Gradney a semifinalist for the “Academic Heisman”
9/25/2024 1:36:00 PM | Football
Montana All-American cornerback Trevin Gradney added to his off-field resume on Wednesday as one of just three players from the Big Sky Conference to be named a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's William V. Campbell Trophy, also known as the "Academic Heisman."
Celebrating its 35th year, the Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance, and exemplary leadership.
Semifinalists must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, hold at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
Gradney maintains one of the highest GPAs on a Grizzly football team that has seen unprecedented academic success in recent years, riding a streak of 12-straight semesters with an average 3.0 or better GPA among the program's 110 student-athletes. A feat nearly unheard of in college football.
The Billings native graduated Cum Laude from the UM College of Business in the fall of 2022 with an undergraduate degree in marketing and a cumulative GPA of 3.66. He's currently enrolled in the MBA program and holds an even better 3.79 GPA.
Selected by his Grizzly teammates as one of five team captains this season, Gradney is a three-time Academic All-Big Sky selection (2020-21, 2022, 2023) and was part of Montana's Big Sky Team GPA champion squad in 2023.
He earned a place on UM's Dean's List four times (fall '22, fall '20, spring '20, and fall '19), and was on the President's list with a perfect 4.0 GPA in the spring of 2020. He was also named a Presidential Member of the National Society of Leadership and Success earlier this fall and was named to the NFF's Hampshire Honors Society in the spring of '24 as a graduated player now in his final season of eligibility.
On the field Gradney has been a stalwart in the defensive secondar, starting 16 times and making 44 appearances for the Griz. As a junior in 2023 he led the FCS in interceptions for most of the year and finished tied for the fourth-most picks in the nation with five – the most in the Big Sky Conference.
Following that break out year he earned several preseason All-America accolades in 2024 and was named to the preseason all-conference team. During the summer he was also passed down Montana's #37 legacy jersey as a tribute to his "hard work, dedication to the team, and tough play on the gridiron."
In 2023 he opened the season with an interception in each of the first four games and added a fifth against Montana State, picking-off a Bobcat pass for a fourth quarter turnover that led to the game-sealing touchdown two plays later.
Led by Gradney, Montana picked off 17 passes that season, the fourth most in the FCS. He finished top four in the Big Sky in total passes defended with 12, despite missing two games to injury. He also had a career-high two pass breakups against Furman in the FCS playoffs, the second of which sealed the win for the Grizzlies and sent them to the semifinal.
As a freshman in 2020-21 he earned first team All-Big Sky honors for his work on special teams and earned Montana's Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year award after appearing in every game.
On the leadership and volunteerism front, Gradney has completed 13 hours of community service in his time at UM. He's assisted with the National Marrow Donor Program's Be the Match registry four times, encouraged campus members to sign up to vote, worked on the Missoula Food Bank's sack lunch project, and assisted new students as part of the UM move-in crew.
Montana has a long history of success with the Campbell Trophy. In 2019, Buck Buchanan Award-winning linebacker Dante Olson was named one of 18 finalists for the award, won that year by Oregon's Justin Herbert. In 2015, Grizzly defensive end Derek Crittenden (also a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship) was named a finalist as well and flew to New York for the annual NFF Awards Dinner.
Dave Dickenson was a finalist for the Campbell Trophy in 1995 and attended to the 2018 NFF Awards Banquet in New York as an inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame. Other Grizzlies to be named a finalist and scholar-athlete include Josh Branen (1997) Sam Gratton (2012), and Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer Vince Huntsberger (2001).
More recently, TraJon Cotton was named a semifinalist in 2023, record holder Robby Hauck, NFL tackle Dylan Cook, NFL receiver Samori Toure, and D-end Reggie Tilleman were all named semifinalists.
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists from the record pool of 203 semifinalists on Oct. 23, and each will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2024 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments.
The finalists will travel to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 10, 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 35th Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
Celebrating its 35th year, the Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance, and exemplary leadership.
Semifinalists must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, hold at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
Gradney maintains one of the highest GPAs on a Grizzly football team that has seen unprecedented academic success in recent years, riding a streak of 12-straight semesters with an average 3.0 or better GPA among the program's 110 student-athletes. A feat nearly unheard of in college football.
The Billings native graduated Cum Laude from the UM College of Business in the fall of 2022 with an undergraduate degree in marketing and a cumulative GPA of 3.66. He's currently enrolled in the MBA program and holds an even better 3.79 GPA.
Selected by his Grizzly teammates as one of five team captains this season, Gradney is a three-time Academic All-Big Sky selection (2020-21, 2022, 2023) and was part of Montana's Big Sky Team GPA champion squad in 2023.
He earned a place on UM's Dean's List four times (fall '22, fall '20, spring '20, and fall '19), and was on the President's list with a perfect 4.0 GPA in the spring of 2020. He was also named a Presidential Member of the National Society of Leadership and Success earlier this fall and was named to the NFF's Hampshire Honors Society in the spring of '24 as a graduated player now in his final season of eligibility.
On the field Gradney has been a stalwart in the defensive secondar, starting 16 times and making 44 appearances for the Griz. As a junior in 2023 he led the FCS in interceptions for most of the year and finished tied for the fourth-most picks in the nation with five – the most in the Big Sky Conference.
Following that break out year he earned several preseason All-America accolades in 2024 and was named to the preseason all-conference team. During the summer he was also passed down Montana's #37 legacy jersey as a tribute to his "hard work, dedication to the team, and tough play on the gridiron."
In 2023 he opened the season with an interception in each of the first four games and added a fifth against Montana State, picking-off a Bobcat pass for a fourth quarter turnover that led to the game-sealing touchdown two plays later.
Led by Gradney, Montana picked off 17 passes that season, the fourth most in the FCS. He finished top four in the Big Sky in total passes defended with 12, despite missing two games to injury. He also had a career-high two pass breakups against Furman in the FCS playoffs, the second of which sealed the win for the Grizzlies and sent them to the semifinal.
As a freshman in 2020-21 he earned first team All-Big Sky honors for his work on special teams and earned Montana's Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year award after appearing in every game.
On the leadership and volunteerism front, Gradney has completed 13 hours of community service in his time at UM. He's assisted with the National Marrow Donor Program's Be the Match registry four times, encouraged campus members to sign up to vote, worked on the Missoula Food Bank's sack lunch project, and assisted new students as part of the UM move-in crew.
Montana has a long history of success with the Campbell Trophy. In 2019, Buck Buchanan Award-winning linebacker Dante Olson was named one of 18 finalists for the award, won that year by Oregon's Justin Herbert. In 2015, Grizzly defensive end Derek Crittenden (also a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship) was named a finalist as well and flew to New York for the annual NFF Awards Dinner.
Dave Dickenson was a finalist for the Campbell Trophy in 1995 and attended to the 2018 NFF Awards Banquet in New York as an inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame. Other Grizzlies to be named a finalist and scholar-athlete include Josh Branen (1997) Sam Gratton (2012), and Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer Vince Huntsberger (2001).
More recently, TraJon Cotton was named a semifinalist in 2023, record holder Robby Hauck, NFL tackle Dylan Cook, NFL receiver Samori Toure, and D-end Reggie Tilleman were all named semifinalists.
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists from the record pool of 203 semifinalists on Oct. 23, and each will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2024 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments.
The finalists will travel to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 10, 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 35th Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
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