INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced Friday the 16 student-athletes who have been selected to attend the 2019 GLVC Football Kickoff, which will take place in Lebanon, Illinois on Friday, July 26.   The GLVC contingent, highlighted by 11 All-Conference returners combining for 16 career postseason honors, will participate in the eighth annual event.  The 2019 GLVC Football Kickoff will take place at The Hettenhausen Center for the Arts on the campus of McKendree University from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT, and will serve both the league's media members and passionate fans through several social media outlets.

The coach and two student-athletes from each of the eight GLVC football institutions will be on hand to help promote the conference's eighth season.
 
Two of the GLVC's all-time running backs will be in attendance, including 2018 GLVC Offensive Player of the Year Al McKeller of the University of Indianapolis and two-time All-GLVC selection Deshawn Jones of Missouri S&T.  Jones enters his senior campaign with 2,663 career rushing yards, which ranks fourth in GLVC history.  He is just 174 yards shy of Saint Joseph's College standout Braxton Shelton (2,837) in third and 540 yards away from Bubba Jenkins' league record of 3,203 when he starred in the backfield at Southwest Baptist University from 2014-16.  McKeller enters the campaign seventh all-time with 2,434 career rushing yards.

Both Jones and McKeller will be joined at Kickoff by decorated teammates, including S&T senior defensive end Tershawn Wharton and redshirt senior defensive lineman Jacob Schmatz of UIndy.  Schmatz is a three-time All-GLVC selection, while Wharton was the most valuable defensive player in the Miners' impressive Mineral Water Bowl win a year ago and enters the season fourth in GLVC history with 46.5 tackles for loss – 18 shy of matching league leader Lucky Baar of McKendree (2012-16).

Five of the GLVC's eight starting quarterbacks will be in attendance, including Lindenwood University sophomore Cade Brister, Quincy senior Andrew Rund, Southwest Baptist junior Dylan Mountain, Truman State University senior Jaden Barr, and William Jewell College junior Will Schneider.  Barr ranked third in the GLVC in total offense (208.9) and rushing (82.7) last year, while Brister ranked 18th in the country with 20.64 completions per game en route to honorable mention accolades in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) last year.  Rund will be one of four Quincy captains this year, having accounted for 2,400 yards passing and 11 passing touchdowns over his 30-game career.  Mountain and Schneider are both versatile players for the Bearcats and Cardinals, with the latter having ranked fourth in the league in passing while pacing Jewell in rushing yards (445 yds) and touchdowns (8) last year.

Those five signal callers will be accompanied by their defensive teammates, each of whom received league recognition last year.  Truman senior cornerback Jordan Siegel picked up first-team All-GLVC accolades after finishing tied for seventh in the league with two interceptions, 11th in overall tackles for loss (9.0), and 19th in tackles per game (6.1).  William Jewell redshirt senior defensive back Donte' Colum earned a second-team All-GLVC nod with his second-best five interceptions in the league, including one he returned 82 yards for a touchdown against top-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce.  Lindenwood senior defensive lineman Uchenna Egwuonwu ranked second on the team with 3.5 sacks, and third on the squad with 8.0 tackles for loss, which led him to third-team All-MIAA accolades.  Quincy senior lineman and captain Bryce Johnson registered 24 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks for honorable mention All-GLVC recognition.  Southwest Baptist junior linebacker TJ Morgan returns from an injury last season, but was also the Bearcats' representative in the league's GLVC is ME and Someone to Listen campaigns.       

Mckendree will be represented by senior wide receiver Matt Cole and senior defensive lineman Mike Smith.  Cole, an honorable mention All-GLVC selection last year, was third on the team with 22 receptions and 362 receiving yards, while setting a new program record with 708 kick return yards on 20 attempts, which included a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against UIndy.  Smith was also an honorable mention All-GLVC pick after registering a career-high 50 tackles in his first year as a starter and ranking second on the Bearcats' squad with 6.5 tackles for loss, which included a pair of quarterback sacks. 
 
While the event is for credentialed media only, fans are encouraged to participate in the event through a variety of social media platforms, and follow along online with each GLVC school as they rotate through stations over the course of the 90-minute event.  A complete schedule, as well as the official 2019 GLVC Football Kickoff website, will be announced on Tuesday, July 23. 

Media members interested in attending the 2019 GLVC Football Kickoff can apply for credentials by contacting GLVC Associate Commissioner Jeff Smith at jeff@glvc-sports.org.

A complete list of 2019 GLVC Football Kickoff player attendees follows:
 

School	Offensive Player	Defensive Player
Indianapolis	Al McKeller, Jr., RB (Indianapolis, Indiana)	Jacob Schmatz, R-Sr. DL (Mishawaka, Indiana)
Lindenwood	Cade Brister, R-So., QB (O'Fallon, Missouri)	Uchenna Egwuonwu, Sr., DL (Union, New Jersey)
McKendree	Matt Cole, Sr., WR (Chicago, Illinois)	Mike Smith, Sr., DL (Smithton, Illinois)
Missouri S&T	Deshawn Jones, Sr., RB (Olympia Fields, Illinois)	Tershawn Wharton, Sr., DE (University City, Missouri)
Quincy	Andrew Rund, Sr., QB (St. Louis, Missouri)	Bryce Johnson, Sr., DL (Rockford, Illinois)
Southwest Baptist	Dylan Mountain, Jr., QB (Urbana, Missouri)	TJ Morgan, Jr., LB (St. Louis, Missouri)
Truman State	Jaden Barr, Sr., QB (California, Missouri)	Jordan Siegel, Sr., CB (St. Louis, Missouri)
William Jewell	Will Schneider, Jr., QB (Shawnee, Kansas)	Donte' Colum, R-Sr., DB (Merriam, Kansas)

 
INDIANAPOLIS
Al McKeller, Jr., RB (Indianapolis, Indiana)
McKeller returns for his third season as a Greyhound after 2018 GLVC Offensive Player of the Year honors, while racking up numerous postseason accolades on his way to leading UIndy to a first-round win in the NCAA Playoffs against Fort Hays State. The junior ranks eighth on the UIndy career rushing list after consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, including totaling 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns a season ago. The three-time GLVC Offensive Player of the Week and two-time all-league first-team selection was just the ninth Greyhound ever to be a Harlon Hill finalist after posting the 14th most yards in NCAA Division II. 

Jacob Schmatz, R-Sr. DL (Mishawaka, Indiana)
Three-time All-GLVC selection Schmatz returns for his senior campaign in the Circle City after totaling 56 tackles and four sacks on the line last season for the Greyhounds. Schmatz is coming off consecutive first-team selections by the league's coaches, and was named the GLVC Defensive Player of the Week in 2017. The redshirt senior secured four solo tackles and one quarterback hurry in the team's playoff win over Fort Hays State.

LINDENWOOD
Cade Brister, R-So., QB (O'Fallon, Missouri)
Brister was an honorable-mention All-MIAA selection as a redshirt freshman in 2018.  He ranked 18th in the country with 20.64 completions, and has put his name in many categories in the Lindenwood record books after just one season.

Uchenna Egwuonwu, Sr., DL (Union, New Jersey)
Egwuonwu was named to the third-team All-MIAA in 2018, after ranking second on the team with 3.5 sacks and third on the squad with 8.0 tackles for loss.

MCKENDREE
Matt Cole, Sr., WR (Chicago, Illinois)
Cole earned honorable mention All-GLVC honors in 2018 after ranking third on his team in receptions (22) and receiving yards (362) as a two-year starter.  He had three touchdowns catches, including a season-long 62-yard grab against Bowie State on Sept. 15.  Cole also was impressive on special teams as he set a new program record with 708 kick return yards on 20 attempts, while registering a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at home against UIndy on Oct. 20.  He also posted 18 tackles on special teams and added a fumble recovery against Truman State on Oct. 6.

Mike Smith, Sr., DL (Smithton, Illinois)
Smith picked up honorable mention All-GLVC accolades following a junior campaign in which he registered a career-high 50 tackles in his first year as a starter at defensive end.  He notched a career-high nine tackles in the Bearcats' overtime win at Southwest Baptist on Oct. 13.  Smith was sixth on the team in tackles last season and second among all McKendree defensive linemen in stops.  He was second on the Bearcats' squad with 6 ½ tackles for loss, which included a pair of quarterback sacks.  The two-time Academic All-GLVC pick led the team with two blocked kicks, both of which came against Lincoln in the season finale on Nov. 10.

MISSOURI S&T
Deshawn Jones, Sr., RB (Olympia Fields, Illinois)
Jones is a two-time All-GLVC selection at running back and enters the 2019 season closing in on two school rushing records, as he needs one touchdown and 770 yards to tie the program's career standards in those categories.  Last season, Jones was a second-team All-GLVC selection after rushing for 750 yards and eight touchdowns, which came a year after setting the S&T single-season record with 1,579 yards on the ground.  Following the 2017 campaign, Jones was named to two All-America teams, first-team All-GLVC and earned the first of his two Google Cloud Academic All-America awards.  He was also the 2017 GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in football.

Tershawn Wharton, Sr., DE (University City, Missouri)
Wharton has been selected to the All-GLVC first team in each of the last two seasons and enters the 2019 campaign with 46.5 tackles for a loss and 28 quarterback sacks in his career.  His next sack will tie the S&T career record in that department, while he needs just four stops behind the line of scrimmage to tie that record as well.  A year ago, Wharton recorded 54 total tackles and ranked second in the GLVC with 18 tackles for a loss and nine sacks, a year after finishing with 21 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.  He capped his junior year by being named as the most valuable defensive player in the Mineral Water Bowl win over MSU Moorhead, where he finished the contest with eight tackles (4.5 for a loss and two sacks included) and added a 53-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

QUINCY
Andrew Rund, Sr., QB (St. Louis, Missouri)
Rund will be one of four captains on the 2019 QU football team, and had played in 30 games over his first three years.  He has accounted for 2,400 yards passing and 11 passing touchdowns in that span. Rund has also been a big part of the Quincy run game over his career, as he has averaged 4.3 yards per carry on more than 200 attempts with three rushing scores.

Bryce Johnson, Sr., DL (Rockford, Illinois)
Johnson will also be one of the four team captains at QU this fall. He will play an integral role on a much-improved defense from a season ago. He accounted for 24 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and 3.0 sacks last year to earn honorable mention All-GLVC accolades.

SOUTHWEST BAPTIST
Dylan Mountain, Jr., QB (Urbana, Missouri)
Mountain started eight games last season, while playing a variety of positions in all 10 contests. 

TJ Morgan, Jr., LB (St. Louis, Missouri)
Morgan is beck from an injury last season, but played in all 10 games in 2017.  The linebacker has also been the face of the Bearcats in the league's GLVC is ME and Someone to Listen campaigns.

TRUMAN STATE
Jaden Barr, Sr., QB (California, Missouri)
Barr ranked third in the GLVC in total offense (208.9) and rushing (82.7) yards last year and enters the 2019 campaign as the team's leading rusher with 910 yards – the most in a season by a Truman signal caller.  Over his career, his 6,683 total yards rank third in school history, while also holding career top-10 marks in rushing TDs (22), passing yards (4,835), passing attempts (773), completion percentage (58.5%), passing efficiency (119.7), completions (452), TD passes (38) and touchdowns responsible for (60).  Barr is a three-time GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award nominee, a three-time Academic All-GLVC recipient, and posted a 4.0 GPA this past season to earn recognition as a GLVC Brother James Gaffney, FSC Distinguished Scholar Award winner.

Jordan Siegel, Sr., CB (St. Louis, Missouri)
Siegel picked up first-team All-GLVC accolades after finishing tied for seventh in the league with two interceptions, 11th in overall tackles for loss (9.0), and 19th in tackles per game (6.1).  He twice had games with 10 or more tackles, including a season-high 11 stops at Saginaw Valley.  He boasted one forced fumble and two interceptions on the season, including a "pick six" in the season opener against Michigan Tech.

WILLIAM JEWELL
Will Schneider, Jr., QB (Shawnee, Kansas)
Schneider ranked fourth in the GLVC in passing last year with 1,517 yards and six touchdowns.  His 445 rushing yards and eight rushing scores led the team, the latter of which were third most in a season by a quarterback in school history.  Schneider's 268 passing attempts also ranked eighth all-time in school history. 

Donte' Colum, R-Sr., DB (Merriam, Kansas)
Colum earned a second-team All-GLVC nod with his second-best five interceptions in the league, including one he returned 82 yards for a touchdown against top-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce.  He registered 56 tackles during his comeback season following a season-ending injury he suffered just three games into the 2017 season.