The Youngstown State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is proud to announce the development of the Elliott L. Giles Scholarship to enhance the YSU Athletics Scholarship Fund.
The scholarship endowment will be awarded starting with the 2012-13 academic year.
Director of Athletic Development Joe Cassese said Giles has always supported Youngstown State football in anyway possible. This scholarship is just another example of how special this community is to Giles, Cassese said.
"Those of us who love and follow Youngstown State Football remember Elliott Giles the playmaker on the football field," Cassese said. "It's great to see Elliott making plays for his community and Youngstown State Athletics in a way that will forever positively impact our student-athletes."
Giles, a native of Miami, Fla., came to Youngstown State in 1997 after spending a season at Idaho State. At YSU, he spent three years playing for Head Coach Jim Tressel. During his senior season in 1999, Giles helped lead the Penguins to the National Championship Game while leading the team with 62 receptions for 1,301 yards and eight touchdowns. He finished his career with 73 receptions for 1,477 yards and nine scores. Against Montana in the first round, he caught six passes for a school-record 214 yards, including an 82-yarder for a touchdown. On six occasions in 1999, he had at least 100 yards receiving.
After his collegiate career, Giles impacted the youth of the community by starting Y2 Sports, a non-profit organization centered on the youth of Youngstown to help battle the worldwide dilemma of childhood obesity while building young men and women of character. Giles also founded The Youngstown Youth Flag Football Association, a NFL sanctioned flag football league which has impacted over 2,000 children from the Tri-County area since its inaugural season in 2007.
This scholarship will be awarded annually to a minority student-athlete with a GPA of 2.5 or above.
"It is truly humbling to have the opportunity to give back to the university that has done so much for me and my family," Giles said.
This fall, Giles has joined Chad Krispinsky on the myvalleysports.com broadcast of Penguin home games.
For more information on how to endow an athletic scholarship at Youngstown State University, contact Cassese at (330) 941-2756 or jcassese@ysu.edu.
