Aug. 23, 2004
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Senior Iowa running back Jermelle Lewis has been named to the Big Ten’s 2004 Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list last week, as the league continues to collect preseason honors. Lewis joins five other conference student-athletes on the list. After a tough season last year where he missed the first six games due to a knee injury, Lewis is listed as the first-team running back following the spring practice.
In Iowa’s Big Ten Championship season in 2002, Lewis was the Hawkeyes’ second-leading rusher with 709 yards on 122 carries and eight touchdowns. On kickoff returns, the 5-foot-11, 215-pounder from Bloomfield, CT, was ranked fourth in the Big Ten with a 25.7-yard average. The Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in early November and the winner of the award will be announced on the ESPN/Home Depot College Football Awards Show in December. A Big Ten player has one the honor on 17 occasions, most recently by Penn State’s Larry Johnson in 2002. If Lewis wins, he will join past Iowa footballers like 2003 Outland Trophy winner Robert Gallery, 2002 Lou Groza honoree Nate Kaeding, 2002 AP National Player of the Year and 2002 Davey O’Brien winner Brad Banks and 2002 John Mackey Award winner Dallas Clark as prestigious national award winners.