LOGAN, Utah – Utah State football had 10 players named as members of the 2025 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society, it was announced Wednesday.
The 2025 class 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. A total of 2,532 players from 339 schools qualified for membership in the society’s 19th year.
Former Aggies Colby Bowman, Jacob Garcia, Cole Joyce, Stephen Kotsanlee, Elliott Nimrod, Spencer Petras and Kyrese White join current Aggies Bryson Barnes, Broc Lane and Josh Sterzer on the list.
The 10 Aggies were among 80 student-athletes from the Mountain West to make the list. At the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, Utah State was one of 22 programs to have at least 10 players recognized.
Barnes graduated from Utah State in the spring of 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in business integrated studies and is pursuing his master’s in business administration, while maintaining a 3.59 grade point average. He earned academic All-Mountain West honors in 2024.
Bowman (3.30 GPA) earned his master’s degree in business administration from Utah State in the fall of 2024. He was a two-time academic All-Mountain West honoree (2023, 2024).
Garcia earned his bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Utah State in the spring of 2023 and his master’s in sports management in the fall of 2024, while maintaining a 3.30 GPA. He was a three-time academic All-Mountain West honoree (2020, 2021, 2024).
Joyce (3.22 GPA) earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Utah State in the summer of 2024. He was a three-time academic All-Mountain West honoree (2022, 2023, 2024).
Kotsanlee earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and posted a GPA of 3.34 during his time at Utah State. He was a five-time academic All-Mountain West honoree (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and was named honorable mention All-MW as a freshman in 2020.
Lane (3.69 GPA) graduated from Utah State with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in the fall of 2023 and is pursuing his master’s in business administration. He is a three-time academic All-Mountain West honoree (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024), a two-time MW Scholar-Athlete (2020, 2022) and was a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy in 2024, which is annually awarded to the top college football player with the best combination of academics, leadership, and on-field performance. Lane was named honorable mention All-MW in 2023.
Nimrod earned his bachelor’s degree in integrated studies from Utah State in the spring of 2024 and his master’s in business administration in the fall of 2024, maintaining a 3.25 GPA. He earned academic All-Mountain West honors twice (2023, 2024).
Petras earned his master’s degree in sports management from Utah State in the fall of 2024 with a 4.0 GPA and was named academic All-Mountain West. He garnered honorable mention All-MW honors during his only season at USU.
Sterzer (3.41 GPA) earned his bachelor’s degree in international business from Utah State in the spring of 2024 and is pursuing his master’s in business administration. He has been named academic All-Mountain West four times (2020, 2021, 2023, 2024).
White (3.21 GPA) graduated from Utah State in the fall of 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science. He was a three-time academic All-Mountain West recipient (2022, 2023, 2024).
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 initiative has now honored 20,946 student-athletes since its inception.
To qualify for the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, student-athletes must graduate this spring/summer and have completed his final year of playing eligibility in 2024 or be a graduated player who has been out of high school at least three years.
Qualifying student-athletes also must have maintained a 3.2 cumulative GPA throughout their entire course or undergraduate study and have been starters or significant contributors throughout the 2024 season.
