Portland State Football has awarded the AJ Schlatter Memorial Scholarship to junior defensive end
Slade Shufelt for the 2024 season.
A former walk-on from Hillsboro High School, Shufelt became a starter in 2023 and earned an athletics scholarship. Shufelt will now receive the AJ Schlatter Memorial Scholarship for following in the mold of the former Viking. The combination of his on-field success, academic success and local ties have given Shufelt this prestigious honor.
"Slade embodies everything that AJ was about. He couldn't be a better recipient of this scholarship fund," said Viking Coach
Bruce Barnum.
Shufelt made 16 tackles, five tackles for loss and a team-high 3.5 sacks in 2023. He was also an Academic All-Big Sky Conference honoree for the second straight season, as well as earning Academic All-District, as a Public Health Studies major.
Schlatter, from Canby, OR, participated on the Viking football team in 2014 and 2015. He was an up-and-coming linebacker on the Vikings' 2015 playoff team. Schlatter earned a starting role as a redshirt freshman, making 62 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception. He was the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week following PSU's Dam Cup victory at Eastern Washington. Tragically, Schlatter passed away in early 2016 due to complications from a minor surgery.
SPRING PRACTICE UPDATES
Portland State completed the second day of the 15-day spring practice session on Wednesday. The Vikings will don shoulder pads for the first time on Thursday morning as the intensity will increase. PSU's Spring Game comes on April 27 at Hillsboro Stadium.
BAR-KNEE BALL: Knee surgery isn't exclusively the domain of the athlete. Just ask Viking Football Head Coach
Bruce Barnum. In late February, Barnum had right knee replacement surgery. Through two days of spring practice, Barnum is cane-free and moving swiftly - okay, just moving - through the football team drills. He has yet to reach top speed, but Barnum is much improved from a knee issue that has troubled him for years. 40-yard dash time yet to come...
THE I-5 CORRIDOR TALKS BAR-KNEE BALL
NEWCOMERS FOR SPRING: Portland State has 10 new faces on the field at the start of spring. Three are 2024 signees while seven are walk-ons. The signees include: JR LB
Jordan Allen (San Jose State); JR WR
Branden Alvarez (San Jose State); and JR TE
Seth Lyon (Saddleback JC). The walk-ons include: JR LB
Chase Beardsley (Palomar College); JR QB
William Haskell (Washington); JR TE
Jahleel Heath (Washington); JR CB
Jeffrey Robinson (Arizona); JR DL
Jayden Sandusky (College of the Redwoods); JR QB
Rieger Sayre (Butte College) and FR WR
Eddie Schultz (Cal Poly).... the remaining 24 NLI signees will join the program in August.
2024 SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Thursday, April 4 8-10 a.m.
Friday, April 5 8-10 a.m.
Saturday, April 6 9-11 a.m.
Tuesday, April 9 8-10 a.m.
Wednesday, April 10 8-10 a.m.
Thursday, April 11 8-10 a.m.
Friday, April 12 8-10 a.m.
Tuesday, April 16 8-10 a.m.
Wednesday, April 17 8-10 a.m.
Thursday, April 18 8-10 a.m.
Monday, April 22 8-10 a.m. Scrimmage at 8:40
Friday, April 26 8-9:15 a.m.
Saturday, April 27 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Spring Game begins at 11:20
