The senior earned the NCAA FCS Football Elite Scholar-Athlete Award, given to students who have excelled at a national championship level in their sport in addition to achieving the highest academic standards. The Elite Scholar-Athlete Award goes to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the finals site for each NCAA championship event.
Kaplan, a 2025 MVFC All-Academic First-Team honoree, has started all 16 games at linebacker for the Redbirds during their run to Monday’s FCS National Championship game in Nashville, Tenn. He maintains a 4.0 cumulative GPA in graduate school while studying psychology of sport and physical activity at Illinois State. He also currently serves as the president of the ISU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder ranks third on the team with 76 tackles (5 1/2 for losses) along with four pass breakups, three quarterback hurries and a sack. He posted a career-high 11 tackles against Youngstown State.
While at Norcross, Kaplan played quarterback, a position he played for two college seasons at Valparaiso (2021-2022) and one at Illinois State (2023). After missing the 2024 season with an injury, he ... Click here to read full article
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