Semifinalists for the upcoming 2012 National Football Foundation’s National Scholar-Athlete Awards were announced on Thursday. The University of Wyoming’s senior free safety Luke Ruff was one of the 147 student-athletes in the nation at all levels of college football to be named to the list. Ruff was one of only 50 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision student-athletes and the only student-athlete from a Mountain West Conference school honored this year.
The Campbell Trophy is also referred to as the “Academic Heisman” and is annually represented to the top football scholar-athlete in the nation.
According to Wyoming Athletics, the NFF Award Committee will select up to 16 recipients of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards on Oct. 25. Those recipients will each receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and will become finalists for the 2012 Campbell Trophy. Each of the finalists will proceed to travel to New York City for the 55th Annual NFF Awards Dinner on Dec. 4. The event will be hosted at the Waldorf-Astoria where this year’s winner of the Campbell Trophy will be announced. The winner receives a 25-pound bronze trophy and an additional $7,000 in postgraduate money bringing the total to $25,000.
“We are extremely proud of Luke (Ruff) being recognized among the top student-athletes in the nation,” said UW head football coach Dave Christensen. “He is a great team leader for our program on and off the field, and to accomplish what he has as an engineering major on top of his accomplishments as a football player shows how truly special of a young man he is.”
In order to qualify for the NFF’s National Scholar-Athlete Awards, a student-athlete must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a cumulative-grade-point average of 3.20 or better on a 4.00 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
“Luke Ruff represents the best in college athletics,” said UW Athletics Director Tom Burman. “He has represented our athletic department and our university in as fine a manner as you can ask of a student-athlete. Luke is proof that with hard work and dedication you can achieve your goals both as a student and as an athlete.”
Ruff comes to Wyoming from Castle Rock, Colo., and carries a 3.59 cumulative-grade-point average in civil engineering. He is also one of four team captains for the Cowboy football team this season. According to reports from the Wyoming Athletics Department, he earned Second Team All-Mountain West Conference honors from conference head coaches and media members as a junior back in 2011. He was voted by conference media members as a 2012 Preseason First Team All-Mountain West selection at this summer’s Mountain West Media Days. As both a sophomore and junior, Ruff was selected to the CoSIDA Capital One First Team Academic All-District VII team, and he has earned Mountain West Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Conference honors each of the past three years.
The University of Wyoming has had four student-athletes in the past advance on as finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy and earn postgraduate scholarships from the NFF. Those four were former students were guard Pat Smyth back in 1959, linebacker Marty Eliopulos in 1986, center Trenton Franz in 2004, and strong safety John Wendling in 2006.
