IRVING, Texas - Four departed seniors of Baylor's football team, Troy Baker, Collin Brence, Clay Fuller and Bryce Petty, earned a place in the 2015 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced Wednesday.

The NFF Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college career. A total of 817 players from a record 278 schools qualified for membership in the society's ninth year.

The four Bears honored ties the most in program history as four were also recognized in 2009. Baylor has now had at least two student-athletes receive the distinction in each of the last four years as Stefan Huber and Jordan Najvar were recognized in 2014 and they followed Nick Florence and Jake Jackson, who were honored among the 2013 Hampshire Honor Society selections. In addition, Robert Griffin III and Terrance Ganaway were recognized in 2012. In total, Baylor has had 22 student-athletes selected since the program's inception in 2007 and at least one in all nine years.

All four of the Bears' 2015 honorees were part of the winningest class in school history. With their help, Baylor had a school-record five straight bowl teams, two Big 12 conference championships (2013 & 2014) and two bowl wins. The quartet was part of BU's incredible 26-1 home record (40-12 overall) over the last four years.

Baker was on the 2015 Collegiate Gridiron Club of Dallas Scholar-Athletes list. He was a 10-time selection to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and a three-time member of the Academic All-Big 12 first team. Baker graduated in December 2012 with a degree in finance. He is currently working on an MBA. The Waco, Texas, product concluded his Baylor career with 22 starts and 33 games played on the offensive line.

Brence was a 2014 Academic All-America second-team member in 2014. He was twice recognized on the Academic All-Big 12 first team and was a seven-time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll selection. In 2014, Brence started every game for the BU defense at the "Bear" position. He was a former walk-on, who was put on scholarship prior to the 2014 season. Brence is scheduled to graduate in spring 2015 with a degree in Professional Selling.

Fuller was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree and a nine-time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll member. He played in 48 games for the Bears at wide receiver, tallying 49 receptions for 749 yards and three touchdowns. Fuller is slated to graduate with a degree in real estate in May 2015.

Petty is a three-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree and eight-time member of Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. He graduated in May 2013 with bachelor's degree in health science studies, and earned a Master's in sports management in December 2014. On the field, Petty was a 2013 All-American and the 2013 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year as BU's quarterback. He won the 2013 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award and claimed the 2014 Bobby Bowden honor. Petty racked up a 21-4 record as a starter and owns 31 school records, two Big 12 nods and one NCAA record.

The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF's current National Scholar-Athlete program 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 who play football at the more than 700 college and universities with football programs nationwide. Jon F. Hanson, the chairman and founder of The Hampshire Companies, provided the endowment to launch the NFF Hampshire Honor Society in 2007. Each player awarded with membership in this year's Honor Society will receive a certificate commemorating their achievement.

Qualifications for membership in the NFF Hampshire Honor Society include:
? Being a starter or a significant contributor in one's last year of eligibility (or a senior who has declared for the NFL Draft) at an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III or an NAIA college or university;
? Achieving a 3.2 cumulative grade point average throughout entire course of undergraduate study; and
? Meeting all NCAA-mandated progress towards degree requirements.

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Baylor's Hampshire Honor Society Athletes
2007 Shawn Bell
Daniel Sepulveda
2008 Desmond Jenkins
Michael Machen
Ralph Rodriguez
2009 Ty Findley
John Weed
Ben Hixson
Ryan Roberts
2010 Jason Lamb
Joe Pawelek
2011 Derek Epperson
2012 Terrance Ganaway
Robert Griffin III
2013 Nick Florence
Jake Jackson
2014 Stefan Huber
Jordan Najvar
2015 Troy Baker
Collin Brence
Clay Fuller
Bryce Petty