Dec. 4, 2003
Georgia Tech center Hugh Reilly is one of six finalists announced Thursday for the Dave Rimington Trophy, which is presented to the nation’s top collegiate center.
The other finalists are Vince Carter of the Oklahoma, Jake Grove of Virginia Tech, Norm Katnik of Southern California, Nick Leckey of Kansas State, and Ben Wilkerson of Louisiana State.
A 6-4, 285-pound senior, Reilly earned first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference honors and has been selected to play in the 2004 Hula Bowl Maui. He was elected one of Tech’s permanent team captains for 2003.
He blocks for the ACC’s second-leading rusher, P.J. Daniels, a former walk-on who gained 1,140 yards this season, including 240 yards against North Carolina. Reilly was named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week after leading Tech to a win at Wake Forest, paving the way for 441 yards of total offense, including 175 yards rushing by Daniels,
Reilly is a three-year starter who has played every offensive snap this season (821 plays). He has started 38 consecutive games for the Yellow Jackets, including every snap in 33 of them. After beginning his career as a defensive lineman, he switched to offense and started at right guard in 2001 before moving to center for the last two seasons.
A native of Roswell, Ga., who attended the Marist School, Reilly is majoring in Civil Engineering.
The four-year old Dave Rimington Trophy (Nebraska’s Dominic Raiola, Ohio State’s LeCharles Bentley, and Miami’s Brett Romberg are past recipients) is presented byCanon, USA, Black & Decker and Power Sentry. Since its inception the Rimington Trophy Award has raised over $200,000 for the award’s benefactor, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which is hosted by the Boomer Esiason Foundation that to date has raised over $22,000,000 for CF Research.
The winner will be honored at the awards banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Dec. 13. Current ESPN personality and former NFL player Mike Golic will be the featured speaker at the annual event.
Rimington, the award’s namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at Nebraska in 1981 and ’82-years in which he became the John Outland Trophy’s only double winner as the nation’s finest college interior lineman.
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