INDIANAPOLIS – University of Sioux Falls Football All-American offensive tackle Trey Pipkins (6-7, 318), All-NSIC senior wide receiver Michael Maxwell (5-10, 180) and senior honorable mention All-American offensive tackle Adam Sheffield (6-5, 312) will compete in a front of National Football League scout at a Pro Day at South Dakota State University on Friday.  

Testing is scheduled to begin at 8:45 a.m. inside the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex on the SDSU campus in Brookings. The majority of the NFL teams are expected to be represented at the Pro Day.

The trio helped lead USF to a 7-4 season in 2018 and to a 16-7 record over the last two seasons which included a berth in the NCAA Playoffs in 2017. They also helped USF extend its season winning streak to 25 straight years.
 

Pipkins was become the first-ever USF student-athlete to compete at the NFL Scouting Combine. Pipkins is one of five former NCAA DII football student-athletes and the only player from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference selected for the NFL Scouting Combine in March in Indianapolis.  Pipkins of Apple Valley, Minn. (Apple Valley HS), was the first player from the NSIC invited to the NFL Combine since Zach Moore of Concordia St. Paul, in 2013. Pipkins, who was a three-time All-NSIC selection and five-time All-American (three postseason, two preseason) at the DII level, recently received rave reviews when he participated in the 94^th annual East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 19 in St. Petersburg, Fla. One of the nation's top offensive lineman this season, Pipkins is a USF sports management graduate (2018) and played a key role as USF earned three postseason berths and compiled a 37-11 overall record during his time with the USF program. Pipkins finished third in the balloting for the Upshaw Award (DII Offensive Lineman of the Year), and was earlier named to the D2Football.com (first team), and Associated Press (first team) and the D2CCA (second team) All-American teams.  Selected one of four team captains for USF, Pipkins was named to the D2Football.com and The Podyum preseason All-American teams. In the 2018 season, Pipkins was named first team all-league for the first time on one of the league's top offensive line units. USF, which ranked fifth in the league in scoring at 33.8 points per game, led the NSIC and ranked fifth in NCAA DII in rushing at 274.2 yards per game. The Cougars, which ranked seventh nationally in yards per play (6.98), led the NSIC in total offense and ranked 14th in NCAA DII with 466.5 yards per game. Pipkins also blocked for Harlon Hill Award finalist Gabriel Watson, who led the nation in rushing yards per game (177.9 yards per game) and rushing touchdowns (26). In 2018, Pipkins graded at 91.7 percent (651 positive reps in 710 plays) with 90.5 knockdowns.  Pipkins, who had 234.5 knockdowns in 43 career starts, allowed just one sack this year and two in his career.  A two-time Academic All-NSIC performer, he had a 90 percent grade in 10-of-11 games with a season-high of 96 percent vs Minot State and graded 94.5 percent against Wayne State, 92.4 percent vs No. 1 Minnesota State and 92.1 percent from Winona State, both road games.
 

Sheffield, who started 23 straight games for USF, earned his first All-NSIC second-team honor and was an honorable mention All-American as named by D2Football.com. This past season, he graded at 89.5 percent with 70 knockdowns. With Pipkins, Sheffield formed one of the best tackle combos in the NSIC as they combined to grade over 90 percent and allow just two total sacks. In 2018, Sheffield, a media studies major, graded at 89 percent or better in seven games with a high of 94 percent against Minot State. He had 90 percent or better grades five times. Sheffield had a career-high 9.5 knockdowns and an 89 percent grade against No. 1 Minnesota State. In his career, Sheffield totaled 110 knockdowns.

Maxwell, one of four USF team captains in 2018, earned second-team All-NSIC honors for the first time. In 2018, he led USF in receiving with 41 catches for 729 yards and four TDs. Maxwell, who had 771 all-purpose yards, caught three or more passes on seven occasions. In his last four games, the senior was one of the best in the league with 27 catches for 423 yards and three TDs. He had seven catches for 64 yards and a TD against St. Cloud State. After that game, he recorded 100-yards receiving in three straight games, which was a first at USF since Jeremiah Oates did it in 2012. Maxwell had five catches for 112 yards and a TD in a win over MSU Moorhead. He added seven catches for 128 yards and a TD against Upper Iowa and set a career-high with eight catches for 119 yards against No. 1 Minnesota State before leaving in the third quarter. On the season, he was involved in six plays of at least 40 yards with a career-long of 78 against Winona State. He finished his career with 69 receptions for 1,077 yards and seven TDs.