FORT VALLEY, Ga. — The Wildcats put fear in each foe when they had to punt or kick the ball with the return weapon they had to stop.
Fort Valley State's DeJuan Bell earned 2024 HBCU College Football All-America acclaim at punt returner and honorable mention at return specialist, announced by BOXTOROW.
There was not another more dangerous punt returner than Bell across all the gridiron-playing HBCU teams this fall. Bell was rewarded for his explosive return work, which resulted in four FVSU touchdowns and the highest honor of All-American.
One of the NCAA DII premier punt returners, Bell was named D2CCA All-Super Region Two second team and All-SIAC first team for the second year in a row for both awards.
The grad student from North Augusta, S.C., helped Fort Valley State to its third winning record in as many years at 6-4, with one loss coming to one of the top HBCU DI teams of South Carolina State.
The Wildcat returned three punts and one kickoff for touchdowns. In 10 games, Bell returned 19 punts for 399 yards for a 21-yard per return average, with those three for scores. He also ran back 15 kickoffs for 364 yards, including a 95-yard one for a final touchdown. On the FVSU offense, Bell pulled in 26 passes for 467 yards for an 18-yard average with three touchdowns. He also rushed the ball six times for another 49 yards.
2024 BOXTOROW HBCU COLLEGE FOOTBALL ALL-AMERICA TEAM (PDF)
FOLLOW THE SIAC
Stay connected by following the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on
Facebook,
Instagram and
X @TheSIAC.
SIAC NEWS
Sign up for
SIAC News to be among the first to receive media releases, updates and more!
ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.