Curtain, a junior safety and former Grimsley standout, was named the preseason defensive player of the year. After an impressive sophomore season where the Greensboro native led the Phoenix with eighty tackles and four interceptions, including a pick-six against Wake Forest in the season opener, Curtain is poised to lead a defense that gave up less than two hundred yards passing a game last season. Curtain was joined by his teammate, wide receiver and electric kick returner Chandler Brayboy, on the all-conference team. Other North Carolina-based players on the preseason all-conference team include Campbell’s CJ Tillman, North Carolina A&T’s Karon Prunty, and Mountain Island’s Elijah Burris, who plays running back for Hampton.

Villanova, which earned a share of the 2023 CAA Championship and reached the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs last season, was voted as the 2024 preseason favorite by the league’s head coaches. The Wildcats received nine of the available 16 first-place votes and totaled 217 points, while Richmond took second with one first-place tally and 189 points.

UAlbany garnered three first-place votes and finished third with 179 points, followed by William & Mary (175 points) and Delaware (163), which also picked up three first-place nods. Elon (157) was chosen sixth, followed by New Hampshire (150), Rhode Island (142), Towson (114), Monmouth (95), Campbell (83), Hampton (62), Maine (57), North Carolina A&T (49), Bryant (46) and Stony Brook (42).

2024 CAA FOOTBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

(Selected by a vote of Head Coaches)

OFFENSE

Connor Watkins, Villanova | Gr. | QB | Williamsport, Pa.

Elijah Burris, Hampton | Sr. | RB | Gastonia, N.C.

Griffin Woodell, UAlbany | So. | RB | Glens Falls, N.Y.

Marcus Yarns, Delaware | Gr. | RB | Salisbury, Md.

Bronson Yoder, William & Mary | Sr. | RB | Nappanee, Ind.

Trey McDonald, William & Mary | Jr. | FB/HB | Kinnelon, N.J.

Carter Runyon, Towson | Sr. | TE | Fairfax, Va.

Chandler Brayboy, Elon | Sr. | WR | Pembroke, N.C.

Nick DeGennaro, Richmond | Sr. | WR | Old Bridge, N.J.

Anthony Johnson, Stony Brook | So. | WR | Burlington, N.J.

Temi Ajirotutu, Villanova | Gr. | OL | Queens, N.Y.

Fintan Brose, Delaware | Gr. | OL | Irwin, Pa.

Charles Grant, William & Mary | Sr. | OL | Portsmouth, Va.

Ozzie Hutchinson, UAlbany | Gr. | OL | Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Will Marotta, UAlbany | Gr. | OL | Collegeville, Pa.

Ralph Paige, Jr., Towson | Sr. | OL | Washington, D.C.

DEFENSE

Jeremiah Grant, Richmond | Sr. | DL | South Orange, N.J.

Westley Neal, Jr., Rhode Island | Sr. | DL | Miami, Fla.

Michael Otty, Bryant | Sr. | DL | Brooklyn, N.Y.

Dylan Ruiz, New Hampshire | Sr. | DL | Orlando, Fla.

Josiah Silver, New Hampshire | Sr. | DL | Hampton, Va.

Brendan Bell, Villanova | Gr. | LB | Basking Ridge, N.J.

Shane Hartzell, Villanova | Jr. | LB | Perkasie, Pa.

A.J. Pena, Rhode Island | Jr. | LB | Branchburg, N.J.

CJ Tillman, Campbell | Sr. | LB | Rockingham, N.C.

Karon Prunty, North Carolina A&T | Jr. | CB | Portsmouth, Va.

Isas Waxter, Villanova | Gr. | CB | Newark, N.J.

Caleb Curtain, Elon | Jr. | S | Greensboro, N.C.

Ty Trinh, Villanova | Gr. | S | Owings Mills, Md.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Chandler Brayboy, Elon | Sr. | KR | Pembroke, N.C.

Gabe Sloat, Rhode Island | Sr. | PR | North Kingstown, R.I.

Keegan Vaughan, Towson | Sr. | PK | Richmond, Va.

Aaron Trusler, Richmond | Gr. | P | Melbourne, Australia

Jabril Hayes, Richmond | Sr. | SPEC | Stephens City, Va.

CAA FOOTBALL PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Connor Watkins, QB, Villanova

CAA FOOTBALL PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Caleb Curtain, S, Elon

HONORABLE MENTION: Matthew Downing, QB, Elon; Derek Robertson, QB, Monmouth; Malachi Imoh, RB, William & Mary; Marquis Buchanan, WR, Rhode Island; Joe Gillette, WR, Maine; Jaylan Sanchez, WR, Villanova; Logan Tomlinson, WR, New Hampshire; Cooper Heisey, TE, Maine; Ryan McKenna, OL, William & Mary; Dion Crews-Harris, DL, Towson; Cazeem Moore, DL, Elon; Wayne Galloway, LB, Richmond; Ryan Toscano, LB, New Hampshire; Tyron Herring, CB, Delaware; Marcus Barnes, S, William & Mary; JoJo Bermudez, KR, Delaware; TJ Speight, KR, Monmouth; VJ Wilkins, KR, Campbell; John Opalko, PK, UAlbany; Josh Cupitt, P, Delaware; Bobby Cleary, SPEC, Campbell

2024 CAA FOOTBALL PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH

(Selected by a vote of Head Coaches)

1. Villanova (9 first-place votes) 217

2. Richmond (1) 189

3. UAlbany (3) 179

4. William & Mary 175

5. Delaware (3) 163

6. Elon 157

7. New Hampshire 150

8. Rhode Island 142

9. Towson 114

10. Monmouth 95

11. Campbell 83

12. Hampton 62

13. Maine 57

14. North Carolina A&T 49

15. Bryant 46

16. Stony Brook 42

CHARLOTTE (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Campbell sophomore quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams (Atlanta, Ga.) and Kennesaw State redshirt-senior linebacker Bryson Armstrong (Marietta, Ga.) have been voted the Big South Conference’s 2020 Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head football coaches and media panel, it was announced today.

Campbell QB Hajj-Malik Williams

Williams is the first sophomore to earn the league’s top preseason offensive honor and is Campbell’s first-ever Big South preseason Player of the Year honoree since the Camels joined the league in 2018.  The Big South Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2019, Williams enjoyed a record-breaking campaign in his first year leading the Camels.  A finalist for the Jerry Rice National Freshman of the Year Award (finishing 10th in the voting), Williams was a Hero Sports Freshman All-America First-Team selection a season ago.  He received four Big South Freshman of the Week nods as well as five STATS Honorable Mention weekly accolades in 2019.  Williams established Big South-freshman records for passing touchdowns (17), total offensive yards (2,686), rushing yards by a freshman quarterback (664) and rushing touchdowns by a freshman signal-caller (9).  He led all Big South freshmen AND quarterbacks in rushing yards during the regular-season, and passed for 200 yards and rushed for 100 yards in a game twice in 2019.  Williams posted a league-high six games with both a rush TD and passing touchdown, was second with four games accumulating 300+ yards of offense, and was third overall in total offense yards.  The first freshman quarterback in Big South history with multiple touchdown passes in the first three games of a season, Williams had a TD pass in his first 10 collegiate appearances and six multi-TD pass efforts.  He was responsible for 27 total touchdowns last year -- and caught a touchdown pass against Hampton on Oct. 19.

Williams received three first-place votes and 25 total points in the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Charleston Southern quarterback Jack Chambers (three first-place votes and 15 points).

Armstrong is now a three-time recipient of the conference’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honor –- the first player in league history with this distinction.  A three-time First-Team All-Conference selection in his first three years at KSU, as well as last year’s Big South Defensive Player of the Year, Armstrong earned five All-America plaudits in 2019 and was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award as the nation’s top defensive player.  Named Second-Team All-American by the AFCA, Associated Press and Hero Sports in addition to Third-Team All-America honors from STATS LLC and Phil Steele, Armstrong finished 2019 with a team-high 95 total tackles during the season -- including 51 solo stops.  A member of the nation’s third-ranked defense, Armstrong totaled 12.0 tackles-for-loss, 3.5 sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in 2019.  He helped the Owls lead the Big South in total defense (278.7), scoring defense (18.7) and rushing defense (88.9).  Armstrong was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 28 following his 10-tackle, 2.5-TFL, 1.0-sack effort over North Alabama.  He led KSU in tackles seven times -- including five games with 10+, and his 95 stops were 39 more than his next-closest teammate.  Armstrong also recorded a tackle-for-loss in 10 of his 14 games played.

The 2017 STATS Jerry Rice Award Winner as the FCS National Freshman of the Year, Armstrong enters his final season 16 tackles shy of 300 in his career, and has posted 67 stops in seven career FCS Playoff games (9.57 average).  He collected nine first-place votes and 35 points in the preseason balloting, ahead of Charleston Southern defensive lineman Shaundre Mims (two first-place votes and 17 points).

Williams and Armstrong were also voted to the preseason All-Conference First-Team, which is comprised of 12 offensive and defensive positions, plus specialty positions.  A preseason Honorable Mention squad features the next highest vote-getters at each position where available.  Kennesaw State and Monmouth tied for the most preseason selections with 10, followed by Charleston Southern (9), Campbell and Gardner-Webb with six each, North Alabama had three honorees, and Hampton had one selection.  The 2020 preseason All-Conference team appears below.

2020 Big South Football Preseason All-Conference Teams

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST-TEAM
OFFENSE                                                                     
QB    Hajj-Malik Williams, Soph., Campbell
RB    Isaac Foster, Jr., Kennesaw State
RB    Juwon Farri, R-Soph., Monmouth
WR   Izaiah Gathings, Jr., Gardner-Webb
WR   Jadakis Bonds, Jr., Hampton
WR   Lonnie Moore IV, R-Sr., Monmouth
WR   Terrance Greene Jr., R-Jr., Monmouth (tie)
WR   Caleb Snead, R-Jr., Campbell (tie)
TE    Gene Scott, Jr., Monmouth
OL    AJ Farris, R-Sr., Monmouth
OL    Chris Dye, Sr., Kennesaw State
OL    Jake Lassiter, Sr., Kennesaw State
OL    Justin Szuba, Jr., Monmouth
OL    William Nana-Fabu, Jr., Kennesaw State

DEFENSE
DL    Shaundre Mims, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
DL    Brevin Allen, Jr., Campbell
DL    Nick Salley, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
DL    Anton Williams, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
LB    Bryson Armstrong, R-Sr., Kennesaw State
LB    Da’Quan Grimes, R-Sr., Monmouth
LB    Darien Reynolds, Sr., Gardner-Webb
LB    Justice Galloway-Velazquez, Jr., Campbell
DB    Anthony Budd, Sr., Monmouth
DB    Cody Cline, Soph., Charleston Southern
DB    Darion Slade, R-Sr., Campbell
DB    Justin Terry, Sr., Monmouth

SPECIAL TEAMS
PK    Alex Usry, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
P      Joe Gurley, Sr., North Alabama
KR    Lonnie Moore, R-Sr., Monmouth
PR    Devron Harper, Soph., Gardner-Webb
LS    Ethan Ray, R-Sr., Charleston Southern

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION
QB    Jack Chambers, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
RB    Shaquil Terry, Sr., Kennesaw State
WR   Garris Schwarting, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
OL    Tyler McLellan, R-Jr., Campbell (tie)
OL    JT Melton, R-Jr., Charleston Southern (tie)
DL    Wallace Cowins Jr., Sr., North Alabama
LB    Cade Hamilton, Jr., Gardner-Webb
DB    Demetrius Pettway, Jr., Kennesaw State
PK    Joe Gurley, Sr., North Alabama
P      Nicholas Jones, Sr., Kennesaw State
KR    Devron Harper, Soph., Gardner-Webb (tie)
KR    Issac Foster, Jr., Kennesaw State (tie)
PR    Issac Foster, Jr., Kennesaw State
LS    Will Mullins, Sr., Gardner-Webb

PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Hajj-Malik Williams, Soph., QB, Campbell (Atlanta, Ga.)

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bryson Armstrong, R-Sr., LB, Kennesaw State (Marietta, Ga)

NORFOLK – Seven North Carolina players were named to the 2019 Preseason All-MEAC football team on Friday at its annual football media day in Norfolk, Virginia. Howard University quarterback Caylin Newton was selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Delaware State University linebacker Brian Cavicante was selected as Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.



Bethune-Cookman led the way with six members of the preseason all-conference team, while defending MEAC champion North Carolina A&T, Delaware State and Howard each had four First Team honorees.

All-Conference Offense
QB Caylin Newton (Howard)
RB Isaiah Totten (North Carolina Central)
RB Dedrick Parson (Howard)
WR Jequez Ezzard (Howard)
WR Kyle Anthony (Howard)
TE Xavier Gravette (Morgan State)
C L’Dre Barnes (Bethune-Cookman)
OL Alex Taylor (South Carolina State)
OL Marcus Pettiford (North Carolina A&T)
OL Kaiden Crawford (Delaware State)
OL Dontae Keys (North Carolina A&T)

All-Conference Defense
DL Marques Ford (Bethune-Cookman)
DL Justin Cates (North Carolina A&T)
DL Darius Royster (North Carolina Central)
DL Kawuan Cox (North Carolina Central)
LB Brian Cavicante (Delaware State)
LB Marquis Hendrix (Bethune-Cookman)
LB Rico Kennedy (Morgan State)
DB Trevor Merritt (Bethune-Cookman)
DB Tydarius Peters (Bethune-Cookman)
DB Franklin McCain III (North Carolina A&T)
DB Jahad Neibauer (Delaware State)
PK Yahia Aly (Florida A&M)
P Chris Faddoul (Florida A&M)
RS Jimmie Robinson (Bethune-Cookman)

Defending MEAC conference champion North Carolina A&T was also chosen as the favorite to repeat in 2019.

MEAC Projected Order of Finish:
1. North Carolina A&T
2. Bethune Cookman
3. Florida A&M
4. North Carolina Central 
5. Howard University
6. South Carolina State
7. Norfolk State
8. Morgan State
9. Delaware State

CHARLOTTE - The Big South Conference announced their preseason all-conference teams and projected finishes at their annual media day this week at the Renaissance Suites in Charlotte, North Carolina. Defending champion Kennesaw State was projected to repeat as conference champion while North Carolina based teams Campbell and Gardner-Webb were projected to finish fourth and fifth respectively.

Big South Coaches

Ten players from Campbell and Gardner-Webb were named preseason all-conference. Campbell kicks off the season at Troy before making their home debut on September 7th against Shaw. Gardner-Webb opens up against Charlotte and East Carolina before hosting North Carolina Central on September 14th.

Big South Players

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST-TEAM

OFFENSE
QB Kenji Bahar, R-Sr., Monmouth
RB Juwon Farri, Soph., Monmouth
RB Pete Guerriero, R-Jr., Monmouth
WR Caleb Snead, R-Soph., Campbell
WR Keith Pearson, Jr., Presbyterian
WR Jakobi Byrd, R-Soph., North Alabama
TE Michael Wooten, R-Sr., Campbell
OL Zack Evans, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
OL Jacob Cuddington, R-Sr., Campbell
OL Brandon Leahey, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
OL Gibril Ghee, R-Sr., Hampton
OL Matt Price, R-Sr., Campbell

DEFENSE
DL Damien Dozier, R-Jr., Campbell
DL John Singleton, R-Soph., Gardner-Webb
DL Desmond Johnson, R-Sr., Kennesaw State
DL Andrew Butcher, Sr., Kennesaw State
LB Bryson Armstrong, R-Jr., Kennesaw State
LB J.D. Sosebee, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
LB Colby Campbell, Jr., Presbyterian
LB Darien Reynolds, Jr., Gardner-Webb
DB Tymere Berry, R-Sr., Monmouth
DB Dorian Walker, Sr., Kennesaw State
DB Cincere Mason, R-Soph., Kennesaw State
DB Dorian Jones, Soph., Campbell

SPECIAL TEAMS
PK Matt Mosquera, Sr., Monmouth
P Brad Dennis, R-Sr., Campbell
KR Isaac Foster, Soph., Kennesaw State
PR Isaac Foster, Soph., Kennesaw State
LS Ethan Ray, R-Jr., Charleston Southern

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION
QB Christian Lopez, Sr., North Alabama
RB Shaquil Terry, Jr., Kennesaw State
WR Ronald Bell, Gr., Hampton
OL Eli Teeselink, R-Sr., Presbyterian
DL Josh Ramseur, Gr., Gardner-Webb
LB Jarrett Nagy, Soph., Presbyterian (tie)
LB Charlie Patrick, Jr., Kennesaw State (tie)
DB Justin Terry, Jr., Monmouth
PK Colin Gary, R-Sr., Campbell
P Kyle Reighard, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
LS Jackson Hayes, Soph., Campbell


PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kenji Bahar, R-Sr., QB, Monmouth (Baltimore, Md.)

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bryson Armstrong, R-Jr., LB, Kennesaw State (Marietta, Ga)



2019 PRESEASON POLL
1. Kennesaw State (14)
2. Monmouth (5)
3. Charleston Southern (1)
4. Campbell
5. Gardner-Webb
6. Hampton
7. Presbyterian College

*North Alabama not eligible for conference championship in 2019 due to reclassification from Division II.