BELOW: Profile of Shane Zackery
CHICAGO ? Right now, senior Shane Zackery isn?t focusing on all the accolades and in-season awards that he?s received ? and boy, they sure have been pouring in this year.
All he wants right now is another national title.
The former Boylan standout and his Saint Xavier University teammates started on the right foot Saturday with a 24-20 victory over Carroll (Mont.) College in the first round of the NAIA playoffs.
Zackery and the Cougars won the national crown last year, and now the star wide receiver is ready to do it again.
?I?m not the kind of guy who is easily satisfied,? Zackery said earlier this week from the small Chicago campus. ?You can?t be satisfied with a national championship from last year, especially if you can go out and get another one this year.
?All of that other stuff, the awards and all-conferences and stuff, that?ll be cool someday. But right now, I?m hungry to win another title.?
Zackery, who has amassed 61 catches for 881 yards and 12 touchdowns this year, was recently selected as one of 15 finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which recognizes an individual as the best football scholar-athlete in the nation. The finalists were chosen from all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, and Zackery was the only NAIA player represented.
He has been lauded for his efforts in coordinating team activities for Saint Xavier?s annual ?Service Day,? and recently volunteered to help host a free football clinic for underprivileged kids in conjunction with a local Salvation Army Community Center in Chicago.
And when it comes to football, he?s already been named to the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) All-Mideast League First Team for the second time, and won the conference?s weekly honors multiple times, including the last one, which followed up his three-touchdown performance in a 28-19 regular-season-ending victory.
The speedster was not highly recruited, even by Saint Xavier.
But certainly at this point, after what Zackery has accomplished, they are sure glad they got him ? for more reasons than one.
?Coach (Dan) Appino told us this guy was going to be a player, and he has been,? Saint Xavier?s offensive coordinator Mark Yanule said. ?But he?s been way more than that. He?s just an unbelievable, unbelievable person. Football-wise, academic-wise, and character-wise, he?s just as good as it gets.?
He will graduate this summer with a 3.7 GPA after dealing with a triple major. He plans on getting his masters degree in sports management, and going on to law school after that. There is one thing he won?t have to deal with along that journey.
?Right now, I live in the library,? Zackery said, ?and on the football field. One of those lives is nearing an end. I?m not ready for it yet, though.?
With Zackery on the team, Saint Xavier has lost in the semifinals of the NAIA championships twice in a row, and then won the title last year. They are 49-4 in his four years so far.
He caught nine passes for 78 yards on Saturday, including an 11-yard touchdown reception.
Jay Taft: 815-987-1384; jtaft@rrstar.com; @jaytaft
Profile: Shane Zackery
ear, position, school: Senior wide receiver at Saint Xavier (NAIA)
High school: Boylan
Size: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds
Highlights: First-team Academic All-American and All-Mideast Team last year after hauling in 95 catches for 1,208 yards with 18 TDs; was named only NAIA finalist for William V. Campbell Trophy as nation?s top scholar-athlete, and currently has 61 receptions for 881 yards and 12 TDs this year headed into the playoffs.
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Former Freeport wideout Wes Gastel is also a weapon for Saint Xavier, leading the team in kick returns with 287 yards on 12 tries while hauling in 30 receptions for 566 yards and seven touchdowns. Former Belvidere player Corey Wenmacher also has 29 catches for 309 yards and three TDs, and senior defensive back Jacob Ghinazzi, a former Boylan teammate of Zackery?s, was named first-team all-conference this week with 48 tackles and two interceptions.
In Saturday?s playoff win, Wennmacher had 5 catches for 52 yards and Gastel added 4 for 31 as well as 3 kickoff returns for 88 yards.
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