Scott Reppert was a one-of-a-kind football player at Lawrence University, but now he really stands in a class by himself.Reppert will be Lawrence’s first inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame when he is enshrined Aug. 8-9 in South Bend, Indiana.
Appleton native and star at Appleton West High School, Reppert now lives in Belvidere, Ill. Reppert is one of six players and three coaches in the divisional class, which includes NCAA Divisions I-AA, II, III, and NAIA. The announcement was made Thursday morning by the National Football Foundation Chairman Jon F. Hanson.
“I was just floored,” said Reppert, who received a package on Monday detailing his induction. “That was definitely the first reaction, trying to pick myself up off the floor.”
Reppert, the first player from the Midwest Conference to be enshrined in South Bend, starred for the Vikings from 1979-82. He finished his career with 807 rushes for 4,442 yards, a 5.5-yard per carry average.
Reppert, a three-time first-team All-American, set a high standard on the field at Lawrence. The 5-foot-8, 185-pound dynamo led the nation in rushing for three consecutive seasons from 1980-82. He is one of only four players in NCAA history to accomplish that feat and the only Division III player to have done it. The other are Frank Hawkins of Nevada (Division I-AA) from 1978-80, Reggie Greene of Siena (Division I-AA) from 1995-97, and Johnny Bailey of Texas A&M-Kingsville (Division II) from 1986-88.
Reppert, a charter member of the Lawrence Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame and one of only two players to have his number retired, was a star in one of the truly great eras of Lawrence football. During Reppert’s four seasons, the Vikings went 33-5, won three Midwest Conference championships, and reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Lawrence’s victory over the University of Minnesota-Morris in 1981 remains the only win by a Midwest Conference team in the NCAA playoffs.