Radcliff, Ky. — Rice FAME Group is proud to announce the 2022-2023 HBCU Makeda Excellence Awards honorees today, with Benedict Head Football Coach Chennis Berry being named HBCU Football Coach of the Year and defensive lineman Loobert Denelus named HBCU Football Player of the Year.
The awards honor athletes, coaches, bands, and band directors of Historically Black Colleges and Universities programs. Each honoree was selected by a majority of voting peer coaches and band directors from National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA), and United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) programs. In several cases, the voting was very close.
Berry guided Benedict to its first-ever Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in his second full season with the Tigers. Benedict went undefeated during the regular season, then easily defeated Tuskegee 58-21 in the SIAC Championship game. Benedict ranked as high as No. 7 in the AFCA D2 coaches’ poll. The program had never earned a national ranking in any season prior to 2022. The Tigers earned the top seed in the Super Region 2, a bye in the NCAA playoffs, its first-ever appearance in the playoffs, and finished the season with an 11-1 overall record. Benedict was named HBCU Division 2 National Champions by multiple HBCU media outlets. Coach Berry won the SIAC Coach of the Year and the AFCA Super Region 2 Coach of the Year awards. The team ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense, third in passing yards allowed, and seventh in total defense. 10 Benedict players earned All-SIAC team selections. Other player honors included three players named to various other All-American teams, including a first team selection for the first time in program history, two players named All-Region, and two players named Academic All-American. Under Berry’s leadership, the football team’s GPA improved significantly, and he helped increase athletic fundraising and donations, gaining new sponsors for the Chennis Berry Coach’s Show, the first-ever coach’s show in school history.
Denelus was 2022 SIAC Defensive Player of the Year. He finished with 51 total tackles, 14 sacks (-91 yds), 21 TFL (-100 yds), three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, returned one for a touchdown, one quarterback hurry, one blocked kick. He was named First Team All-American by American Football Coaches Association (the first Benedict player in school history named to the First Team). He also earned First Team Don Hansen All-American and BoxToRow HBCU All-American honors. He was selected to the D2 CCA Super Region 2 All-Region Team. He earned First Team Academic All-America Team honors, also the first Benedict football player to achieve that honor. He was a finalist for Blanchard-Rogers trophy, which honors South Carolina’s most outstanding college football player.
Nominees were submitted by athletic representatives of the 78 four-year HBCU athletic programs. Ballots were sent to those programs for head coaches to vote for their peers and athletes from their sport. Band directors were asked to vote for bands and nominated band directors. Only one voter from each institution per sport or band was allowed. Information was from institutional submission and/or conference websites.
The HBCU Makeda Excellence Awards is named after Queen Makeda, the famous Queen of Sheba. It is said that she is the richest woman ever and her wisdom was impressive enough to test King Solomon of the Hebrews. She was very instrumental in increasing his wealth so he could build the first Temple. Sources say that King Solomon allowed their son to take the Ark of the Covenant and it currently resides in Ethiopia.
Dillard University led with six honorees for the second consecutive year. Stillman College followed with four followed by Howard University and Lincoln University (MO) with three each. Benedict College and Norfolk State University had two each with Virginia Union and Xavier University of Louisiana rounding out the honorees with one each. A total of 21 people and one band were honored. This year’s honorees are:
Marching Band
Band: Stillman College Blue Pride Marching Band (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
Director: Robert Baxter III, Stillman College
Baseball
Coach: Trennis Grant, Dillard University
Athlete: Jorge Guerra, Dillard University
Football
Coach: Chennis Berry, Benedict
Athlete: Loobert Denelus, Benedict
Men’s Basketball
Coach: Kenneth Blakeney, Howard University
Athlete: Robert Osborne, Virginia Union University
Women’s Basketball
Coach: Larry Vickers, Norfolk State University
Athlete: Camille Downs, Norfolk State University
Men’s Cross Country
Coach: Nile Legania, Dillard University
Athlete: Devonte Williams, Dillard University
Women’s Cross Country
Coach: Nile Legania, Dillard University
Athlete: Rachel Jackson, Dillard University
Men’s Track & Field
Coach: Victor Thomas, Lincoln University of Missouri
Athlete: Reuben Nichols, Lincoln University of Missouri
Women’s Track & Field
Coach: David Oliver, Howard University
Athlete: Maria Diamond, Lincoln University of Missouri
Softball
Coach: Joel Penfield, Stillman College
Athlete: Lauren Haskins, Stillman College
Women’s Volleyball
Coach: Pat Kendrick, Xavier University of Louisiana
Athlete: Rya McKinnon, Howard University
Source: Benedict Athletics
