Links:
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Harlon Hill
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UNA's Harlon Hill Trophy Candidates
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History of Hill Trophy (all-time candidates, vote totals)
• Photo Gallery
The Harlon Hill Trophy was created in 1986 as part of the move of the NCAA Division II Football Championship to the Shoals area of Northwest Alabama. The idea was to enhance the Division II Championship experience with other events surrounding the game that would recognize the division’s student-athletes.
The trophy's namesake, Harlon Hill, was a football All-American at the University of North Alabama who went on to be selected National Football League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player with the Chicago Bears. A four-year letterman at North Alabama from 1950-53, Hill serves as an example of the tremendous talents on the Division II level that often went unrecognized on the collegiate level.
Now having recognized its 32nd winner, the Harlon Hill Trophy has grown in prestige over the last quarter century and is now among the most recognized awards in collegiate athletics.
The idea for the creation of the award came from the late Shoals National Championship Committee Chairman Grady Liles, and the initial proposal was produced by University of North Alabama Sports Information Director Jeff Hodges, who has served as the Chairman of the National Harlon Hill Award Committee for the last 32 years.
Since its creation, the Harlon Hill trophy has had a far-reaching impact on Division II football. There have been 607 different student-athletes nominated for the award since 1986, and those candidates have come form more than 150 different institutions. The national finalists for the Hill Trophy represent 100 different Division II schools and the 32 winners have come from 21 different institutions.
Transition
After being presented in the Florence, Ala., for the first 32 years of its existence, the Hill Trophy will be presented in Little Rock, Ark., beginning with the presentation at the end of the 2018 season. With UNA's transition out of Division II, the Great American Conference (GAC) and the Little Rock Touchdown Club stepped forward to take up the administrative and presenting roles with the award.
