HBCU Football: BOXTOROW Names 2026 Preseason All-Americans

HOUSTON -- The HBCU football media voted for South Carolina State and Prairie View A&M, each of which placed five players on the BOXTOROW 2026 HBCU college football Preseason All-America team, the most of any program in a 30-man field that drew from 15 schools across four conferences.

The pairing is not accidental and suggests the 2025 Celebration Bowl combatants may be headed for more clashes in polls later this season.

Coach Chennis Berry and the Bulldogs are picked to repeat as HBCU national champions. The Panthers, led by Coach Tremaine Jackson, are the defending SWAC champions. The HBCU All-American selection has Prairie View A&M with three on offense and two on defense, and South Carolina State has three on defense and two on offense.

The 2026 edition is the 20th season BOXTOROW has produced a preseason All-America team. Donal Ware founded the organization, which has selected HBCU All-America teams since 2007.

Voting is conducted by media members who cover HBCU football.

Andrew Body Headlines the Offense

Alabama State quarterback Andrew Body was named the preseason quarterback after taking home the 2025 BOXTOROW National HBCU Offensive Player of the Year award. He is the only player on the 2026 team carrying two designations—returning All-American and reigning national offensive player of the year.

Last year’s late-season shoulder injury against Prairie View A&M cost Body the games required to qualify for national statistical leaderboards. Had he reached the threshold, he would have led FCS in touchdown-to-interception ratio at 24-1 and in yards per carry at 8.3.

Body would have finished third nationally in total offense at 352.5 yards per game and eighth in completion percentage at 70.3. He rushed for 708 yards and four touchdowns, threw for 300 or more yards three times and cleared 100 rushing yards once, against UAB on Aug. 28.

He is one of three Alabama State players returning from the 2025 All-America team, joining offensive lineman Elijah Baker and defensive back Ta’Shaun Sims. No other program has more than one returning honoree. The Hornets placed four players overall, third behind the two leaders.

Ta’Shaun Sims and the All-American Secondary

Sims enters 2026 regarded as one of the best defensive backs in the country. He tied for second in FCS in interceptions with five in 2025, added four pass breakups and finished with 38 tackles, 22 of them solo.

Prairie View A&M defensive back Eric Zachery was among the top vote-getters at the position. His 15 passes defended tied for sixth in FCS. Zachery broke up 13 passes, intercepted two, recorded 50 tackles with 27 solo, and added 2.5 tackles for loss.

South Carolina State Loads the Front Seven

The Bulldogs put running back Tyler Smith and center James Reddick II on the offensive team. The heavier concentration came on defense, where tackles Joshua Barker and Ka’Von Chisolm and inside linebacker Jordan Franklin all earned spots.

South Carolina State ranked 29th in FCS total defense in 2025. Barker and Chisolm combined for 63 tackles with 44 solo, 21 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. Franklin drew one of the highest vote totals of any player on the team after posting 62 tackles with 42 solo, 12 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions and four pass breakups.

Prairie View defensive lineman Malik Gucake also ranked among the top vote-getters. He recorded 42 tackles with 14 solo, 10.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and three pass breakups.

The Defending Champion Has No Returning All-Americans

South Carolina State ties for the most selections on the 2026 team without a single returning honoree. Smith, Reddick, Barker, Chisolm and Franklin are all first-time BOXTOROW All-Americans. Jackson State, with three selections, and Alcorn State, with two, are in the same position.

Eight players on the 30-man team carry the 2025 All-American designation. Alabama State holds three. The remaining five are spread one apiece across Prairie View A&M, Johnson C. Smith, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Virginia Union and North Carolina A&T.

Three Ties Pushed the Roster to 30

The standard BOXTOROW formation is 11 offensive players, 11 defensive players and five specialists. Voting ties in three position groups expanded the 2026 team to 30.

Offensive line: six selections instead of five, with Jackson State’s Quaveon Davis and Bethune-Cookman’s Christian Loving splitting the final spot.

Wide receiver: three instead of two, with Kentucky State’s Darius Cyprian and North Carolina Central’s Chance Peterson splitting the final spot.

Defensive line: five instead of four, in a three-way tie among Ka’Von Chisolm, Albany State’s Derrick Drayton and Alcorn State’s Eric Thomas Jr.

Seven of the 30 selections arrived on tie votes, all of them in the trenches or at receiver. That is a measure of how tightly the voting pool clustered at those positions.

How the Conferences Broke Down

The SWAC led all conferences with 17 of the 30 selections, or roughly 57 percent, and placed seven of its 12 football programs on the team: Alabama State, Prairie View A&M, Jackson State, Alcorn State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Alabama A&M and Bethune-Cookman.

The MEAC had seven selections from three schools -- South Carolina State, Delaware State and North Carolina Central. The CIAA placed three from Johnson C. Smith and Virginia Union.

The SIAC placed two, one each from Albany State and Kentucky State. North Carolina A&T return specialist Elijah Kennedy is the lone selection from a program outside the four HBCU conferences.

Twenty-five of the 30 selections come from Division I FCS programs. The five Division II honorees are split between the CIAA and SIAC.

A Veteran Team With a Southern Pipeline

Nineteen of the 30 selections are seniors, redshirt seniors or graduate students. Six are juniors or redshirt juniors. Only five underclassmen made the team, and two of them -- Chisolm and Peterson -- needed a tie to get there.

Georgia produced six of the 30 honorees, the most of any state. Florida followed with five, Mississippi with four, and Texas and Alabama with three each. Twenty-one of the 30 come from five Southern states. The outliers are Baker from Arizona, Gucake from California, Alcorn State punter Demetrion Duvall from Ohio, and Virginia Union punt returner Zaire Tart from New Jersey.

The 2026 BOXTOROW HBCU Preseason All-America Team

OFFENSE

QB Andrew Body, Alabama State, r-Sr., Corpus Christi, Texas
RB Tyler Smith, South Carolina State, r-Sr., Gaffney, S.C.
RB Chase Bingmon, Prairie View A&M, r-Soph., Terrell, Texas
OL Elijah Baker, Alabama State, r-Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.
OL Jamari Mason, Johnson C. Smith, Sr., Carrollton, Ga.
OL Calvin McMillian, Prairie View A&M, Gr., Houston, Miss.
OL James Reddick II, South Carolina State, Gr., Fort Valley, Ga.
OL Quaveon Davis, Jackson State, Sr., Port St. Lucie, Fla.
OL Christian Loving, Bethune-Cookman, r-Sr., Hamilton, Ala.
TE Travon Jones, Prairie View A&M, Gr., Miami, Fla.
WR Nate Rembert, Jackson State, Gr., Wildwood, Fla.
WR Darius Cyprian, Kentucky State, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.
WR Chance Peterson, North Carolina Central, r-Soph., Wake Forest, N.C.

DEFENSE

DL Joshua Barker, South Carolina State, Sr., Kennesaw, Ga.
DL Malik Gucake, Prairie View A&M, Sr., Sacramento, Calif.
DL Ka’Von Chisolm, South Carolina State, r-Soph., Estill, S.C.
DL Derrick Drayton, Albany State, r-Sr., College Park, Ga.
DL Eric Thomas Jr., Alcorn State, Jr., Columbus, Miss.
LB Danarius Hilliard, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Sr., Hazlehurst, Miss.
LB Jordan Franklin, South Carolina State, r-Jr., Waynesboro, Ga.
LB Vincent Hill, Johnson C. Smith, r-Sr., Atlanta, Ga.
DB Ta’Shaun Sims, Alabama State, Jr., Chipley, Fla.
DB Eric Zachery, Prairie View A&M, Jr., Dallas, Texas
DB Wayne Favors, Delaware State, r-Sr., Miami, Fla.
DB Kam Sallis, Jackson State, r-Jr., Pickens, Miss.

SPECIALISTS

P Demetrion Duvall, Alcorn State, Jr., Akron, Ohio
PK David Faulk, Alabama A&M, Soph., Madison, Ala.
PR Zaire Tart, Virginia Union, Sr., Camden, N.J.
KR Nehemiah Hixon, Alabama State, Soph., Spanish Fort, Ala.
RS Elijah Kennedy, North Carolina A&T, Sr., High Point, N.C.

Key: Returning 2025 BOXTOROW All-Americans are Body, Baker, Sims, Mason, McMillian, Hilliard, Tart and Kennedy. Selections decided by tie are Davis, Loving, Cyprian, Peterson, Chisolm, Drayton and Thomas.

What Comes Next

The preseason team sets the terms for a season that opens Aug. 29 across the SWAC. South Carolina State carries the national title expectation with a roster of first-time honorees. Prairie View A&M defends a SWAC crown with the deepest offensive representation on the board. If those two meet again with a championship attached, this list doubles as the personnel sheet.

Kyle T. Mosley is the founder, managing editor, and chief reporter of HBCU Legends On SI. He covers HBCU athletics across the SWAC, MEAC, CIAA, SIAC, CAA, OVC, and independents, and serves as a voter on the 2026 BOXTOROW HBCU college football Preseason All-America team.

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