September 23, 2026
IRVING, Texas — Dakota State (S.D.) senior quarterback
Tray Hettick has been named a semifinalist for the prestigious 2026 William V. Campbell Trophy®, the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced Wednesday.
Hettick is one of just three NAIA student-athletes among a record 206 semifinalists from all levels of college football. He joins Indiana Wesleyan's Arjun Lothe and Texas Wesleyan's Cole Francis as the NAIA representatives. The 206 semifinalists surpass the previous record of 204 established in 2024.
Celebrating its 37th year, the William V. Campbell Trophy recognizes the nation's premier football scholar-athlete based on academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. Each institution is permitted to nominate one student-athlete for the award.
Candidates must be seniors in their final year of eligibility or graduate students who have already earned an undergraduate degree, maintain at least a 3.2 cumulative undergraduate grade-point average, be a first-team player or significant contributor and demonstrate strong leadership and citizenship.
Hettick, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior from Selby, S.D., is majoring in business finance at Dakota State. He previously earned North Star Athletic Association Fall Sports Scholar-Athlete honors in both 2023 and 2024, as well as Frontier Conference Academic All-Conference recipient in 2025.
The Trojan quarterback has also put together an impressive start to his senior season on the field. Through Dakota State's first four games, Hettick has completed 76-of-130 passes for 1,430 yards and 17 touchdowns (leads NAIA in both passing yards and passing touchdowns), averaging 357.5 passing yards per game. He has also rushed for a touchdown.
The 2026 Campbell Trophy semifinalist class has an average GPA of 3.64 and features 130 team captains, 24 All-Americans and 114 all-conference selections. Ninety-eight semifinalists have already earned their undergraduate degrees.
The NFF will announce 12 to 16 finalists on Oct. 21. Each finalist will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and become a member of the 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments.
The finalists will be honored at the 68th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 at the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. One member of the class will be selected as the 37th recipient of the William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
First awarded in 1990, the Campbell Trophy has become one of college football's premier scholar-athlete honors. Past recipients include Rhodes Scholars, Heisman Trophy winners and first-round NFL Draft selections.
