The Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will select the semifinalists on Nov. 15, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will vote to determine the finalists on Nov. 16. The committee will cast a second vote on Nov. 27 to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.
The recipient of the 2006 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on ESPN along with other NCFAA member awards on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 7. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held at The Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007.
Former USC running back Reggie Bush, first-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints, won the 2005 Doak Walker Award.
The award, in its 17th year, is named for SMU's three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. It is the only major collegiate award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.
The complete list of candidates, who were nominated by their universities, follows:
Josh Allen (Sr.), Maryland Micah Andrews (Jr.), Wake Forest Toney Baker (So.), NC State Lance Ball (Jr.), Maryland Adam Ballard (Jr.), Navy Kyle Bell (Jr.), Colorado State Yvenson Bernard (Jr.), Oregon State Lorenzo Booker (Sr.), Florida State Ahmad Bradshaw (Jr.), Marshall Aaron Brown (So.), TCU Andre Brown (So.), NC State Curtis Brown (Sr.), BYU Thomas Brown (Jr.), Georgia Michael Bush (Sr.), Louisville Hugh Charles (Jr.), Colorado Tashard Choice (Jr.), Georgia Tech Kenneth Darby (Sr.), Alabama James Davis (So.), Clemson BenJarvis Green-Ellis (Jr.), Ole Miss Lynell Hamilton (Sr.), San Diego State Mike Hart (Jr.), Michigan Keegan Herring (So.), Arizona State Stevie Hicks (Sr.), Iowa State Kenny Irons (Sr.), Auburn Brian Leonard (Sr.), Rutgers Rafael Little (Jr.), Kentucky Kregg Lumpkin (Jr.), Georgia Marshawn Lynch (Jr.), California Chris Markey (Jr.), UCLA DeMyron Martin (So.), SMU Darren McFadden (So.), Arkansas Ronnie McGill (Sr.), North Carolina Robert Merrill (Sr.), TCU Tyrone Moss (Sr.), Miami (FL) Brandon Murphy (Jr.), Miami (Ohio) Branden Ore (Jr.), Virginia Tech Adrian Peterson (Jr.), Oklahoma Antonio Pittman (Jr.), Ohio State Kory Sheets (Jr.), Purdue Steve Slaton (So.), West Virginia Ontario Sneed (So.), Central Michigan Tyrell Sutton (So.), Northwestern Jamario Thomas (Jr.), North Texas Marcus Thomas (So.), UTEP Pierre Thomas (Sr.), Illinois Justin Vincent (Sr.), LSU Darius Walker (Jr.), Notre Dame Garrett Wolfe (Sr.), Northern Illinois Albert Young (Jr.), Iowa Selvin Young (Sr.), Texas