Honors keep on coming for DeltaState University quarterback Micah Davis.  The Wesson High School andCopiah-Lincoln Community College graduate was recognized Tuesdaynight during a National Football Foundation banquet held in NewYork City, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

 

    Davis was one of 16 finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy,which honors the best scholar-athlete football players from acrossthe nation.

The Campbell Trophy was endowed byHealthSouth in 2001

    Davis is considered one of the absolute best in the country for  combined academic success, footballperformance and exemplary community leadership. The award takes itname from Bill Campbell, the former player and head coach atColumbia University, who after an unlikely career switch at age 39from coach to advertising executive, went on to apply the lessonsof the gridiron to become one of the country’s most influentialbusiness leaders with critical roles in the successes of Intuit,Apple and Google.

    The NFF committee traditionally selects 15 to 17 scholar-athletesfrom across the country for these prestigious $18,000 fellowships,and they consider candidates from all levels of college football,including the Division I Bowl Subdivision, Division I ChampionshipSubdivision, Division II, Division III and the NAIA, in makingtheir selections.

    Davis has directed Delta State to the NCAA Division II semifinals.The Statesmen are at Pittsburg State, Kan. Saturday night for achilly contest kicking off at 6 p.m.

    Co-Lin head coach Glenn Davis shared the magical moment Tuesdaywith his son. They rubbed elbows with hundreds of nationally knownfootball players and coaches. The plush banquet included 1,500folks dressed in formal attire.

    “It was an unbelievable banquet,” said Coach Davis. “The best I’veever attended.”

    His son received an $18,000 endowment scholarship to continue hiseducation. Micah is a chemistry major and sports a perfect 4.0 GPA.He plans to enter the medical field.

    For the record, Army linebacker  Andrew Rodriquez was crowned theoverall winner and received an additional $7,000. He has a 4.134GPA in mechanical engineering.

    Besides Davis and Rodriquez, other finalists were Drew Butler,Georgia; Kirk Cousins, Michigan State; John Dowd, Navy; YaserElqutub, Northwestern State; Chris Ganious, South Dakota; ClayGarcia, Colorado School of Mines; Chandler Harnish, NorthernIllinois; Tysyn Hartman, Kansas State; Chaz Hine, South Florida;Joe Holland, PurDue, Jared Karstetter, Washington State; Ryan Tannehill, TexasA&M; Patrick Witt, Yale; and Michael Zweifel, Dubuque.

    On the gridiron,  Davis haspassed for over 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns thisseason.  He is one of threefinalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy recognizing the best offensiveplayer in Division II. That honor will be presented next Saturday,Dec. 17, at Muscle Shoals, Ala., site of the D-IINational  Championshipgame.

    Obviously, Coach Davis and his wife, Minta, are extremely proud oftheir son. They also have an exceptional daughter in Ann Shelby whois a sophomore guard on the Delta State women’s basketballteam.

    For sure, it has been a hectic year for the Davis family. Most ofCo-Lin’s games were played on Thursday nights, giving them a chanceto see Micah play on Saturdays. Their latest destination is nearly600 miles away in Kansas.

    Coach Davis questioned the late starting time to accommodate ESPNand earn more money for the NCAA. “The kids at Delta State haveexams on Monday. They’ll have to ride that bus back to Clevelandafter the game.”

    The NCAA promotes the academic side of college athletics on TV andin the print media. However, when TV revenue is offered to a schoolto play games in the middle of the week or at night in ice-coldKansas, the dollars get priority.

 

    Congratulations to the East Mississippi Community College Lionsupon winning the NJCAA national championship. The Lions (12-0) metand defeated Arizona Western 55-47 Saturday in Yuma, Ariz.

    The Scooba-based Lions roared to a 27-0 lead midway through thesecond quarter and handed the Matadors their first loss in 12games. EMCC quarterback Bo Wallace completed 29 of 40 passes for357 yards and six touchdowns.

    Wallace, a Pulaski, Tenn., native, transferred to EMCC fromArkansas State. He set single-season passing records 4,475 yardsand for total offense 4,676.

    Meanwhile, in the Mississippi Bowl at Biloxi Sunday, Gulf CoastCommunity College (10-2) made the best of a major rebuilding year.The host Bulldogs whipped Blinn (Texas) 46-17, dominating the No.5-ranked Buccaneers (9-2).

    Bulldog quarterback Raymond Cotton accounted for 242 yards and 4touchdowns. Cotton rushed for 107 yards and 2 TDs. He completed 7of 12 passes for 135 yards and 2 more TDs.

    Gulf Coast, coached by Steven Campbell, won the state title in 2010and Co-Lin was runner-up. The Bulldogs lost to East Miss. in thisyear’s state title game.

    Mississippi football is considered among the best in the nation,especially at the juco and high school levels. For sure, SouthernMiss made a strong statement by smashing previously unbeatenHouston for the C-USA championship last Saturday.

    Now the Eagles are working on their hula dance as they prepare fora Christmas Eve date with Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl. They’re alsolooking for a new head coach since Larry Fedora accepted the jobWednesday at North Carolina.

    Hey, boss. How about some in-person coverage of the Golden Eaglesduring their stay in Honolulu?

Contact sports editor Tom Goetz byEmail: tgoetz@dailyleader.com