DALLAS - For the first time in program history, Western Michigan football has a student-athlete as a member of the National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Class. Tim Hiller is one of 16 National Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, out of a group of 154 semifinalists from across all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, now vying for the William V. Campbell Trophy. He earns an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship and a trip to New York City in December for the awards dinner.
Hiller joins Colt McCoy (Texas), Todd Reesing (Kansas) and Tim Tebow (Florida) as the only four quarterbacks to make the 16-team class. He has devoted his collegiate career to being the best at what he does on and off the field. It shows in the classroom as he is one of only three members of this distinguished class to boast a 4.0 GPA and the only one at the Division I FBS level. His involvement in the community is well-documented as he is the founder of the WMU chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and used his time this past spring to travel to Trinidad on a faith-based mission.
On the field, Tim is re-writing the WMU record book. Earlier this season he surpassed Tim Lester as the program's record holder for career passing TDs and career pass completions. He is in line to break the WMU marks for career pass attempts, yards and completion percentage as well. He entered his senior campaign as the program record holder for passing yards, attempts, completions and TDs in a season.
One of 16 finalists will be announced as the recipient of the 20th Anniversary William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth (and formerly known as the Draddy Trophy), which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation. Renamed this fall in honor of Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal, the award comes with a 25-pound bronze trophy and a $25,000 post-graduate scholarship.
Selected by the NFF Awards Committee, the 16 National Scholar-Athlete Award recipients will be honored at the 2009 NFF Annual Awards Dinner December 8 at the Waldor=Astoria in New York City. The event will also include the induction of the 2009 College Football Hall of Fame and the presentation of several major awards.
"The 2009 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class boasts the highest average GPA in the history of the awards," NFF Chairman Archie Manning said in a release. "They are truly the best among all college sports and the epitome of our mission to build leaders through football. Bob Mulcahy and the NFF Awards Committee should be credited for the research, time and commitment it took to select this outstanding group."
