Bison Football Players Juggling FCS Playoffs and Graduation

14 players will get their diplomas on the day of the FCS Semifinal game against Sam Houston State

FARGO, N.D. — The importance of this Friday goes beyond the FCS semifinal game for many North Dakota State football players.

Fourteen Bison will collect their diplomas for graduating in the fall semester.

“It’s great, and this is the fourth year that I’ve been a part of it,” NDSU head coach Chris Klieman said. “I’ll get a chance to attend graduation with those guys. President [Dean] Bresciani does a phenomenal job fitting our guys into the earlier timeslot, because it is such a great day for those guys. They’ve worked so hard in getting a degree and playing a football game that same day. But we’ve been in this position so often we’ve been able to manage.”

The Bison kick off against Sam Houston State at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Here are the players who will graduate:
Brad Ambrosius
Eric Bachmeier
Chris Board
Cole Davis
Nick DeLuca
Tre Dempsey
Pierre Gee-Tucker
Jeff Illies
Grant Morgan
Daniel Polansky
Easton Stick
Nate Tanguay
Jarrod Tuszka
Connor Wentz