© 2015 West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics

CUMMING— John DePalma, a senior long snapper at West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, is one of 135 semifinalists for the 2015 William V. Campbell Trophy. The award recognizes the best football scholar-athletes in the nation.

According to the award guidelines, a school can only nominate one person who 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 National Football Foundation (NFF) will announce 15 finalists on Oct. 29, who will each receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete class.

During the 58th NFF annual awards dinner on Dec. 8, one person will be named the winner of the 26th William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.

The 6-foot-6, 252-pound DePalma is a 2012 graduate of Pinecrest Academy in Cumming, where he started as tight end, defensive end and long snapper. DePalma was named an all-county tight end as a senior. He was also a four-year starter on Pinecrest’s basketball team, scored over 1,000 points during his career, was a member of the National Honor Society and received the school’s Top Athlete Award.

At West Virginia DePalma has snapped in over 35 career games. He was named Academic All-Big 12 First Team as a sophomore and Academic All-Big 12 Second Team as a junior.