Eastern Wayne Today

The Wayne State University football team has achieved a significant milestone by having 16 players inducted into the National Football Foundation (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society for 2023. This achievement places Wayne State at the top of NCAA Division II schools and leads all Michigan institutions, surpassing Eastern Michigan, Michigan, Western Michigan, Michigan State, Central Michigan, and Ferris State.

Wayne State's honorees include students from various academic disciplines such as Business Administration, Global Supply Chain Management, Marketing, Mechanical Engineering, Psychology, Sports Administration, Finance, Technology Information Systems and Analytics, Sport Management, and Accounting. The players recognized are Matt Buschman, Maxx Fisher, Blake Gilliam, Shavez Hawkins Jr., Josh Kulka, Hayden Loya, Eli McLean, Griffin Milovanski (captain), Niko Mosley, Max Nicklin (captain), Noah Nicklin (captain), Kane Quinlan (captain), Drake Reid (captain), Chrishoun Roberts (captain), Jarrett Short (captain), and McKinley Underwood.

The NFF announced a record number of members for the 2024 Hampshire Honor Society with 1,988 players from 339 schools qualifying. This marks the highest number in the program's history since its inception 18 years ago. Steve Hatchell of the NFF stated: "We are thrilled to honor a record number of athletes as part of this year's Hampshire Honor Society."

Players nominated must be senior or graduated players who maintained a minimum GPA of 3.2 and were starters or contributors during the season. The initiative builds on the NFF's National Scholar-Athlete program by recognizing more student-athletes annually.

In addition to Wayne State's achievement in Division II with 16 members recognized this year across different divisions include Nebraska leading FBS programs with 21 honorees; North Dakota leading FCS programs with 20 members; Tufts leading Division III with 20 honorees; Doane and Southeastern both leading NAIA with 12 members each; and Cornell topping Collegiate Sprint Football League teams with 13 honorees.

Notable players expected to participate in the upcoming NFL Draft include Isiah Adams from Illinois and Graham Barton from Duke among others. Bo Nix won the prestigious NFF William V. Campbell Trophy® last December.

Jon F. Hanson endowed the NFF Hampshire Honor Society in 2007 as part of his legacy after serving as chairman from 1994-2006. He commented: "It was my great privilege to endow the NFF Hampshire Honor Society."

Archie Manning expressed gratitude towards Hanson's contribution stating: "We have honored more than 18 thousand student-athletes since thanks to Jon Hanson's generosity."

Twenty-three colleges have had at least one player inducted every year since its founding including BYU Brown Bucknell Columbia Dartmouth Dayton Iowa Johns Hopkins Kentucky Lafayette Minnesota North Dakota North Dakota State Penn State Redlands Saint John's SMU South Dakota State Wayne State West Virginia Wingate Yale Youngstown State

The Hampshire Foundation serves as charitable arm supporting various initiatives while The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame continues promoting scholar-athlete ideals through numerous programs nationwide.