Bucknell Football's Samuel Oyekoya Named a Semifinalist for Campbell Trophy - BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Bucknell Football's Samuel Oyekoya Named a Semifinalist for Campbell Trophy

Senior DE Makes it Seven Consecutive Years a Bison has Been Honored

Samuel Oyekoya

Sept. 27, 2012

147 Student-Athletes Named Semifinalists for NFF's William V. Campbell Trophy

Oyekoya Finds Ways to Help Bucknell Football and Community

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell senior defensive end Samuel Oyekoya (Lanham, Md./Gonzaga) on Thursday was selected by the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame as one of 147 semifinalists across all divisions of college football for the William V. Campbell Trophy. He is the seventh Bison in as many years to be a semifinalist, following David Frisbey (2006), Nick Mozal (2007), Kevin Mullen (2008), Sam Nana-Sinkam (2009), Travis Nissley (2010) and Time Bolte (2011). Nissley, in 2010, advanced on to become an NFF National Scholar-Athlete and was a finalist for the Campbell Trophy.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the award must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of 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 class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 Campbell Trophy finalists as National Scholar-Athletes, and the results will be announced via a national press release on Thursday, Oct. 25. Each National Scholar-Athlete will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and they will vie as finalists for the 2012 William V. Campbell Trophy. Each member of the 2012 National Scholar-Athlete Class will also travel to New York City to be honored Dec. 4 during the 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. One member of the class will also be announced live at the event as the winner of the Campbell Trophy.

A two-time member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and a nominee for the Academic All-Patriot League Team, Oyekoya owns a 3.23 cumulative grade-point average while majoring in economics and political science. An ardent believer in giving back to his community, Oyekoya has been an active fundraiser for the Thorne Room Organization Educational Center in Sierra Leone and a member of the Bucknell Black Student Union and the Bucknell Leadership Council.

A three-time letterwinner on the football field, Oyekoya has been a mainstay at defensive end since his freshman campaign. He has played in 33 career games, totaled 56 tackles, including 15 tackles for loss, and his 10.5 sacks put him within reach of joining the Bison career top-10 list by season's end.

Oyekoya is a regular member of the starting lineup for the first time this fall, having been part of the starting unit in each of the Bison's first three games. He has 12 tackles and 2.5 sacks as part of a defense that is yielded just 18.7 points per game this season to rank 27th nationally.

Oyekoya is one of 35 semifinalists to come from FCS schools and is one of four from Patriot League teams, joining Chris Looney (Colgate), Patrick Murray (Fordham) and Tom Mannix (Holy Cross).