By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA - Evan Landi knew the drill as a child and his parents made it crystal clear: If your homework isn't done, you're not going outside to play sports with your friends.
USF's senior tight end followed his parents orders then and has kept the approach all through college. Landi was recognized for his efforts in academics and athletics on Thursday, when he was announced as semifinalists for the National Football Foundation's William V. Campbell Trophy.
A total of 16 finalists will be announced Oct. 25 and they'll receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship along with becoming a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy. Each member of the National Scholar-Athlete Class will travel to New York City for the 55th NFF awards dinner Dec. 4, when the overall winner will be announced. The Campbell Trophy winner receives a 25-pound bronze trophy and gets an additional $7,000 that will go towards the postgraduate scholarship total.
"With the help of the academic staff and my coaches, I think it's a huge honor. I'm very happy to be considered," Landi said after practice Thursday afternoon.
Campbell Trophy semifinalists are seniors or graduate students in their final year of eligibility that have posted a grade point average of at least 3.2, contribute as a first-team player and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. Landi graduated last December with a bachelor's degree in communications after posting a 3.65 overall GPA on top of earning a 4.0 in four semester terms as an undergraduate. All of that was done while the three-time Big East All-Academic team member started more than 20 games, and the senior is approaching the 1,000-yard mark as a USF pass catcher.
Landi's accomplishment marks USF's second straight year of having a Campbell Trophy semifinalist after former offensive lineman Chaz Hine made it all the way to the finals last year. Landi has been an active contributor in the community, volunteering his time at numerous elementary schools and hospitals during his USF career.
"Evan is an impressive student-athlete," head coach Skip Holtz said. "When you look at everything he's accomplished in the classroom and on the field, he's served as a great example for teammates. He has had so much success at South Florida and it certainly will continue to as he moves on."
Landi quickly credited his parents, Michael and Dee, for putting him in a position to succeed. Sports have always been his first love, but his mother and father made sure that he succeeded in school before shining on the field.
"Ever since I was little, my parents had my sister and I take academics seriously," Landi said. "They would threaten our sports and take away our sports if our grades slipped. We couldn't go outside to play if we didn't finish our homework first. It has stuck with me all through college."
Landi also said his sister, Justine, deserves a lot of the credit for his success. Justine played pro volleyball overseas and recently started her first semester of medical school at Louisville.
"My sister set the bar high academically and I just followed in her footsteps," Landi said.
Landi is currently pursuing his second bachelor's degree in criminology that will be completed this fall. He plans to see how far football can take him as a player and looks forward to coaching at the college level in the future.
"Sports have been my whole life," he said. "I've had coaches who have greatly impacted my life on and off the field. I think it would be really cool to impact young men once I'm older and coaching."
NFF NATIONAL SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARDS CANDIDATES
Football Bowl Subdivision
Alabama -- Barrett Jones
Arkansas -- Dylan Breeding
Army -- Zach Watts
Auburn -- Ashton Richardson
Ball State -- Scott Kovanda
Baylor -- Nick Florence
Brigham Young -- Riley Nelson
California -- Matt Summers-Gavin
Central Florida -- Lyle Dankenbring
Clemson -- Dalton Freeman
Colorado -- Dustin Ebner
Duke -- Sean Renfree
Eastern Michigan -- Alex Gillett
Florida -- Caleb Sturgis
Florida State -- Dustin Hopkins
Georgia -- Ty Frix
Indiana -- Adam Replogle
Iowa -- James Vandenberg
Iowa State -- Carter Bykowski
Kentucky -- Matt Smith
Louisiana Tech -- Matt Nelson
Mississippi -- Tyler Campbell
Missouri -- T.J. Moe
Navy -- Keegan Wetzel
Nebraska -- Rex Burkhead
North Carolina -- Pete Mangum
North Carolina State -- McKay Frandsen
Northern Illinois -- Nabal Jefferson
Northwestern -- Patrick Ward
Notre Dame -- Manti Te'o
Ohio -- Matt Weller
Ohio State -- Ben Buchanan
Penn State -- Pete Massaro
Purdue -- Robert Maci
Rutgers -- Duron Harmon
San Jose State -- Travis Johnson
South Carolina -- Seth Strickland
South Florida -- Evan Landi
Southern California -- Matt Barkley
Syracuse -- Ryan Nassib
Texas -- Marquise Goodwin
Texas Tech -- Cody Davis
Toledo -- Dan Molls
UCLA -- Jeff Locke
Utah -- Sean Sellwood
Virginia Tech -- Joey Phillips
West Virginia -- Jeff Braun
Western Michigan -- Chris Prom
Wisconsin -- Shelton Johnson
Wyoming -- Luke Ruff
Football Championship Subdivision
Austin Peay State -- Wesley Kitts
Brown -- Ross Walthall
Bryant -- Colin Sullivan
Bucknell -- Sam Oyekoya
Butler -- Jordan Ridley
Campbell -- Sam Eberwein
Colgate -- Chris Looney
Dartmouth -- Patrick Lahey
Dayton -- Bill Petraiuolo
Delaware -- Ethan Clark
Drake -- Tyler Moorehead
Eastern Kentucky -- Patrick Ford
Fordham -- Patrick Murray
Georgia State -- Akeen Felder
Holy Cross -- Tom Mannix
Maine -- Brian Harvey
Missouri State -- Matt Thayer
Montana -- Samuel Gratton
New Hampshire -- Chris Zarkoskie
Nicholls State -- Kerry Guidry
North Dakota -- Ross Brenneman
North Dakota State -- Garrett Bruhn
Northern Arizona -- Jake Hess
Northern Colorado -- Mason Puckett
Northern Iowa -- Kyle Bernard
Northwestern State -- John Shaughnessy
Old Dominion -- Jonathan Plisco
Princeton -- Joe Cloud
Rhode Island -- Kyle Elliott
Robert Morris -- Nolan Nearhoof
Sam Houston State -- Eric Fieilo
South Dakota State -- Tyrel Kool
Southern Illinois -- Joe Okon
UC-Davis -- Sean Davies
UT-Chattanooga -- Adam Miller
Division II
Adams State (Colo.) -- Jason Nottingham
Ashland (Ohio) -- Donnie Dottei
C.W. Post-LIU (N.Y.) -- Grayson Laurino
Eastern New Mexico -- Wes Wood
Harding (Ark.) -- Josh Aldridge
Missouri Univ. of Science & Tech. -- Josh Firm
Missouri Southern State -- Kellen Cox
St. Cloud State (Minn.) -- Andrew Beckmann
Wayne State (Mich.) -- Nick Thomas
West Texas A&M -- Aarone Mulane
Wingate (N.C.) -- Andrew Nallenweg
Division III
Albion (Mich.) -- Spencer Krauss
Albright (Pa.) -- J.T. Harding
Bethany (W.Va.) -- Johnathan Foster
Bethel (Minn.) -- Gavin Maurer
Bluffton (Ohio) -- Ryan Sabin
Case Western Reserve (Ohio) -- Dan Calabrese
Central (Iowa) -- Ross Doehrmann
Denison (Ohio) -- Nathaniel Kell
DePauw (Ind.) -- Christopher Lamping
Dubuque (Iowa) -- Wyatt Hanus
Emory & Henry (Va.) -- Ross Ellis
Franklin and Marshall (Pa.) -- Kenny Provost
Frostburg State (Md.) -- Anthony Young
Gallaudet (D.C.) -- Denton Mallas
Gettysburg (Pa.) -- Larry DelViscio
Grinnell (Iowa) -- TJ Schaid
Hampden-Sydney (Va.) -- Alex Price
Hardin-Simmons (Texas) -- Travis Sugar
Kean (N.J.) -- T.J. Denehy
King's (Pa.) -- Ryan Cordingly
Lake Forest (Ill.) -- Aidan Price
Lycoming (Pa.) -- Parker Showers
Macalester (Minn.) -- Riley Koval
Manchester (Ind.) -- Matt Frieden
Massachusetts Institute of Tech. -- Ethan Peterson
Mount Union (Ohio) -- Nick Driskill
North Central (Ill.) -- Alex Pirela
Oberlin (Ohio) -- David Kalgren
Rowan (N.J.) -- Chris Popper
Saint John's (Minn.) -- Stephen Johnson
Shenandoah (Va.) -- Nick Erdman
Simpson (Iowa) -- Mark Cronin
Union (N.Y.) -- Noah Joseph
Wartburg (Iowa) -- Garrett McGrane
Washington Univ. in St. Louis (Mo.) -- Dan Burkett
Westfield State (Mass.) -- Chris Walker
Wheaton (Ill.) -- Sam VanHeest
Williams (Mass.) -- Ladd Hamrick
Wisconsin-Eau Claire -- Matt Hawley
Wisconsin-Oshkosh -- Ben Strehlow
Wisconsin-Stout -- Joshua Peterson
NAIA
Bethel (Tenn.) -- Jouan Cox
Cumberland (Tenn.) -- Cody McCallister
Dakota State (S.D.) -- John Niesen
Faulkner (Ala.) -- Mitchell Thornton
McPherson (Kan.) -- Jacob Snodgrass
Peru State (Neb.) -- Joel Woodhead
Saint Xavier (Ill.) -- Shane Zackery
Univ. of the Cumberlands (Ky.) -- Jay Bright
William Penn (Iowa) -- Mason Woods
