Ben Chappell

Classroom

Ben Chappell completed his bachelor’s degree in accounting on June 30 with a 3.70 GPA and is currently working toward his MBA in accounting. Chappell is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and garnered a spot on the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team as a junior. In his eight semesters of classroom work, Chappell has never recorded a GPA lower than 3.30 and has earned Alpha Beta honors each of those semesters. Chappell was also a 2009-10 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award recipient (3.7 GPA over the academic year).

Character

Chappell is likely to be a captain again this season and serves as a member of the team’s Leadership Council. He has represented the program at Big Ten Media Days the last two seasons and also served as the football representative on Indiana University’s Student Athletic Committee. Chappell is an upstanding young man on and off the field. Growing up in Bloomington, he is a role model for youngsters in town and treats everyone he meets, whether he has known them his entire life or just met them, with respect. In addition, he was one of 112 student-athletes nominated for the American Football Coaches Aassociation Good Works Team. The award honors the distinguished group of college football players who stand out for the positive influence they have in their communities.

Community

In 2009 Chappell helped set up two community initiatives that Indiana football will continue to participate in annually. First, the team visited Riley’s Chilrden’s Hospital the last two years after its spring practice and visited with every patient in the hospital, distributing gifts and talking to the patients and their families. Secondly, prior to its last two preseason camps the team brought in kids from the Bloomington Boys & Girls Club and spent an afternoon playing at eight different activity stations set up around Memorial Stadium. Chappell has also worked with the DARE and Read Across America programs as well as assisting the IU Ticket Office with phone calls to season ticketholders and volunteering at the Coach Hep Indiana Cancer Challenge cycle/run/walk even in honor of late coach Terry Hoeppner.

Competition

Chappell enters his senior season on the watch list for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which is presented to the top senior quarterback in the country and acknowledges performance on the field, as well as character, citizenship, integrity and those who honor the game. Last year Chappell earned honorable mention All-Big Ten recognition after he completed 63 percent of his passes for 2,941 yards and 17 touchdowns, all of which rank in the top three of Indiana’s single-season record books. In Big Ten games only, Chappell led the league with 261.2 passing yards per game.