-Chattanooga Mocs senior defensive back Reuben Lowery III is a finalist for the FedEx Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award. The list of 13 was released Wednesday at lunchtime by Stats Perform.
Lowery is in his fifth year in the program coming to Chattanooga in tumultuous times with his first season being the 2020-21 COVID impacted year. He has played in every game he was healthy for from the start and has a huge impact on the Mocs defense.
His position of slot safety is a hybrid in the program’s 4-2-5 scheme where he’s a little bit linebacker, little bit safety and little bit cornerback.
But one thing is for certain, he’s all leader serving as team captain the last two campaigns.
“Reuben is special,” Coach Rusty Wright said. “On the field, off the field and everywhere in between. He’s exactly what you want in a student-athlete. His impact for us is evident every week, but if you go to the Engineering department, you’ll hear the same things about him as a student.
“We are thankful he chose Chattanooga.”
Lowery graduated with honors in May 2023 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. It’s quite an accomplishment to complete that degree program in four years, much less to do it with the year-round commitment required to be a football player of his caliber.
That includes additional roles. He has served in leadership with the Mocs Fellowship of Christian Athletes Huddle for many years. He’s a member of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee/Student-Athlete Connection Group, a huge commitment to his fellow student-athletes nationwide.
On top of that, he’s been an all-conference performer, 2021 All-Freshman and 2022 All-SoCon, as well as a multi-year winner of regional and national academic honors including CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District and FCS Athletics Director’s Association Academic All-Star Team.
Lowery also spent a year on the Rocket Mocs, a student amateur rocketry group that earned NASA recognition as one of the best in the country for five consecutive years (2019-23).
“Even if he was not a student-athlete, Reuben would be well-known and respected on our campus,” Vice Chancellor for Athletics Mark Wharton stated. “You could say he’s the standard for what we want for and from our student-athletes at Chattanooga. We’re delighted to see his accomplishments and efforts being recognized on the national stage.”
Lowery is the fifth Chattanooga finalist for the honor and fourth Moc overall. Current Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman McClendon Curtis was a 2-time finalist 2021 and 2022. Quarterback Drayton Arnold made the list in the 2020-21 COVID year, while running back Alex Trotter was the first to make the grade in 2018. This is the 10th anniversary season for the honor.
2024 FedEx Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
Reuben Lowery III, Chattanooga
Efton Chism III, Eastern Washington
James Conway, Fordham
Caleb Curtain, Elon
Paxton DeLaurent, SE Missouri
Jewelz-Unique Demps, Texas A&M-Commerce
Mark Gronowski, South Dakota St.
Chandler Kirton, Austin Peay
Matt Noll, Jackson State
Julian Rawlins, Davidson
Ben Sahakian, Cornell
Dan Toatley, Central Connecticut
Juan Velarde, N.C. Central