Eric Phoenix named inaugural HBCU+ National Player of the Year
12/09/2024 07:00 PM
A historic season continues for Eric Phoenix and the South Carolina State Bulldogs. On Monday morning, Stats Perform and HBCU+ named South Carolina State quarterback Eric Phoenix as their 2024 National Player of the Year — making him the first player to ever win the award. Phoenix was selected by an eight-voter panel from 10 finalists within the 21 HBCU programs in FCS college football.
“Phoenix has played outstanding situational football this year,” said Emory Hunt, a member of the HBCU+ voting panel.
This season, Phoenix threw for 2,469 yards and 20 touchdowns while completing 65 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 224 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Bulldogs to a 9-2 record.
Phoenix, a 6’3, 210 pound graduate student, was instrumental in restoring the Bulldogs dominance within the MEAC conference. Luckily for South Carolina State, first-year head coach Chennis Berry held an extremely tight bond with Phoenix.
Prior to spending a year at Murray State, Pheonix spent two seasons under coach Berry at Benedict College. Similar to this year’s season for South Carolina State, the talented duo found extreme success at Benedict. In two seasons under coach Berry, Phoenix threw for 3,942 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Chennis Berry and Eric Phoenix’s best season came in 2022. That year, coach Berry won SIAC coach of the year and Phoenix earned second-team All-SIAC honors as the Tigers went 11-1 and made the second round of the Division II playoffs. Now, the dynamic duo has made history once again. Alongside Phoenix’s player of the year honors, Chennis Berry additionally earned MEAC Coach of The Year honors in his first year in the conference.
"We're extremely excited and proud of Eric for receiving this amazing award," said Berry.
Honestly, it seems as if the two had this year’s success planned all along. Given their shared history, it came as no surprise that coach Berry recruited Phoenix once again after accepting the South Carolina State head coaching position.
In addition to Phoenix’s talent, his familiarity with coach Berry was critical for a Bulldogs team who started the season facing adversity. The Bulldogs saw themselves sitting at 1-2 following a pair of early losses to Florida A&M and Georgia Southern University.
With huge expectations surrounding the Bulldogs new era, Phoenix skyrocketed his play to another level. Following a tough loss to Georgia Southern, Phoenix threw for 367 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-25 win vs. North Carolina A&T University. After that game, the rest was history. After averaging 18.3 points in their first three games, the Bulldogs finished the year as the 12th-ranked FCS offense averaging 35.5 points per game.
Phoenix is set to be honored during the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Banquet on January, 4th in Frisco, Texas. However, if Phoenix did not convince everyone of his talents already, he has one final opportunity to display his ability. The Bulldogs take on Jackson State University this Saturday, December 14th in the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
For Phoenix and the Bulldogs, another dominant performance will be icing on the cake.
The post Eric Phoenix named inaugural HBCU+ National Player of the Year appeared first on ClutchPoints.
