IRVING, TX – Nine Yellowjackets from the University of Rochester football program were inducted into the National Football Foundation's (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society, as announced by the NFF & College Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
Rochester's nine inductees are
Jake Adelmann (Natick, MA/Natick),
Mason Heath-Alford (Claymont, DE/Mount Pleasant),
Luke Herter (Ashland, MA/Ashland),
Jackson Kane (Boring, OR/Sam Barlow),
Aidan Papantonis (Glen Gardner, NJ/Delbarton School),
Andy Talone (Malvern, PA/Great Valley),
Judah Thomas (St. Paul, MN/Saint Paul Academy),
Ryan Van Diver (Fort Myers, FL/Evangelical Christian School) and
Jay Zheng (Philadelphia, PA/Lower Merion).
2,596 players from 365 schools qualified for membership in 2026, the largest group of honorees in the program's 20-year history. Since its inception, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society has honored 23,568 student-athletes. This year's members represented six divisions: 853 from the FBS, 497 from the FCS, 267 from Division II, 876 from Division III, 68 from the NAIA, and 35 sprint football players.
Nominated by their respective schools, members of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society must meet one of the following criteria:
- Be a senior player graduating this spring/summer who completed his final year of playing eligibility in 2025; or
- Be a graduated player or grad transfer who has already earned a bachelor's degree and competed in the 2025 season (even if the player has remaining eligibility and may return to play next season).
And must have:
- Attained a minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.2 (4.0 scale); and
- Been a starter or contributor throughout the 2025 season.
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 the 774 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide.
The Hampshire Honor Society represents an important component in the organization's rich history as an innovator in promoting the scholar-athlete ideal, which began in 1959 with the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards. Click here to learn more.
