Release courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications
BALTIMORE, MD – Former Johns Hopkins football standouts Anthony Davidson and Ben Gaal have been awarded prestigious $10,000 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships it was recently announced. Davidson and Gaal were two of just 21 male athletes who competed in fall sports who were selected.
The NCAA provides the $10,000 scholarships to just 21 male and 21 female athletes each season (fall-winter-spring). For the fall, the sports included were cross country, football, soccer and water polo for men and cross country, equestrian, field hockey, rugby, soccer, triathlon and volleyball for women.
Student-athletes selected must have exhausted their eligibility and must use the scholarship in the academic year following their selection. There is no limit on how long after completion of their undergraduate degree a student-athlete may be nominated.
The selection of Davidson and Gaal made Johns Hopkins the only school with two male recipients among the 21 selected for this year; including the 21 female honorees, Johns Hopkins was one of just two schools with a pair of recipients (Bethel (MN)). In addition, Johns Hopkins has now produced at least one NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient in each of the last seven years.
A standout defensive lineman, Davidson graduated from Johns Hopkins in 2019 after a standout four-year career. He was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American as he earned second team honors as a junior and first team as a senior. He also earred First Team All-Centennial Conference and Third Team D3football.com All-South Region honors as a senior, when he totaled 67 tackles, including 13.5 for losses and 6.0 sacks. He concluded his career with 114 tackles, including 24.5 for losses and 13.5 sacks, and five forced fumbles.
Davidson earned a degree in neuroscience and graduated with a 3.97 cumulative grade point average. Since graduating, he has worked at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center as a Lab Manager and Clinical Research Coordinator. He will begin medical school in August.
Davidson helped lead Johns Hopkins to four Centennial Conference titles and four trips to the NCAA Playoffs during his career. The Blue Jays made the program's first appearance in the national semifinals during his senior year and JHU compiled a four-year record of 43-6 during his career.
Gaal earned a degree in political science at Johns Hopkins and graduated in 2018 with a 3.85 cumulative grade point average. He began medical school at Case Western Reserve in the fall after spending a gap year as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
A First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American as a senior in 2017, Gaal anchored the Blue Jay offense from his spot at center as a senior, when he started all 11 games for the Blue Jays. He played in 37 games in his career and helped Johns Hopkins to four Centennial Conference titles and four trips to the NCAA Playoffs. The Blue Jays posted a four-year record of 42-5 during Gaal's career at Homewood.
This is the third time the Johns Hopkins football program has produced two NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients in the same year (1998, 2013) and the selection of Davidson and Gaal boosts the program's total number of honorees to 11.