Geisthardt Named Semifinalist For National Scholar-Athlete Award

UW-Oshkosh senior punter Turner Geisthardt is one of 179 semifinalists for the National Football Foundation's (NFF) 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy, an award that recognizes the best football scholar-athlete in the nation.

Nominated by their schools, candidates for the Campbell Trophy 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. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

Geisthardt is among 41 NCAA Division III semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy. The WIAC had two other candidates – offensive linemen Caleb Adams of UW-Stout and Nate Trewyn of UW-Whitewater.

The overall semifinal list also included 63 players from the Football Bowl Subdivision, 40 from the Football Championship Subdivision, 25 from the NCAA Division II and 10 from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

"The NFF would like to personally congratulate each of the nominees as well as their schools and coaches on their tremendous accomplishments," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We are extremely proud to highlight each semifinalist's achievements, showcasing their ability to balance academics and athletics at the highest level. The NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the finalists from this outstanding group of candidates."

Geisthardt has been UW-Oshkosh's punter since his arrival on campus. The three-time All-WIAC second team selection has punted the football 159 times during his 44-game career for an average of 40.1 yards per kick, the fifth-highest mark among all active players in the NCAA Division III.

Geisthardt, who has placed 48 of his career punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, has averaged 43 yards on 20 kicks this season to rank second in the conference and fourth nationally.

Geisthardt averaged 40.4 yards on 37 punts in 2017 when he also received NCAA Division III All-West Region second team honors by D3football.com. He previously averaged 40.4 yards on 55 boots in 2016 and 38.1 yards on 47 kicks in 2015. Geisthardt recorded his longest career punt of 62 yards twice during the 2016 season as UW-Oshkosh registered wins of 68-7 over Finlandia University (Mich.) and 48-13 over UW-Eau Claire.

Geisthardt has handled some of the placekicking duties for UW-Oshkosh as well. The Oshkosh North High School graduate earned All-WIAC first team recognition at placekicker in 2017 after converting 62 of 64 extra point and 7 of 12 field goal attempts. His 83 points a year ago led all WIAC placekickers. Geisthardt, who scored his other two career points during the 2015 season, tallied a career-high 13 points during UW-Oshkosh's 37-20 win over UW-Whitewater in 2017.

Off the field, Geisthardt owns a 3.94 cumulative grade-point average as a kinesiology major. He is an eight-time University Dean's List and three-time WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll member. Last fall, Geisthardt collected NCAA Division III Academic All-America first team honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Geisthardt has also been involved with several campus and community organizations, including the St. Vincent De Paul Food Pantry, Be The Match and the Oshkosh Police Department.

The NFF Awards Committee will announce the 12-14 finalists on Oct. 31, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. At the event, one member of the class will be declared the winner of the 29th William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.

Named in honor of the late William Campbell, the former chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal, the Campbell Trophy is a 25-pound bronze trophy and increases the amount of the recipient's grant by $7,000 for a total postgraduate scholarship of $25,000. This year's postgraduate scholarships will push the program's all-time distribution to more than $11.5 million.

Previous winners of the Campbell Trophy include University of Tennessee's Peyton Manning (1997), Marshall University's (Ohio) Chad Pennington (1999), University of Florida's Tim Tebow (2009) and University of Nebraska's Kyle Vanden Bosch (2000).

Geisthardt follows Brett Kasper (2017), Branden Lloyd (2016), Craig Schommer (2015), Beau Steffens (2014), Cory Wipperfurth (2013), Ben Strehlow (2012) and Justin Budiac (2011) as recent UW-Oshkosh nominees for the Campbell Trophy.

Official National Football Foundation Release

National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame Website