BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Four student-athletes from College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) institutions have been selected to the D3football.com Preseason All-America Team, according to an announcement from the website on Monday. North Central running back Ethan Greenfield and wide receiver DeAngelo Hardy were First-Team picks on offense, while Wheaton running back Giovanni Weeks and NCC defensive end Dan Gilroy were honored on the Second Team.
D3football.com Preseason All-America Teams
Thirty-three offensive players, 33 defensive players and 12 specialists were selected for the preseason honor.
Greenfield, a senior from Lindenhurst, Ill., was selected as a postseason All-American last fall by D3football.com and the Associated Press after repeating as the Division III rushing leader with 1,796 yards. He’ll enter the 2022 campaign as NCC’s career leader with 4,682 rushing yards, 61 rushing touchdowns, 396 points scored and 5,478 all-purpose yards. His career marks of 10.7 points scored per game and 7.2 yards per carry were tops among active Division III players at the end of last season.
Hardy was an All-CCIW First Team pick and a All-Region Third choice by D3football.com last season after ranking among the league leaders with 51 catches, 1,009 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.The Lake Villa, Ill. native was also a weapon on special teams, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns, including a 93-yard score to open the 2021 Stagg Bowl.
On the Second Team, Weeks earned national preseason honors after breaking the single-season Wheaton record with 20 rushing touchdowns en route to 1,470 rushing yards a year ago. A senior from Kent City, Mich., Weeks was an All-CCIW First Team honoree and chosen for the All-Region Second Team by D3football.com last fall. He ranked second nationally in 2021 with 8.17 yards per rush and his 176.18 all-purpose yards per contest led the CCIW and were fourth-most in Division III.
Gilroy rounded the Cardinals’ trifecta on the preseason announcement with a selection to the Second Team defense. The senior from Cary, Ill. earned All-America accolades from the Associated Press (Second Team) and D3football.com (Third Team) in 2021 after logging 35 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks on the NCC defensive front. He was also an All-CCIW First Team pick and an All-Region Second Team choice.
North Central was ranked #2 and Wheaton checked in at #8 in the preseason D3football.com poll released earlier this summer. The Cardinals, who won the 2019 national title, are aiming to return to the championship game for the third consecutive time. Wheaton is looking for its third postseason bid in a row and its sixth since 2014.
Both teams are scheduled to begin the campaign on the road on Saturday, Sept. 10 when NCC visits Wabash at noon and Wheaton travels to Trinity (Texas) under the lights at 6 p.m.