A school-record nine student-athletes from the 2023 Arkansas State football roster were named Wednesday to the 2024 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society.

Among the Red Wolves honored are six graduates returning for the 2024 season, including offensive lineman Jacob Bayer (3.71 GPA, Criminology), deep snapper Jack Bullard (4.00 GPA, Dietetics), wide receiver Courtney Jackson (3.50 GPA, Sport Administration), wide receiver Adam Jones (3.55 GPA, General Studies), wide receiver Corey Rucker (3.24 GPA, Interdisciplinary Studies) and running back Zak Wallace (3.68 GPA, General Studies). They were joined by defensive tackle Micah Bland (3.58 GPA, Business Administration), punter William Przystup (3.50 GPA, General Studies) and safety Eddie Smith (3.50 GPA, Esports), who have all earned their degrees.

The Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers. A total of 1,559 players from 313 schools qualified for membership in the Society’s 18th year.

A-State has now had 44 players receive the honor all-time, including multiple selections each of the last five years. The previous school record was five student-athletes in 2015.

The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF’s National Scholar-Athlete program by greatly expanding the number of scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year. The program further strengthens the organization’s leadership role in encouraging academic performance by the student-athletes at 772 college and universities with football programs nationwide. The initiative has now honored 16,398 student-athletes since its inception.

A-State returns 63 lettermen and 16 starters from last year's squad, which includes 2023 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year Jaylen Raynor (So., QB) and all-league selections Jacob Bayer (Sr., OL), Makilan Thomas (Jr., OL), Ja'Quez Cross (Sr., RB), Courtney Jackson (Sr., WR) and Charles Willekes (Sr., LB).

The Red Wolves open their 2024 campaign with back-to-back home games against Central Arkansas and Tulsa on Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, respectively, for just second time during their FBS era (since 1992). The Red Wolves' home schedule also includes four Saturday outings against Sun Belt opponents South Alabama (Oct. 5), Troy (Oct. 26), ULM (Nov. 23) and Old Dominion (Nov. 30).