e40hunter

Football MSU Athletics Communications

Hunter Takes Aim at Buck Buchanan Award Glory

Hunter is primed to become one of the best linebackers in the FCS.

BALTIMORE, Md. (July 30, 2025) -- Morgan State linebacker Erick Hunter has been named to the 2025 Buck Buchanan Award Preseason Watch List, as announced Wednesday by Stats Perform. The prestigious award is presented annually to the top defensive player in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
 
Hunter is one of only two players from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) on the initial Watch List, along with North Carolina Central defensive back Malcolm Reed.
 
Last week, Hunter was among four MEAC players to earn 2025 Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America honors, being selected to the first team. He was also named preseason first-team All-American by FCS Football Central. Hunter was named MEAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and received a first-team preseason All-MEAC selection by the league's head coaches and sports information directors at the conference's media day at M&T Bank Stadium in downtown Baltimore on July 22.
 
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Despite missing most of the 2024 season, Hunter made a strong comeback in the final two games, ending the year with a standout performance against Howard that included seven tackles and one sack. Hunter, who ranks ninth on Morgan State's all-time tackles list with 196, has already proven himself as one of the top defenders in the FCS. In 2023, he earned BOXTOROW Impact Player of the Year honors, was named to the FCS Football Central All-American Third Team, received All-MEAC First Team honors, and was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award.
 
First awarded in 1995, the Buchanan Award has recognized players like Dexter Coakley from Appalachian State—the only SoCon player to win twice, in 1995 and 1996—Rashean Mathis, Jared Allen, and Arthur Moats.
 
The award, in its 31st season, is named after legendary defensive lineman Junious "Buck" Buchanan, who played at Grambling State and is part of the Hall of Fame. Past winners include Dexter Coakley, Rashean Mathis, Jared Allen, and last season's recipient, David Walker from Central Arkansas.
 
More players can be added to the watch list before a national media panel selects the winner after the regular season from a group of finalists.
 
All 13 FCS conferences are represented on the watch list, which includes seven past finalists. This season's recipient will be announced at the Stats Perform National Awards Presentation on January 3, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Also this season, the Walter Payton Award (FCS Offensive Player of the Year), Jerry Rice Award (FCS Freshman Player of the Year), Eddie Robinson Award (FCS Coach of the Year), HBCU National Player of the Year and Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be handed out at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Presentation.
 
For the complete Stats Perform FCS Buck Buchanan Award 2025 Preseason Watch List, click here.
 
Buck Buchanan Award: Complete history of the FCS defensive honor click here. 
 
Season tickets for the 2025 campaign are now available. Click here to purchase. 
 


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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.

 
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Players Mentioned

Erick Hunter

#40 Erick Hunter

LB
6' 4"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Erick Hunter

#40 Erick Hunter

6' 4"
Senior
LB