36 players nominated for 2021 Harlon Hill Trophy

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A total of 36 student-athletes from across the nation have been nominated for the 2021 Harlon Hill Trophy as the Division II College Football Player of the Year.

Eight nominees hail from Super Region 1, eight from Super Region 2, 13 from Super Region 3 and seven from Super Region 4.

The sports information directors at the 165 NCAA Division II football-playing institutions nominate and vote on the award. The 36 initial candidates will be placed on regional ballots and the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions will advance to the national ballot when regional voting concludes on Monday, November 29.

The winner of the 2021 award will be announced on Friday, December 17 and the winner will be honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club awards banquet on January 13, 2022.

The sports information directors at their respective schools nominate candidates. The SIDs in those Super Regions vote for their top five candidates. The winner is then determined in a nation-wide vote of the Division II sports information directors.

The group of 36 candidates includes 13 quarterbacks, 10 running backs, six wide receivers, five linebackers and one defensive line- men and one corner back.

The list features 17 seniors, 12 juniors, six sophomores and one freshman. One nominee – Harding’s Cole Chancey – returns after advancing to the finalist stage in 2019.

The Hill Trophy is named for the late Harlon Hill – the former Uni- versity of North Alabama standout – who excelled with the Lions from 1950-53 before going on to fame in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.