ATLANTA, GA - This month, Rice FAME Group announced a lineup of esteemed 2022-2023 HBCU Makeda Excellence Awards honorees featuring athletes, coaches, bands, and band directors of Historically Black Colleges and Universities programs. Each honoree was selected by a majority of voting peer coaches and band directors from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA), and United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) programs.
Within the lineup of 2022-2023 honorees, Benedict Head Football Coach Chennis Berry was named HBCU Football Coach of the Year, and defensive lineman Loobert Denelus was named HBCU Football Player of the Year.
As the 2022 SIAC Defensive Player of the Year, Denelus finished with 51 total tackles, 14 sacks (-91 yds), 21 TFL (-100 yds), three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, returned one for a touchdown, one quarterback hurry, and one blocked kick. As the first in the school’s history, Denelus was named a First Team AFCA All-American and the second player ever to be named an AFCA All-American, following Traviontae Brown in 2018 as a second-team selection at defensive back.
In addition to a lineup of noteworthy achievements, Denelus was selected to the D2 CCA Super Region 2 All-Region Team, earned First Team Don Hansen All-American and BoxToRow HBCU All-American honors, and was the first Benedict football player to earn First Team Academic All-America Team honors.
Named HBCU Football Coach of the Year, Berry guided Benedict to its first-ever Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in his second season with the Tigers. Benedict went undefeated during the regular season and continued their successes in the SIAC Championship game, beating Tuskegee 58-21. The Tigers earned the top seed in the Super Region 2, a bye in the NCAA playoffs, and finished the season with an 11-1 overall record. Receiving all but one first-place vote, the Tigers finished the inaugural HBCU Division II Coaches Poll as the No. 1 team in the final poll.
Expanding upon his lineup of achievements, Coach Berry won the SIAC Coach of the Year and the AFCA Super Region 2 Coach of the Year awards. The team ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense, third in passing yards allowed, and seventh in total defense. Ten Benedict players earned All-SIAC team selections, and additional honors included three players named to other All-American teams, including a first-team selection for the first time in program history, two All-Region, and two Academic All-American players. Under Berry’s leadership, the football team’s GPA improved significantly, and he helped increase athletic fundraising and donations, gaining new sponsors for the Chennis Berry Coach’s Show, the first-ever coach’s show in the school's history.