OPSU’s Tankerson Honored as Oklahoma Player of the Year

Oklahoma City, Okla.-Oklahoma Panhandle State University junior Kevin
Tankerson was honored as a College Player of the Year along with seven other
Oklahoma college football players at the 30th Annual All Sports
Scholar-Athlete Awards Luncheon Thursday afternoon.

The luncheon was hosted by the National Football Foundation’s Oklahoma
Chapter and held at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and Jim Thorpe Museum;
the event also included scholarship and award presentations for graduating
high school seniors as well as two coach’s awards.

The NFF states that "honoring top young Scholar-Athletes in the state of
Oklahoma brings recognition to those young men who have excelled on the
playing field, in their classrooms and in their communities;" OPSU Head
Football Coach Russell Gaskamp feels that Kevin Tankerson is a great
representation of all of those qualities.

Originally from Lake Charles, La., Tankerson started eleven games his
freshman season for the Aggies as an offensive lineman; he started two games
this past season before an injury kept him off the field. Gaskamp will be
happy to have "Tank" back on the O-Line this coming season and looks forward
to watching him continue to grow during summer workouts.

Gaskamp continues, "I am so proud of Kevin; he exemplifies everything a
college football player should be about. It is guys like him that give
purpose and reason to what I do, as well as strengthen my love for
coaching." In addition to Tank’s abilities on the field, he continues to be
a leader off the field through his strong faith and exceptional character.

Tankerson is currently an intern for the OPSU Methodist Student Center and
is a leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group on campus; he
aspires to become a preacher after college. Tank has also excelled in the
classroom throughout the years, earning spots on both the Dean’s and
President’s Honor Rolls while carrying an overall grade point average of
3.5.

The other seven recipients of the College Player of the Year award were:
Blake Bell (University of Oklahoma), Alex Hemberger (Northwestern Oklahoma
State University), Michael Hicks (Southern Nazarene University), Christian
Hood (University of Central Oklahoma), DeAndre Jennings (Northeastern
Oklahoma A&M), Shaun Lewis (Oklahoma State University), and Gabe Moyer (The
University of Tulsa).

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Justine Gaskamp