The National Football Foundation’s Valley of the Sun Chapter held its 41st Scholar-Athlete banquet on Saturday. The banquet honored 26 student-athletes at the prep and college level for their accomplishments in the classroom and on the field and also awarded three staples of the Arizona football community with the Distinguished Arizonan award.
AIA executive director and long-time coach and administrator David Hines, decorated quarterback coach and broadcaster Dan Manucci and ASU Senior Associate AD Mark Brand were the recipients of this year’s awards.
A Sun Devil through and through, Brand is the longest-tenured media relations director in Arizona State’s history. Under Brand’s watch, 13 Sun Devils were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and two-thirds of the football team’s All-Americans were recognized during his tenure.
Brand will also be inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America’s Hall of Fame later this year. Brand has been on the board of directors and vice president of the NFF Valley of the Sun Chapter and College Football Hall of Fame since 1989.
Many Sun Devil players and administrators share Mark’s passion and impact on ASU Athletics in this video tribute.
Jordan Hamm
