MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University senior All-American center Tyler Orlosky was named to the Hampshire Honor Society by The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, today, as announced by the organization.
The Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers.
Orlosky marks the 31st Mountaineer named to the honor society since the formation of the group in 2007. He played in 50 career games and started 42 for the Mountaineers, all at center. He was named to the Associated Press, Football Writers’ Association of America, USA Today, CBSSports.com, SBNation, Athlon Sports and SI.com All-American teams
He was a two-time team captain, one of three finalists for the 2016 Rimington Trophy and was a unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selection. He was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 selection. Orlosky, a mainstay on WVU’s Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll and the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll graduated in August 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise psychology and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in corporate communications.
West Virginia (10-3) finished the 2016 season with its ninth 10-win season in school history and also finished with a 7-2 mark in Big 12 Conference action, tying for second place.
The 1,091 players honored in 2017 sets a new high water mark, eclipsing the previous record of 882 honorees in 2016. The 298 schools with members breaks the previous record of 280 in both 2015 and 2016. The initiative has honored 7,725 student-athletes since its inception, and the program has experienced growth every year in either members or school participation since its launch in 2007.
"The number of colleges and universities who embrace the Hampshire Honor Society continues to increase each year," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Over the past 11 years, it has become a powerful vehicle for schools to recognize their college football players who have distinguished themselves academically and athletically, and we congratulate the schools and each of these young men for their commitment to excellence."
The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF’s National Scholar-Athlete program by greatly expanding the number of scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year. The program further strengthens the organization’s leadership role in encouraging academic performance by the student-athletes who play football at the 777 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide.
A total of 31 schools have had at least one student-athlete recognized in each of the Hampshire Honor Society's 11 years: Austin Peay, Brown, Bucknell, BYU, Colorado, Columbia, Dayton, Huntingdon (Alabama), Iowa, Johns Hopkins (Maryland), Kentucky, Lafayette, Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, Montana, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Penn State, Purdue, Redlands, California, Saint John's (Minnesota), SMU, South Dakota State, Wartburg (Iowa), Washington U. in St. Louis (Missouri), Wayne State (Michigan), West Virginia, Wingate (North Carolina), Yale and Youngstown State.
