BYU’s James Empey Named Semifinalist For Prestigious Campbell Trophy

PROVO, Utah – BYU football center James Empey has put together an accomplished collegiate career both on and off the field. Empey’s success has garnered recognition as a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy.

The William V. 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.

Announcing the impressive 176 Semifinalists for the 2021 #CampbellTrophy!

The trophy honors the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership

See the full list: https://t.co/CcdT2LoABD pic.twitter.com/udRGnJO3Vt

— Football Foundation (@NFFNetwork) September 29, 2021

Empey is one of 176 players in the both the FBS and FCS ranks that was named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy.

James Empey has been a star for BYU Football

A native of American Fork, Utah, Empey has been a mainstay at the center position for BYU since his redshirt freshman season in 2018. During his career at BYU Empey has started in 38 games and is a team captain.

Off the field, Empey is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection who graduated this summer with a 3.84 GPA as a finance major with a minor in nonprofit management.

BYU senior center James Empey has been named a semifinalists for the 2021 William V. Campbell Trophy, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award. Empey is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection for the Cougars.
MORE INFO>> https://t.co/4qYC7rbWqf pic.twitter.com/pXlGpB0Kbm

— BYU Cougars PR (@BYUCougarsPR) September 29, 2021

Candidates for the Campbell Trophy must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2, demonstrate outstanding football ability as a first team player and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.

The semifinalists list will be trimmed down to 12-14 finalists on Oct. 27 and each of the finalists will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2021 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class. BYU has had five players in its history become a NFF National Scholar-Athlete. The others include Taysom Hill (2016), Matt Bauman (2009), Jared Lee (2000), Steve Young (1983), and Stephen Miller (1976).

Previous winners of the Campbell Trophy

1990 – Chris Howard (Air Force)

1991 – Brad Culpepper (Florida)

1992 – Jim Hansen (Colorado)

1993 – Thomas Burns (Virginia)

1994 – Rob Zatechka (Nebraska)

1995 – Bobby Hoying (Ohio State)

1996 – Danny Wuerffel (Florida)

1997 – Peyton Manning (Tennessee)

1998 – Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia)

1999 – Chad Pennington (Marshall)

2000 – Kyle Vanden Bosch (Nebraska)

2001 – Joaquin Gonzales (Miami FL)

2002 – Brandon Roberts (Washington U. in St. Louis)

2003 – Craig Krenzel (Ohio State)

2004 – Michael Munoz (Tennessee)

2005 – Rudy Niswanger (LSU)

2006 – Brian Leonard (Rutgers)

2007 – Dallas Griffin (Texas)

2008 – Alex Mack (California)

2009 – Tim Teobow (Florida)

2010 – Sam Acho (Texas)

2011 – Andrew Rodriguez (Army West Point)

2012 – Barrett Jones (Alabama)

2013 – John Urschel (Penn State)

2014 – David Helton (Duke)

2015 – Ty Darlington (Oklahoma)

2016 – Zach Terrell (Western Michigan)

2017 – Micah Kiser (Virginia)

2018 – Christian Wilkins (Clemson)

2019 – Justin Herbert (Oregon)

2020 – Brady White (Memphis)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

[ss-signup design_id=”2205276″]