Marlon Walls Named a Wooden Citizenship Cup Semifinalist
1/19/2018 4:11:00 PM | Football
Recent Lumberjack graduate Marlon Walls recently selected among 25 semifinalists for the 2018 Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup
ATLANTA, Ga. – Athletes for a Better World announced its 25 semifinalists and four finalists for the 2018 Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup Wednesday night and recently graduated Stephen F. Austin football safety Marlon Walls appeared on the semifinalist list. The announcement comes at the end of a long list of academic accomplishments for the four-year Lumberjack letter winner and William V. Campbell Trophy® finalist.
John Wooden, one of the greatest coaches and positive role models in the history of the NCAA, gave Athletes for a Better World permission to present an award in his name. The Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is presented to distinguished athletes from any sport – two high school, one intercollegiate, and one professional – that best display character, teamwork, and citizenship, the attributes Athletes for a Better World deems central to transforming individuals, sport, and society. The award establishes the recipients as athletes of excellence both on and off the field, role models both as performers and persons, the most important and distinctive honor athletes can achieve.
The Wooden Cup is open to all college athletes, all divisions, all sports. For this reason, the Wooden Cup is regarded as the highest award in college sports.
SFA's first ever National Football Foundation (NFF) National Scholar-Athlete, Walls was one of 11 football players to be named a semifinalist for the Wooden Citizenship Cup. Since the end of the 2017 season, Walls has accumulated several accolades, including garnering his third-consecutive Southland All-Academic Team honor and being tabbed as Southland Football Student-Athlete of the Year for a second-straight time.
In recent weeks, Walls was named to the 20th annual Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association (FCS ADA) Academic All-Star Team for a second consecutive time and is one of nine finalists for the FCS ADA's annual $5,000 postgraduate scholarships. He became the first ever Lumberjack and just the third student-athlete in Southland history to earn College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® of the Year honors back in December and was tabbed an Academic All-American® First Team selection for a second-consecutive year.
For being named a finalist of the prestigious Campbell Trophy®, which is regarded as the highest scholar-athlete honor in all of college football and the academic equivalent to the Heisman Trophy, Walls got to attend the 2017 NFF & College Hall of Fame Annual Awards Dinner. While at the awards dinner, held in downtown New York City in early December, Walls' accomplishments were highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. With SFA already having a Walter Payton Award winner in former quarterback Jeremy Moses (2010), the 'Jacks became just the sixth football program in the nation to have both a Walter Payton Award winner and a NFF National Scholar-Athlete. Of those, only five schools have had both a Walter Payton Award winner and a Campbell Trophy® finalist since the Campbell Trophy® began in 1990.
In December, Walls attained his bachelor's degree after posting an unblemished 4.00 grade point average while majoring in engineering physics and minoring in mathematics. He completed his degree after just three and a half years of study in Nacogdoches.
A native of Pearland, Texas (Pearland H.S.), Walls was the Southland's pick as a 2017 STATS FCS Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award finalist. The safety is also a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team selection and was a nominee for both the 2016 and 2017 Allstate/American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. Walls has been named to the Southland Commissioner's Honor Roll each year since his freshman campaign in 2014 and has appeared on SFA's President's List every semester of his collegiate career.
Last summer, Walls completed an internship at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. While there, he joined other students from institutions such as MIT, Stanford and Yale to assist with the Europa Propulsion Module, a NASA space probe joint project. Walls has now returned to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, to gain more work experience before pursuing a graduate degree in mechanical engineering this fall.
Outside of the classroom, Walls was very active in the community, both in Nacogdoches and Houston, during his time as a student-athlete. Among the large number of community service projects he participated in, were serving as a nutrition and life skills advocate, a student instructor, a math and science tutor and lending his time on Thanksgiving Day, passing out meals to needy citizens. Walls also spoke at area elementary schools, assisted with the football team's "Read to Succeed" program and was a part of SFA's Big Event project.
On the gridiron, Walls recorded 60 tackles, including 31 solo stops and two tackles for loss, while playing in all 11 games and making 10 starts this season. He registered a career-high 11 total tackles versus 17th-ranked Nicholls on Nov. 11 and posted nine tackles in two other outings. Walls also claimed three pass breakups, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery throughout the year. No Lumberjack on SFA's current roster played in (46) or started (24) more games than Walls did throughout his four-year career in the purple and white.
The Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is managed by the Board of Directors of Athletes for a Better World with the assistance of the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup Advisory Committee, chaired by former University of Georgia Athletic Director Vincent Dooley and composed of selected members of the National Board, the Athletic Advisory Board, and other special members.
In order to be nominated for the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, the athlete must exemplify high-quality life principals learned through sports.
2018 Wooden Citizenship Cup Semifinalists
A.J. Cole, III, North Carolina State, Football
Salvador Cordova, Purdue University Northwest, Cross Country
Chase Cupps, University of Oklahoma, Gymnastics
Jake Daugherty, Ferris State University, Football
Jeremy Deemer, Graceland University, Basketball
Kenny Doss, Manchester University, Basketball
Zaire Franklin, Syracuse University, Football
KeShun Freeman, Georgia Institute of Technology, Football
Karissa Frazier, University of Illinois at Chicago, Softball
Zach Golditch, Colorado State University, Football
Micah Kiser, the University of Virginia, Football
Aris Knight, Southeastern University, Wrestling
Courtney Love, University of Kentucky, Football
Haley Lukas, University of California, Soccer
Katie McKrell, Daemon College, Volleyball
Michelle Murch, St. Thomas University, Softball
Margaret Musser, St. Lawrence University, Swimming
Gunnar Orcutt, Peru State College, Football
Austin Proehl, University of North Carolina, Football
Alyssa Rice, University of Kentucky, Basketball
Karrington Seals, Wayne State University, Track
Blaise Taylor, Arkansas State University, Football
Wesley Ward, Illinois State University, Cross Country and Track
Marlon Walls, Stephen F. Austin University, Football
Alec Willis, St. Joseph's College, Basketball
2018 Wooden Citizenship Cup Finalists
Ashley Marcus, University of Pennsylvania, Fencing
Hannah Menk, University of Redlands, Soccer
Patrick Mohorcic, The College of Wooster, Football
Stephen Rizzo, Marist College, Cross Country
-SFA-
John Wooden, one of the greatest coaches and positive role models in the history of the NCAA, gave Athletes for a Better World permission to present an award in his name. The Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is presented to distinguished athletes from any sport – two high school, one intercollegiate, and one professional – that best display character, teamwork, and citizenship, the attributes Athletes for a Better World deems central to transforming individuals, sport, and society. The award establishes the recipients as athletes of excellence both on and off the field, role models both as performers and persons, the most important and distinctive honor athletes can achieve.
The Wooden Cup is open to all college athletes, all divisions, all sports. For this reason, the Wooden Cup is regarded as the highest award in college sports.
SFA's first ever National Football Foundation (NFF) National Scholar-Athlete, Walls was one of 11 football players to be named a semifinalist for the Wooden Citizenship Cup. Since the end of the 2017 season, Walls has accumulated several accolades, including garnering his third-consecutive Southland All-Academic Team honor and being tabbed as Southland Football Student-Athlete of the Year for a second-straight time.
In recent weeks, Walls was named to the 20th annual Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association (FCS ADA) Academic All-Star Team for a second consecutive time and is one of nine finalists for the FCS ADA's annual $5,000 postgraduate scholarships. He became the first ever Lumberjack and just the third student-athlete in Southland history to earn College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® of the Year honors back in December and was tabbed an Academic All-American® First Team selection for a second-consecutive year.
For being named a finalist of the prestigious Campbell Trophy®, which is regarded as the highest scholar-athlete honor in all of college football and the academic equivalent to the Heisman Trophy, Walls got to attend the 2017 NFF & College Hall of Fame Annual Awards Dinner. While at the awards dinner, held in downtown New York City in early December, Walls' accomplishments were highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. With SFA already having a Walter Payton Award winner in former quarterback Jeremy Moses (2010), the 'Jacks became just the sixth football program in the nation to have both a Walter Payton Award winner and a NFF National Scholar-Athlete. Of those, only five schools have had both a Walter Payton Award winner and a Campbell Trophy® finalist since the Campbell Trophy® began in 1990.
In December, Walls attained his bachelor's degree after posting an unblemished 4.00 grade point average while majoring in engineering physics and minoring in mathematics. He completed his degree after just three and a half years of study in Nacogdoches.
A native of Pearland, Texas (Pearland H.S.), Walls was the Southland's pick as a 2017 STATS FCS Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award finalist. The safety is also a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team selection and was a nominee for both the 2016 and 2017 Allstate/American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. Walls has been named to the Southland Commissioner's Honor Roll each year since his freshman campaign in 2014 and has appeared on SFA's President's List every semester of his collegiate career.
Last summer, Walls completed an internship at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. While there, he joined other students from institutions such as MIT, Stanford and Yale to assist with the Europa Propulsion Module, a NASA space probe joint project. Walls has now returned to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, to gain more work experience before pursuing a graduate degree in mechanical engineering this fall.
Outside of the classroom, Walls was very active in the community, both in Nacogdoches and Houston, during his time as a student-athlete. Among the large number of community service projects he participated in, were serving as a nutrition and life skills advocate, a student instructor, a math and science tutor and lending his time on Thanksgiving Day, passing out meals to needy citizens. Walls also spoke at area elementary schools, assisted with the football team's "Read to Succeed" program and was a part of SFA's Big Event project.
On the gridiron, Walls recorded 60 tackles, including 31 solo stops and two tackles for loss, while playing in all 11 games and making 10 starts this season. He registered a career-high 11 total tackles versus 17th-ranked Nicholls on Nov. 11 and posted nine tackles in two other outings. Walls also claimed three pass breakups, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery throughout the year. No Lumberjack on SFA's current roster played in (46) or started (24) more games than Walls did throughout his four-year career in the purple and white.
The Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is managed by the Board of Directors of Athletes for a Better World with the assistance of the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup Advisory Committee, chaired by former University of Georgia Athletic Director Vincent Dooley and composed of selected members of the National Board, the Athletic Advisory Board, and other special members.
In order to be nominated for the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, the athlete must exemplify high-quality life principals learned through sports.
2018 Wooden Citizenship Cup Semifinalists
A.J. Cole, III, North Carolina State, Football
Salvador Cordova, Purdue University Northwest, Cross Country
Chase Cupps, University of Oklahoma, Gymnastics
Jake Daugherty, Ferris State University, Football
Jeremy Deemer, Graceland University, Basketball
Kenny Doss, Manchester University, Basketball
Zaire Franklin, Syracuse University, Football
KeShun Freeman, Georgia Institute of Technology, Football
Karissa Frazier, University of Illinois at Chicago, Softball
Zach Golditch, Colorado State University, Football
Micah Kiser, the University of Virginia, Football
Aris Knight, Southeastern University, Wrestling
Courtney Love, University of Kentucky, Football
Haley Lukas, University of California, Soccer
Katie McKrell, Daemon College, Volleyball
Michelle Murch, St. Thomas University, Softball
Margaret Musser, St. Lawrence University, Swimming
Gunnar Orcutt, Peru State College, Football
Austin Proehl, University of North Carolina, Football
Alyssa Rice, University of Kentucky, Basketball
Karrington Seals, Wayne State University, Track
Blaise Taylor, Arkansas State University, Football
Wesley Ward, Illinois State University, Cross Country and Track
Marlon Walls, Stephen F. Austin University, Football
Alec Willis, St. Joseph's College, Basketball
2018 Wooden Citizenship Cup Finalists
Ashley Marcus, University of Pennsylvania, Fencing
Hannah Menk, University of Redlands, Soccer
Patrick Mohorcic, The College of Wooster, Football
Stephen Rizzo, Marist College, Cross Country
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
S
/ FootballCharles Demmings' NFL Draft Journey
Thursday, April 23
12.15.25 | Weekly Press Conference- Football
Monday, December 15
12.12.25 | SFA @ MSU Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, December 13
12.8.25 | Weekly Press Conference- Football
Monday, December 08
