Southern Miss Lands 4 Players on Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams, With One Catch

The Pro Football Network, covering sports across professional and college platforms, released its Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Teams. Four Southern Miss players made appearances on the list.

Members of Southern Miss' 2026 defensive squad lined up at Fall Training. | Josh House

When the Sun Belt Conference met for its Football Media Days in July, it came as somewhat of a shock that no Southern Miss players made the first, second, or third All-SBC teams. It's true that even this far in, with 70-plus new players, a lot is still unknown about the Golden Eagles as they head into the final week of fall camp. However, there is talent on this roster that most are overlooking.

The Pro Football Network is not one of those national media outlets completely dismissing Southern Miss, as it included four Golden Eagles on its Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams. However, none of the four made the First Team. Here is a look at the four players selected.

Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team: Luke Rogers (OL) and AJ Little (PR)

Luke Rogers among his fellow Golden Eagle offensive linemen during Southern Miss' fall camp. | Josh House

Luke Rogers is a redshirt junior who is one of the few starters with experience from the Will Hall years. In 2023, his freshman season, Rogers saw field time in the season opener against Alcorn State, but was redshirted. In 2024, Rogers played in nine of the season's games and started in the James Madison game, which the Golden Eagles dropped, 32-15. In 2025, under the leadership of head coach Charles Huff, Rogers only started in the Mississippi State season opener, but he still appeared in 12 games.

Rogers played high school ball at Brandon High School, helping guide the Bulldogs to the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) 6A State Championship in his senior season. Also in his senior season (2023), Rogers was named in the Top 5 of Inside Offensive Linemen in the state of Mississippi. Luke is the younger brother of Will Rogers, a record-setting quarterback at Mississippi State and also played at Washington.

Southern Miss transfer punt returner/wide receiver A.J. Little, who was named to the PFN All-SBC Third Team, makes a catch during 2026 Southern Miss fall camp. | Josh House

AJ Little is another redshirt junior, but, unlike Rogers, is new to Southern Miss. Last year, Little played wide receiver for the Chattanooga Mocs. He played in all 12 games of Chattanooga's 2025 season, catching 27 passes for 345 yards and nine touchdowns. He also returned nine punts for 123 yards and two touchdowns. His punt return yardage in 2025 ranked second in the FCS. In 2024, Little didn't see much field time, recording two catches for 12 yards and returning seven punts for 14 yards. 2023 was very similar.

Little is also a Mississippi native, from Noxubee County, where he helped lead the Neshoba Central Tigers to the 2022 MHSAA 3A State Championship. Despite falling to Raleigh, Little still contributed significantly to his team's success with seven receptions for 134 yards and four touchdowns in the game. His senior season overall resulted in 62 receptions for 1,168 yards and 20 touchdowns. Little's father, Anthony Little, Sr., was a noted basketball player at Meridian Community College.

Preseason All-Sun Belt Third Team: Kelby Hampton (CB) and Brock Roman (OL)

Southern Miss defensive back Kelby Hampton goes through drills during Saturday’s fall camp practice. | Josh House

Editor's Note: Shortly after the Pro Football Network released its selections, Broderick Roman, offensive lineman for the Golden Eagles who was named to the third team, medically retired from football. Therefore, we will not be listing Roman's profile in this article. We'd be interested in seeing how PFN would reevaluate its list with Roman retiring and Aloali'i Maui (OL), Greg Nunnery Jr. (OL) and Jameer Lewis (DL) all returning to the program after receiving a fifth year of NCAA eligibility.

Kelby Hampton is a sophomore cornerback, transferring into Hattiesburg from New Hampshire. While at New Hampshire in his freshman season (2025), Hampton recorded 26 tackles, with 16 being solo. He also racked up seven pass deflections and two interceptions, one against Albany and the second against Rhode Island. His game-best in tackles was six against both Villanova and Monmouth.

Hampton hails from Connecticut, where he played for Salisbury School in Salisbury, Connecticut. While playing for the Knights in his senior season (2024), Hampton accounted for 13 total tackles, with only one being an assisted tackle, one sack, and three interceptions.

Final Thoughts

Southern Miss' defensive line is working through drills at Fall Camp. | Josh House

Although the Golden Eagles didn't get any positive national media attention early, it's better late than never for Blake Anderson's squad. Although coaches and players will swear that preseason polls and predictions mean nothing, it has to be at least a little unnerving to know that nobody in your own conference believes in you.

Here at Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI, USM kicker Creighton Wilbanks was predicted to be the Sun Belt Conference's Special Teams Player of the Year, and the team overall was predicted to finish a few notches higher than what it was picked to finish in the SBC Coaches Poll. And so far through fall camp, the Golden Eagles have shown flashes of what we believed was there when we conducted our own poll.

Stay tuned for more Southern Miss football coverage throughout this next week as the Golden Eagles wrap up fall camp, which will culminate with a Fan Fest scrimmage at The Rock on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT.