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The field of nine finalists was trimmed from an initial slate of 24 candidates as the finalists were selected by the NCAA D-II Sports Information Directors in regional voting and they will now be placed on the national ballot where all 148 of the division's SIDs will select the 24th recipient of the Hill Trophy. The top two vote getters from each of Division II's Super Regionals advance to the national ballot, but three players advanced from Super Region Three due to a tie in the voting.
Graziano, who is the third Wonder Boy to ever be selected as a candidate for the Hill Trophy, becomes the first Tech player to be placed on the national ballot as Todd Cooley and Cole Barthel were both candidates for the Hill Trophy in 1997 and 2008 respectively.
Joining Graziano, who is a native of Moraga, Calif., and a transfer from the University of Nevada, as finalists for this year's Hill Trophy are West Liberty State junior quarterback Zach Amedro, Edinboro senior quarterback Trevor Harris, North Alabama senior quarterback Harrison Beck, Wayne State [MI] senior running back Joique Bell, Grand Valley State senior quarterback Brad Iciek, Minnesota-Duluth junior running back Isaac Odim, Northwest Missouri State senior running back LaRon Council and Midwestern State junior quarterback Zack Eskridge.
Eight of the nine finalists helped lead their teams into the NCAA Division II Playoffs this season and two of this weekend's second round playoff matchups will feature Harlon Hill finalists facing each other, as Graziano will face off against Beck and Amedro and Harris will play each other this Saturday.
"What a tremendous honor, not only for Nick, but also for Arkansas Tech University and our football program," Tech Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Steve Mullins said. "He is very deserving of being named as a finalist for this prestigious award. He will leave Tech as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play here."
Graziano, who was recently named the Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year, earned his finalist spot after setting every single Tech single-season passing and total offense mark. On the season, Graziano has passed for a school-record 3,881 yards and has accounted for a school and GSC record 4,300 yards of total offense. Graziano is 294-for-475 passing and has completed 62 percent of his passes and is second nationally in total offense (390.9 yards/game) and third nationally in both passing (352.8 yards/game) and points responsible for (22.4 per game). He has thrown a school record 35 touchdown passes and has had a hand in 41 of Tech's school-record 63 touchdowns this season. In addition to his passing, Graziano has carried the ball 66 times for 419 yards and has scored six times, including an 82-yard touchdown run in Tech's win over Delta State.
On the season, Graziano was named a four-time GSC Offensive Player of the Week, a three-time co-National Offensive Player of the Week by D2Football.com and was named a four-time Offensive MVP by the Tech coaches. He became the first GSC player since Valdosta State's Lance Funderburk in 1996 to be named the league's Offensive Player of the Week four times in the same season. He has had Tech's only 400-yard passing games in school history, a feat he has accomplished five times on the year, including throwing for a single-game school record 465 yards in last Saturday's 41-13 home playoff win over UNC Pembroke. He has accounted for five of the Top 6 single-game total offensive marks in school history, including gaining a school record 546 total yards against Delta State, which is the sixth-best single-game mark in GSC history. Along with that, he has had 53 plays of 20 yards or more this season, three of the Top 25 single-game total offensive yard performances in Division II this season and three of the Top 20 single-game passing yard performances this season in Division II.
Players for the Harlon Hill Trophy were nominated and voted on by the sports information directors at the 148 NCAA Division II football-playing schools.
Abilene Christian running back Bernard Scott was the winner of last year's Harlon Hill Trophy. Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) running back Johnny Bailey was the award's only three-time winner (1987-89), while Valdosta State quarterback Dusty Bonner won the award in back-to-back years (2000 and 2001) and Chadron State running back Danny Woodhead won the award in both 2006 and 2007. Since the award's inception in 1986, four different players from the GSC have won the award, with the most recent winner being North Alabama quarterback Will Hall in 2003. Other GSC winners of the Hill Trophy are Valdosta State quarterback Chris Hatcher in 1994 and North Alabama linebacker Ronald McKinnon in 1995.
Grand Valley's Iciek is a finalist for the third straight season and becomes just the third student-athlete in the 24-year history of the award to be so honored. Bailey was a four-time finalist (1986-89) and a three-time winner, while East Stroudsburg's Jimmy Terwilliger was a three-time finalist from 2004-06 and won the Hill Trophy as a junior in 2005. Last season, Iciek finished fifth in the balloting, while Edinboro's Harris finished eighth in the balloting.
National voting for this year's Harlon Hill Trophy will conclude on November 29 and the top three finishers will be invited to the Shoals area for the presentation banquet. The winner of this year's award, which is presented by the National Harlon Hill Award Committee, will be announced at the 24th-annual Harlon Hill Trophy Presentation Banquet on Friday, Dec. 11 at the Florence Conference Center at 6:30 p.m. This year's Hill Trophy Banquet will also include the 11th induction into the Division II Football Hall of Fame, with Shannon Sharpe becoming the 25th inductee. The Harlon Hill Trophy Presentation is one day before the NCAA Division II Championship Game, which is scheduled for noon on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Florence's Braly Municipal Stadium.
Tickets for the Harlon Hill Banquet are $50 each or $400 for a table of eight and can be purchased by calling the Shoals Chamber of Commerce at (256) 764-4661. The Harlon Hill Trophy is sponsored by the City of Florence, Ala., Florence-Lauderdale Tourism, Opti-Net, the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa and Herff Jones.
