FROM WVU DEPARTMENT OF ATHLETICS

 

Senior defensive lineman Darius Stills of the West Virginia University football team is one of 30 candidates for the 2020 Senior CLASS Award.
 
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. 

 

West Virginia University is one of two Big 12 schools to place candidates on the list, along with Iowa State’s Chase Allen and Greg Eisworth. With Stills on the list, it marks the fourth time in five years that the Mountaineers have had football student-athletes named candidates. Will Grier was the Senior CLASS Award Winner in 2018, Reese Donahue and David Sills V was named a candidate in 2019 and 2018, respectively and Skyler Howard and Tyler Orlosky were named to the list in 2016.
 
Since the program's first candidate in 2012 (Jeff Braun), eight Mountaineers have landed on the award's initial list, with Orlosky and Grier claiming Senior CLASS All-America honors, earning first team honors in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

 

Stills spends numerous hours in the community and has always been one of the team leaders when it comes to community service. He has volunteered at WVU Medicine, Night to Shine Prom, Skyview Elementary School, Eastwood Elementary School, and bingo events at the Sundale nursing home

 

Stills also took part in the SAAC Equity marches with teammates and other student-athletes in the athletic department and is active on social media to voice his concerns on equity.

 

On the field this season, Stills, the 2020 Big 12 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and All-America candidate, has started in all seven games and has 17 tackles, including nine solo stops, 3.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss and an interception. His 3.5 sacks are tied for second on the team and his 6.5 tackles for loss are third. The 2019 Big 12 All-Conference First Team honoree is No. 11 in the Big 12 in sacks in 2020 and No. 18 in tackles for loss. He was a preseason candidate on the Nagurski, Outland and Lott Trophy Watch Lists.

 

His top performance this season was in the WVU’s 27-21 double-overtime victory against Baylor on Oct. 3. The Big 12 Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 5, finished with four tackles, including three solos, 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss against the Bears.

 

To determine the overall Senior CLASS Award winner, the 30 candidates are narrowed to 10 finalists at the end of the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system available to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs: community, classroom, character and competition. Along with the winner, the ten finalists will be awarded Senior CLASS Award first- or second-team honors.

 

The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the football bowl season in December. For more information on the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

 

Editor's Note: Photo by www.benqueenphotography.com