IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior defensive end Zach VanValkenburg has been named to the 2021 Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List. The announcement was made by the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation, which is responsible for honoring the nation’s best IMPACT player at the end of the season.
VanValkenburg is one of 42 players named to the Watch List and one of eight nominees from the Big Ten.
Collegiate defensive players are nominated to the Watch List based on the IMPACT on their teams on and off the field. IMPACT is an acronym for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The 42 represents Ronnie Lott’s number during his legendary career.
VanValkenburg (6-foot-4, 270-pounds) earned second-team All-Big Ten honors while starting every game a season ago. He tied for first in the nation with four fumble recoveries and recorded 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors following a career-best performance with three sacks and five tackles in Iowa’s 35-7 win at Minnesota.
A native of Zeeland, Michigan, VanValkenburg was a recipient of Iowa’s Team Hustle Award last season. He has also earned bachelor’s degree in History and master’s degree in Eastern European Studies
Former Hawkeye linebacker and current Denver Bronco Josey Jewell won the award in 2017. Chauncey Golston was a semifinalist for last year’s award. Desmond King was a semifinalist for the award in 2016 and James Morris was a finalist in 2013.
The winner of the 18th annual Lott IMPACT Trophy will be announced in December and receive $25,000 for his university’s general scholarship fund.
Iowa begins the 2021 season at home against Indiana on Saturday, Sept. 4. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. (CT) inside Kinnick Stadium. The game will be televised on BTN.
Fans can purchase football season tickets by visiting hawkeyesports.com/tickets. Fight for Iowa mobile passes and UI student tickets are currently on sale. Select single game tickets will go on sale in July. University of Iowa faculty/staff should contact the University of Iowa Athletics Ticket Office for season tickets. The UI Athletics Ticket Office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The office telephone number is 1-800-IA-HAWKS.
All tickets in 2021 will be mobile. Fans may access tickets via the Hawkeye Sports App, a link via email, or account login at hawkeyesports.com/myaccount. These tickets are optimized for display on your smartphone device and should not be printed. Fans can review additional information on mobile tickets by visiting hawkeyesports.com/mobiletickets.
