Valparaiso University football redshirt senior De'Andre Wilborn (Chicago, Ill. / Westinghouse [Georgetown]) earned a high honor on Wednesday as he was named a semifinalist for the 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy, college football's premier scholar-athlete award presented by the National Football Foundation.
 
Celebrating its 36^th year, the Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. He is one of 44 semifinalists from FCS programs and one of 177 overall.
 
Wilborn, who owns 17 tackles including four tackles for loss and one sack, has started all four games this season and was part of a turnover with a fumble recovery on Sept. 6 vs. Adrian. He recorded a season-high five tackles in that Sept. 6 contest.
 
Wilborn, who earned NFF Hampshire Honor Society recognition in 2025, is pursuing a master's degree in sports administration at Valpo after graduating from Georgetown in December 2023 with a degree in government and minor in sociology. Wilborn was a member of the Patriot League academic honor roll from 2021-2023 before earning a place on the Pioneer Football League academic honor roll in 2024.
 
A Valpo football team leader, Wilborn's off-the-field endeavors include working as part of the Valpo Athletics gameday staff, completing an internship with Jason Friedman running for Congress Illinois 7^th District in summer 2025 and participating in "Dressed for School Valparaiso." While at Georgetown, he was a member of Black Student-Athlete Coalition and a FlagStar football coach/intern from 2020-2023, teaching youth hand low-income students how to play football.  
 
The NFF will announce 12-16 finalists on Oct. 22, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2025 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for the 67th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 9, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 36th Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.