Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com

St. John's senior linebacker Carter Hanson has been named one of the 12 finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy.

Each of the 12 finalists will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the National Football Foundation (NFF) National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 59th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6.

At the Dec. 6 event, one member of the class will be declared the winner of the 27th William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000. Candidates must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.

Only one Division III player has ever won the award: Washington University's Brandon Roberts, for the 2002 season, when the honor was known as the Draddy Award.

The 12 finalists were selected from the 156 semifinalists from all divisions of play, who were nominated by their schools as the best all-around student-athletes on their respective teams. Hanson is the only finalist from the NCAA Division III level. The other 11 finalists consist of one from NCAA Division II, two from Division I FCS and eight from the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Hanson is the third Johnnie to be named a Campbell Trophy finalist and first since linebacker Matt Hawn '06 in 2005. Wide receiver Chris Palmer '96 earned the honor, as well as the Gagliardi Trophy, in 1995.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first-team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, members of the College Football Hall of Fame and athletics administrators.

Hanson was named D3football.com All-America honorable mention in 2015.

A two-time D3football.com All-West Region second-team honoree, Hanson is a global business leadership major with a 4.0 GPA and intends to pursue an MBA following graduation. He was named a College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-American in 2015, is a two-time Academic All-MIAC honoree and was SJU's nominee for the American Football Coaches' Association Allstate Good Works Team for 2016.

Hanson is the director of corporate sponsorship for Square One, which is an on-campus organization that seeks to create lasting micro-business ventures in developing countries. As part of Square One, Hanson traveled to Haiti for 10 days in January 2016 to help establish a sustainable food source for the chicken coop business that was created in 2014, in support of In His Hands Orphanage. 

He also volunteered with Kids Against Hunger in March 2016, where he helped pack 45,576 meals for starving people around the world. Hanson helped the SJU football team raise money for Tackle Cancer and the "Up Till Dawn" campaign, collecting donations for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in fall 2015 and served as a basketball official for a local Special Olympics tournament in February 2016. He also worked with Meridian, a bat-making company, as a member of the CSB/SJU Marketing Club to help market their products in fall 2015.

Hanson has been a two-year member of SJU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which has conducted multiple campus cleanups, and serves as SJU's SAAC president for the 2016-17 school year. He is also a member of SJU's Student Conduct Board, is on the advisory board for the Society for the Advancement of Management, and serves as the chair of SJU's Senior Class Committee.

Hanson has started all eight games this season and leads the team with 49 tackles (13 solo), including 6.5 for a loss. He is currently sixth in school history with 132 solo tackles, eighth in total tackles (291) and ninth in assisted tackles (159). Hanson also has 22 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks, as well as three interceptions, six forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries in 42 career games. The Johnnies have a 34-6 record during Hanson's four seasons, so far.