Ryan James to receive NFF High School Scholar-Athlete award
10/12/2012 5:45:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh freshman Ryan James has been named one of five football players nationally to be recognized as a 2012 NFF (National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame) National High School Scholar-Athlete. The five recipients were selected as the best scholar-athlete from their region of the country at the high school level.
James, who was picked as the East Region winner after a stellar high school career at Piscataway High School, is joined by four other winners who now attend the University of Colorado, Rice, Brigham Young and Stanford. The honorees were selected solely for their accomplishments in high school. They will be honored on Tuesday, December 4 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City during the NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon presented by Under Armour.James and his fellow honorees were selected from the 450,000 high school players covered by the NFF Chapter Network and chosen from criteria including, but not limited to, academic achievement, athletic accomplishments and leadership in the community. Only 96 student-athletes have been recognized as NFF National High School Scholar-Athletes during the 21 year history of the award. Among many notable previous recipients, Stanford graduate and current Indianapolis Colts quarterback was an honoree in 2008.
James, an offensive lineman and engineering student, was selected from the Bill Denny/Central Jersey Chapter in the East Region. He was a three year letter winner as an offensive lineman and defensive lineman at Piscataway High School. He earned First Team All-County, All-Area and All-State honors as a left tackle. His senior year, James was the team captain and was chosen as second team All-State. He also earned three letters as a track athlete.
A four year member of the honor roll, James also was a National Honor Society and a National Society of High School Scholars member after earning a 3.98 GPA on a 4.0 scale. He was a member of the New Jersey Science League Physics II team and also a two-year member of the school marching band and concert band. Additionally, he was a member of the Piscataway Exceptional Gathering of Students organization and the School Exchange program.
James volunteered his free time by assistant coaching for the Watchung Hills Junior Warriors football team and the Long Hill Lacrosse program. He also worked as a counselor at Camp Ricochet and attended the National Youth Leadership State Conference.
James and the Mountain Hawks return to action Saturday when they travel to Washington, D.C. to battle Georgetown in their second Patriot League game of the 2012 season. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Lehigh returns to Goodman Stadium on Saturday October 20 to host the Bucknell Bison on Homecoming. Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME, but visiting the Lehigh ticket office located in Stabler Arena, or by visiting Lehighsports.com.
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