IRVING, Texas (April 16, 2025) -- The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today a record number of members for the 2025 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which comprises college football players from all divisions of the NCAA, NAIA and sprint football who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers. Among this year's honorees are a program-record 11 from the king's College football team in seniors Liam Carroll, Mike DiGregorio, Ahmad Griffin, Justin Kane, Sean Lavine, Ryan McCombs, Joachim McElroy, Jared Reto, Jake Ruppert, EJ Schreiner, and Alex Tristan.

A record 2,532 players from 339 schools qualified for membership in 2025, marking the largest class in the program's 19-year history. Since its inception, the initiative has honored 20,946 student-athletes. This year's members represented six divisions: 689 from the FBS, 549 from the FCS, 212 from Division II, 978 from Division III, 58 from the NAIA, and 46 sprint football players. 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.

"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."

This year's 11 honorees mark a single-season best for the Monarchs and join the list of 26 previous Hampshire Honor Society members from King's, including the most recent in Alyssa Accordino and Nate McGlone. They add to their lengthy list of accolades for their historic careers, coming off the program's first solo MAC title in program history, a home NCAA Division III Football Championship win in the first round, and a trip to the NCAA Division III Football Championships Second Round.

The Monarchs have placed at least one student-athlete on the list for the last 11 active seasons, and each inductee can be found below:

National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society:
2011 – Jordan Haddock
2012 – Ryan Cordingly
2014 – Tyler Hartranft, Kris Matthew,  Dan Kempa
2015 – Tom Hehre, Chris Boyle
2016 – Mike Palmer
2017 – Chris DeGaetano, Corey Flynn, Jacoby Foresman, Jake Manetti, Jon Rauch
2018 -  CJ Curry, Ben Bakanas, Will Cameron 
2019 - Joe Damiano, Gene Gibbons, Peter Swartz
2021 - Gabe Boccella, Tekoah Guedes
2022 - Joe Herman, Mike Karycinski, Kyle Prescavage
2023 - Alyssa Accordino, Nate McGlone
2024 - Liam Carroll, Mike DiGregorio, Ahmad Griffin, Justin Kane, Sean Lavine, Ryan McCombs, Joachim McElroy, Jared Reto, Jake Ruppert, EJ Schreiner, Alex Tristan

Nominated by their respective schools, members of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society must meet one of the following criteria:

• Be a senior player graduating this spring/summer who completed his final year of playing eligibility in 2024; or
• Be a graduated player or grad transfer 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 next season).

And must have:

• Attained a minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.2 (4.0 scale); and
• Been starters or contributors throughout the 2024 season.

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ABOUT THE HAMPSHIRE FOUNDATION
The Hampshire Foundation is the charitable arm of The Hampshire Companies, a privatelyheld, fully-integrated real estate firm that has more than 60 years of hands-on, cycle-tested experience in acquiring, developing, leasing, repositioning, managing, financing and disposing of real estate. Founded by Jon F. Hanson, who served as NFF Chairman from 1994-2006, Hampshire is headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey. Learn more at www.hampshirere.com.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship, and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters in 47 states, NFF programs include the criteria, selection and induction of members of the NFF College Football Hall of Fame; the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame museum in Atlanta; Future For Football; I Played; the William V. Campbell Trophy®; the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments; the NFF National High School Academic Excellence Awards presented by the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation & the Hatchell Cup presented by Bob's Steak & Chop House; and a series of programs and initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Bruin Capital, CAA Executive Search, Catapult, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Hampshire Companies, Jostens, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, New York Athletic Club, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, SideQuests and the Sports Business Journal. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.