LITTLE ROCK, Ark. –  A list of 48 student-athletes from across the nation have been nominated for the 2022 Harlon Hill Trophy as the Division II College Football Player of the Year.

A total of 12 nominees hail from Super Region 1, 11 from Super Region 2, 14 from Super Region 3 and 11 from Super Region 4.

 2022 HARLON HILL NOMINEES

Shepherd’s Tyson Bagent, the 2021 Hill recipient and a 2022 nominee from Super Region I could become the fifth repeat winner in award history. Nebraska-Kearney’s T.J. Davis and Bemidji State’s Brandon Alt also return after reaching the finalist stage a season ago.

The sports information directors at the 164 NCAA Division II football-playing institutions nominate and vote on the award. The 48 initial candidates will be placed on regional ballots and the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions will advance to the national ballot when regional voting concludes on Monday, November 28.

The winner of the 2022 award will be announced on Friday, December 16 and the winner will be honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club awards banquet on Friday, January 13, 2023.

The sports information directors at their respective schools initially nominate candidates. The SIDs in those Super Regions vote for their top five candidates. The winner is then determined in a nation-wide vote of the Division II sports information directors.

The group of 48 candidates includes 16 quarterbacks, 10 wide receivers, eight running backs, seven defensive linemen, six linebackers and one punter/kicker.The list features 35 seniors, seven sophomores and six juniors.

The Hill Trophy is named for the late Harlon Hill - the former University of North Alabama standout - who excelled with the Lions from 1950-53 before going on to fame in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.