The Chattanooga Mocs placed five on the National Football Foundation’s Hampshire Honor Society. It’s the fourth straight year with five or more earning the prestigious national merit. The quintet includes QB Chase Artopoeus, LB Kobe Joseph, DB Reuben Lowery III, DB Jordan Walker & OL Reid Williams.
"Student-athletes is a term we use a lot around here," Coach Rusty Wright began. "I think this is just another example of what guys are able to do here academically as well as athletically.
I think they're supported and given an opportunity to do really well in the classroom, and they do. That's a testament to the young men that are here, and the work they put in off the field as much as it is on the field.
"It's huge for our program when we get recognized for academic as well as athletic accomplishments."
The five are part of a record-smashing group of 2,536 student-athletes from all levels of collegiate football – NCAA DI, II & III, NAIA and Sprint Football. The group comes from 341 different institutions. Since its inception in 2007, nearly 21,000 student-athletes have been honored.
Student-athletes must have maintained a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale and met all NCAA/NAIA-mandated progress towards degree requirements. The honorees are also required to have been starters or significant contributors throughout the 2022 season. They must be senior players graduating following the 2024 season or have earned their degree and competed in 2024 and may have eligibility remaining.
The five new inductees puts the Mocs total at 40 over the 19 seasons the award has been bestowed by the NFF. Twenty-eight of those are during Wright’s six campaigns with a record seven in 2022.
Chattanooga Mocs in the NFF Hampshire Honor Society
2012: Adam Miller, Shane Heatherly
2013: C.J. Murrell, Patrick Sutton
2014: Nick Pollard, Davis Tull
2015: Jacob Huesman
2017: Derrick Craine, Jacob Revis, Hunter Townson
2018: Branden Parker, Alex Hooper
2019: Alex Trotter
2020: Colin Brewer, Marshall Cooper, Jonathan Stovall, Nick Tiano
2021: Tyron Arnett, Rashun Freeman, Jerrell Lawson, Cole Strange, Christian Snyder
2022: Gabe Boring, McClendon Curtis, Preston Hutchinson, Andrew Manning, Jason Pierce, Aaron Sears, CaMiron Smith
2023: Evan Brown, Ailym Ford, Jeremiah Katt, Cody Olszewski, Colin Truett, Romeo Wykle
2024: Chase Artopoeus, Kobe Joseph, Reuben Lowery III, Jordan Walker, Reid Williams