting/finance.

Forney was named GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-District in 1998 and was an academic all-Big Ten Conference selection in 1997 and 1998. He was named to Sports Illustrated's All-Bowl team in 1999 and was selected preseason first-team all-Big Ten by Football News. Forney intends to pursue a graduate degree in educational administration.

Houser has been named to the academic all-Big Ten team three times and has been an Ohio State scholar-athlete three times. He is a member of Ohio State's Student-Athlete Advisory Board and has spoken at schools and assemblies as part of the school's DARE (drug prevention) program.

Popovich was named GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-District in 1997 and 1998. He also was named to the Big East Conference Football All-Academic Team in 1997 and 1998. Popovich is a member of the National Golden Key Society and was inducted in the university's Mortar Board Society in 1999. He plans to attend medical school or earn a master's degree in engineering.

Vasquez is a dean's list student at Arizona. The linebacker has been on the team for three years, earning two letters. After working for a year, Vasquez intends to pursue a law degree.

The four student-athletes will be honored at the annual NACDA Scholarship Awards Luncheon, which will be held June 13 during NACDA's 35th annual convention.

Proceeds from the Kickoff Classic and Pigskin Classic also help fund the National Football Foundation and the American Football Coaches Association. The games annually generate $420,000 in scholarships.