Chairman of the Board Jon F. Hanson announced Wednesday that 17 National Scholar-Athletes have been selected by the NFF's Awards Committee and that each will receive a $18,000 post-graduate fellowship from the Foundation. The 1998 Class will be honored at the Foundation's 41st annual Awards Dinner held this December 8th, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City along with the new inductees to the College Football Hall of Fame and the recipients of the Foundation's major awards.
Jones becomes MU's third Scholar-Athlete this decade (and eighth overall), joining Kent Kiefer (1990) and Mike Bedosky (1993). He won't be the only Tiger saluted in New York City on December 8. Former Tiger great Johnny Roland will be inducted that night into the College Hall of Fame.
One of this year's scholar-athletes will receive the Vincent dePaul Draddy Award. The Draddy Scholarship has been termed the "Academic Heisman" - the highest academic honor bestowed upon a football player - which will provide the selected scholar-athlete with $25,000 towards their post-graduate studies. The National Football Foundation has awarded nearly $7 million for the promotion of academics and amateur football.
The criterion for these National Scholar-Athletes is that the scholar-athlete be in his final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale), have shown superior academic application and performance, have outstanding football ability as a first-team player, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The 1998 Class of National Scholar-Athletes has an overall 3.8 grade point average. They are:
DIVISION I-A SCHOOL POSITION MAJOR/GPA HOMETOWN Todd Bandhauer Iowa State QB Mechanical Engineering/3.64 Crystal River, FL Eric de Groh West Virginia C Biology/Pre-Med/3.85 Huron, OH Barry Gardner Northwestern LB Communications/3.35 Harvey, IL CORBY JONES MISSOURI QB COMMUNICATIONS/3.38 COLUMBIA, MO Joel Makovicka Nebraska FB Biological Science/3.82 Ulysses, NE Derek Rose Iowa OG Economics/3.9 Naperville, IL Chad Smith New Mexico SS Biology/Pre-Med/3.99 Albuquerque, NM Patrick Stephen Northern Ill FS Biology/Pre-Med/3.78 Ontario, CAN Matt Stinchcomb Georgia OT Finance/3.96 Lilburn, GA Jeff Zurcher Kentucky S English/4.0 Berne, INDIVISION I-AA Nick Batalis Butler C Biology/Pre-Med/3.80 Noblesville, IN Anthony Pannunzio Youngstown St DB Civil Engineering/3.68 Canfield, OH Alex Sierk Princeton PK Molecular Biology/3.95 Bettendorf, IA
DIVISION II Lee Daily Henderson State LB Accounting/3.86 Alma, AR Bart Johnson Moorhead State DT Engineering/3.94 Grand Rapids, MI
DIVISION III Tom Massey SUNY-Brockport FS Exercise Physiology/3.82 Jamestown, NY Chris Meskan Augustana OG Mathematics/3.89 Aledo, IL