OSU's Justice Hill Named To Doak Walker Award Watch List

Oklahoma State running back Justice Hill was named to the 2017 Doak Walker Award Watch List, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum announced Thursday.

Hill is one of 61 players nationally to make the list which honors college football's top running back and is also one of six Big 12 athletes to be included in Thursday's announcement.

A sophomore out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hill burst onto the scene last season as he produced the top freshman rushing season in OSU history with 1,142 yards. That mark also led all FBS freshmen in 2016 and was the fifth-highest total by a freshman in Big 12 Conference history.

In addition to being the most productive freshman running back in team history, Hill is also the only freshman in OSU history to rush for 100 yards in six games. No other Cowboy freshman has done it more than three times. To make his feat even more impressive, all six of Hill's 100-yard rushing performances came against Power Five conference opponents.

Hill was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week three times in 2016 thanks to his impressive showings against Baylor, Texas and Kansas. At the season's end, he was selected to the All-Big 12 Second Team and was named the conference's Offensive Freshman of the Year.

The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name ten semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award on November 15. Three finalists, as voted on by the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee, will be announced on November 20. The committee will then cast a second vote beginning November 26 to determine the award's recipient.

The recipient of the 2017 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 7 on ESPN. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet is scheduled for February 16, 2018, in Dallas.