MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State saw nine members of its football program named to the National Football Foundation (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society list, the NFF announced Wednesday.
The nine Wildcats to earn the nod were Trey Krause, Beau Palmer, Austin Moore, Brendan Mott, Desmond Purnell, Andrew Sonner, Cody Stufflebean, Chris Tennant and Zach Wittenberg. They were members of a record 2,532 players from 339 schools across all NCAA divisions and the NAIA who qualified for membership in the Society’s 19th year.
“In today’s era of NIL and the transfer portal, we firmly believe that education remains the key to long-term success,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “These results reaffirm that academics are still top of mind for today’s student-athletes. We salute the schools, coaches, and administrators who continue to champion education as a core part of the student-athlete experience. We’ll keep doing everything we can to promote those academic ideals and ensure education stays central to the holistic development of every student-athlete.”
Nominated by their respective schools, members of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society must be either a senior player who will graduate this spring/summer and just completed his final year of playing eligibility in 2024 or a graduated player who has already earned a bachelor’s degree and competed in the 2024 season even if the player has remaining eligibility and may return to play in 2025. The candidates must have attained a minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale and been starters or contributors throughout the 2024 season.
The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF’s National Scholar-Athlete program by greatly expanding the number of scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year. The program further strengthens the organization’s leadership role in encouraging academic performance by the student-athletes at the 774 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide.