LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Senior quarterback Tyson Bagent (Martinsburg, W.Va./Martinsburg) of the Shepherd University football team has been named one of nine finalists for the 2022 Harlon Hill Trophy, the NCAA Division II College Football Player of the Year. The NCAA Division II sports information directors selected the finalists through a round of regional voting. The nine finalists will now be placed on the national ballot where all 178 of the division's school and conference SIDs will select the award's 36th winner.
Bagent has completed 362-of-510 passes for 4,184 yards and 37 touchdowns this year. He tops NCAA Division II in passing yards and completion percentage (.710) while ranking second in completions per game (27.85). Bagent helps Shepherd rank first nationally in total offense (512.9).
The top two players from the four Super Regions advanced to the national ballot. A tie in Super Region #3 resulted in three finalists coming from the region. Four quarterbacks, three running backs, one wide receiver and one defensive end comprised the list of 2022 finalists. Bagent joins Jarod Bowie, a junior wide receiver from Concord, to advance from Super Region #1. Two sophomore running backs - Newberry's Mario Anderson and Virginia Union's Jada Byers moved on from Super Region #2. From Super Region #3, Ouachita Baptist senior running back TJ Cole, Nebraska-Kearney senior quarterback TJ Davis, runner-up last season to Bagent, and Ferris State senior defensive end Caleb Murphy earned spots on the national ballot. Bemidji State junior quarterback Brandon Alt, who finished fifth in 2021, and Colorado School of Mines senior quarterback John Matocha garnered the two finalist slots from Super Region #4. Bowie, Byers, and Cole became their respective program's first-ever Harlon Hill finalists. Six of the nine finalists helped guide their teams into the 2022 NCAA Division II playoffs and three - Bagent, Murphy, and Matocha - will compete in this weekend's quarterfinal matchups.
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 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.
