Football | 11/21/2023 4:48:00 PM

November 21, 2023-Emporia State quarterback Braden Gleason is one of 38 student-athletes from across the nation have been nominated for the 2023 Harlon Hill Trophy as the Division II College Football Player of the Year.
 
Gleason was a unanimous First-Team All-MIAA selection at quarterback. He leads the nation in completion percentage, ranks second in touchdown passes, points responsible for, and total offense, is third in completions and passing yards, and ranks sixth in passing efficiency. He holds the MIAA career record with 109 touchdown passes and set the Emporia State single season record with 41 touchdown passes this year.
 
The Muldrow. Okla. native is one of only two active NCAA Division II players with at least 10,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a career. He is ranked second among active D2 players in total offense, completions, completion percentage and touchdowns responsible for, while ranking third in career touchdown passes. He has two of the top ten passing and total offense single game marks in MIAA history.
 
Gleason is the Emporia State career record holder with 11,113 passing yards, 109 touchdown passes, 122 total touchdowns responsible for, 12,123 yards of total offense, 1,056 completions, a 149.1 passing efficiency rating and .683 completion percentage. He has scored or thrown a touchdown pass in 37 straight games dating back to 2019. He has only lost two games by more than a single score since taking over as the regular starting quarterback at the beginning of the 2021 season.
 
A total of 10 nominees hail from Super Region 1, eight from Super Region 2, 10 from Super Region 3 and 10 from Super Region 4.
 
The sports information directors at the 161 NCAA Division II football-playing institutions nominate and vote on the award. The 38 initial candidates will be placed on regional ballots and the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions will advance to the national ballot when regional voting concludes on Monday, November 27.
 
The winner of the 2024 award will be announced on Friday, December 15 and the winner will be honored at the Little Rock Touchdown Club awards banquet on Friday, January 12, 2024.
 
The sports information directors at their respective schools initially nominate candidates. The SIDs in those Super Regions vote for their top five candidates. The winner is then determined in a nation-wide vote of the Division II sports information directors.
 
The group of 38 candidates includes 17 quarterbacks, eight running backs, five defensive linemen, three linebackers, two defensive backs, two wide receivers and an offensive lineman. The list is made up of 19 seniors, 11 juniors and eight sophomores.
 
The Hill Trophy is named for the late Harlon Hill - the former University of North Alabama standout - who excelled with the Lions from 1950-53 before going on to fame in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.
 
Emporia State's Brian Shay was a three-time finalist and won the 1998 Harlon Hill Trophy with the most points (303) and the most first place votes (88) in the trophy's history.  Gleason's nomination marks the 12th time a Hornet has been up for the Harlon Hill Trophy.  Quincy Tillmon was a 1992 nominee, Shay was a three-time nominee from 1996-98 followed by Lester McCoy in 1999 and 2000, Dontaye McCoy in 2002, Tyler Paul in 2003 and Tyler Eckenrode in 2012. Brent Wilson finished fourth in the national balloting in 2015 followed by Braxton Marstall placing seventh in 2018.  As a conference the MIAA has had five Harlon Hill Trophy winners.
 
Gleason has led the Hornets to the post season for the third straight year.  Emporia State will take on Southern Nazarene in the Funtown RV Heritage Bowl on December 2 in Corsicana, Texas.