IRVING, Texas — UTSA senior Ahofitu Maka has been named a finalist for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy®, as the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame on Wednesday announced the 15 finalists for college football's premier scholar-athlete award.
Maka is the third Roadrunner to land on the finalist list for the Campbell Trophy, which annually recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. As one of 15 finalists, he will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2022 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments®. He joins Eric Soza (2013)and Nate Leonard (2014) as the only Roadrunners to be named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in the 12-year history of the program.
A native of Honolulu, Hawai'i, Maka has started all eight games at center and helped guide the Roadrunners to a 6-2 overall record and first place in Conference USA with a 4-0 mark this season. He has not allowed a sack or hit on the quarterback in 384 pass-blocking snaps and boasts a 98.1 pass blocking efficiency this fall according to Pro Football Focus. The two-time second-team all-conference performer is one of the leaders on an offense averaging 489.8 yards per game, including 330.4 through the air, which leads C-USA and ranks sixth in the FBS. Armed with 44 career starts at UTSA, he has helped pave the way for quarterback Frank Harris, who leads C-USA and ranks third in the FBS in total offense with 357.1 yards per contest in 2022.
After graduating magna cum laude with a degree in cyber security in August, Maka is currently pursuing a master's in management of technology. A two-time first team Academic All-District selection, he was a member of the 2021 Conference USA All-Academic Team and received a 2019 C-USA Academic Medal. During his career, Maka has been selected three times each to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, UTSA President's List and UTSA Honor Roll.
The offensive line's representative on the UTSA Football Leadership Council, Maka has volunteered with the San Antonio Food Bank and UTSA Move-In Day as well as participating in Congress on Children and San Antonio's MLK Day Parade.
2022 William V. Campbell Trophy® Finalists
- Jack Campbell, LB – Iowa (3.49 GPA - Enterprise Leadership)
- Anders Carlson, PK – Auburn (3.92 GPA - Professional Flight Management)
- Jake Chisholm, RB – Dayton (3.98 GPA - Pre-Medicine)
- Nicholas D'Ambrose, RB – Chicago [IL] (3.69 GPA - Neuroscience)
- Ryan Greenhagen, LB – Fordham (3.85 GPA - Business Administration)
- Oso Ifesinachukwu, DL – Yale (3.67 GPA - Biomedical Engineering)
- Ahofitu Maka, OL – UTSA (3.78 GPA - Cyber Security)
- Adrian Martinez, QB – Kansas State (3.55 GPA - Management)
- Peter Oliver, RB – Holy Cross (3.95 GPA - Chemistry & Spanish)
- Walter Rouse, OT – Stanford (3.52 GPA - Biomechanical Engineering)
- Austin Stidham, OL – Troy (3.92 GPA - Biomedical Sciences)
- Julius Wilkerson, LB – Wayne State [MI] (3.85 GPA - Psychology)
- Austin Williams, WR – Mississippi State (4.00 GPA - Business Administration)
- JR Woods, OL – Johns Hopkins [MD] (3.65 GPA - Economics)
- Michael Wozniak, DL – Saint John's [MN] (3.86 GPA - Accounting)
The 15 finalists were selected from an impressive list of 156 semifinalists nationwide from among all NCAA divisions and the NAIA.
The finalists will travel to Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on Dec. 6 for the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports.
Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 33rd Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000. Click here for more information on the Awards Dinner, including options to purchase tickets online, special travel rates to the event from Delta Air Lines and Bellagio and a concierge service provided by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
"We are extremely proud to announce the finalists for this year's Campbell Trophy®," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy® recipient) and Eli were NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "These young men have an unrelenting commitment to excellence in all aspects of their lives, and they represent all that is right in college football. As strong leaders in the vein of the trophy's namesake Bill Campbell, they all serve as living examples that the Future For Football is bright. We are excited to honor their hard work and outstanding leadership with postgraduate scholarships."
Submitted by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the Campbell Trophy® must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
"The NFF Awards Committee did an excellent job in selecting this year's National Scholar-Athletes," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Chosen from an extremely impressive list of semifinalists, the finalists have undoubtedly distinguished themselves as some of the best student-athletes in the country. Each of these men is a leader on and off the field, and we know that they have only begun to reach their potential."
Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments celebrate their 64th year in 2022. The awards were the first initiative in history to grant postgraduate scholarships based on both a player's academic and athletic accomplishments. Since 2011, Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of workplace savings plans in higher education, has served as the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards.
As part of its support of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, Fidelity Investments helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes, which recognize the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives at each of the institutions with a finalist for the Campbell Trophy®. The NFF presents each of the faculty athletics representatives with a plaque and Fidelity donates $5,000 for the academic support services at each school. The salutes have recognized 167 FARs since the program's inception, and Fidelity has made a total of $830,000 (including $75,000 this year) in donations.
Including the 2022 Campbell Trophy® finalists, the NFF has honored 906 individuals with National Scholar-Athlete Awards, and this year's postgraduate scholarships will push the program's all-time distribution to more than $12.3 million. The honorees have used the financial support to earn more than 175 medical degrees, 100 law degrees, 80 MBAs and 43 PhDs. Continuing their excellence on the field, more than 260 recipients have played in the NFL with an average career of six seasons or double the length of a typical NFL player. Past recipients also include 13 Rhodes Scholars and six Heisman Trophy winners.
The members of this year's class find themselves among some of the most elite student-athletes in the history of the game, including celebrated actor and 2019 NFF Gold Medal recipient Mark Harmon (UCLA); Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech); Wisconsin interim head coach Jim Leonhard (Wisconsin); and NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins (Illinois) and Leland Melvin (Richmond). NFF National Scholar-Athletes who became NFL stalwarts include Tiki Barber, Drew Brees, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Doug Flutie, Joey Galloway, Justin Herbert, Bradie James, Tyler Lockett, Alex Mack, Eli Manning, Johnny Musso, Chad Pennington, Joe Thomas, Jonathan Vilma, Wesley Walls and Christian Wilkins.
A total of 41 former National Scholar-Athletes have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and seven are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Tony Boselli (Southern California), Derrick Brooks (Florida State), Dave Casper (Notre Dame), Peyton Manning (Tennessee), Merlin Olsen (Utah State), Lee Roy Selmon (Oklahoma) and Steve Young (BYU). Click here for a database of all the past NFF National Scholar-Athletes.
The Campbell Trophy® was first awarded in 1990, adding to the program's prestige. Past recipients include two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and seven first-round NFL draft picks.
The trophy is named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, an All-Ivy League player and the captain of Columbia's 1961 Ivy League championship team who found his true calling after an unlikely career change at age 39 from Columbia football coach to advertising executive. His ability to recruit, develop and manage talented executives – all lessons learned on the gridiron – proved to be a critical component of his ability to inspire his business teams to the highest levels of success.
As the CEO and chairman of Intuit, Campbell's strong leadership and unique talent in building teams allowed him to become one of the most influential individuals in Silicon Valley. Using the lessons of the gridiron he mentored Steve Jobs of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai and Eric Schmidt of Google, Scott Cook and Brad Smith of Intuit, John Doerr of Kleiner-Perkins, Dick Costolo at Twitter, Diane Greene of VMWare and countless others. His contributions have been captured in a book titled "The Trillion Dollar Coach," and during his lifetime, he affectionally became known as the "Coach of Silicon Valley."
Campbell joined the NFF Board in 1978 while he was still a coach at Columbia, and he continued to serve with distinction until his passing in 2016. In 2004, the NFF recognized Campbell's contributions and accomplishments by presenting him with the NFF Gold Medal, the organization's highest honor. In 2009, the NFF renamed college football's premier scholar-athlete award as The William V. Campbell Trophy® as an inspiration to future generations.
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