Penn State football’s Olu Fashanu was nominated for the William V. Campbell Trophy, the team announced Friday. The award is presented to a college football player regarded as the “absolute best” in the country in terms of academic success.

Players are nominated for the award by their respective programs, which are limited to one nomination each year. The nominees must be in their final year of eligibility for college football, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, demonstrate football abilities playing with their program’s first team, and have shown strong leadership and citizenship.

Fashanu, one of Penn State’s team captains, is playing in his fourth year with the Nittany Lions. While the left tackle had the opportunity to hear his name called early in the 2023 NFL Draft, he opted to stay in Happy Valley for an extra year after missing the final five games of the season due to injury.