Chants’ Henderson honored as Big South’s best offensive player

De’Angelo Henderson hasn’t made a big deal about personal accolades this season, but as the news came out Tuesday that he had been voted the Big South’s Offensive Player of the Year, he admitted that particular honor indeed meant a lot to him.

The junior running back received 16 of 21 possible first-place votes from the league’s coaches and media and became the third straight Coastal Carolina player to win the conference’s top offensive honor, following former teammate Lorenzo Taliaferro in 2013 and quarterback Alex Ross last season.

The news came as no surprise with Henderson currently ranked eighth among all FCS players with 1,245 rushing yards, along with 343 receiving yards, 17 total touchdowns and an FCS-record streak of 25-straight games with a touchdown.

“It’s some good news. It’s something that you think about it – try not to think about but you do think about,” Henderson said after practice Tuesday. “It’s a blessing to receive an honor like that. I couldn’t do it without my teammates, of course, and the coaching staff calling the plays and putting the ball in my hands. Glory be to God. It’s an honor, it’s a blessing.”

In all, eight Chanticleers were recognized with first-team All-Big South honors Tuesday as the team prepared for its first-round FCS playoff game Saturday at Brooks Stadium against The Citadel.

Henderson, senior quarterback Alex Ross, junior wide receiver Bruce Mapp, junior offensive linemen Sam Ekwonike and Voghens Larrieux, junior defensive tackle Jabarai Bothwell, junior kicker Ryan Granger and junior kick returner Devin Brown were all first-teamers.

Brown was also named the Big South Special Teams Player of the Year after leading the league and ranking third in the FCS with an average of 30.4 yards per kickoff return – when teams actually challenged him, that is. After two kickoff return touchdowns in the first three games and five for his career (one shy of the FCS record), he received few opportunities to touch the ball on special teams the rest of the season as opponents gave up field position to avoid challenging him.

Ross, meanwhile, was named the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year while becoming the first player in Big South history to earn both that honor and a player of the year honor (which he received last season). In addition to a slew of program and conference records – including the league’s all-time mark for total offensive yards in a career (11,028) – Ross graduated cum laude last December and is on track to complete his M.B.A. with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average this December.

“I’m proud of that,” he said of the scholar-athlete award. “A lot of long nights in the library, a lot of long semesters this past year getting my Masters. So I’m very proud of it.”

Making the All-Big South second-team from Coastal Carolina were sophomore wide receiver Chris Jones, junior offensive lineman Chase Tidwell, senior defensive ends Roderick Holder and Calvin Hollenhorst, junior linebacker Alex Scearce and Jones again as a punt returner.

Rounding out the Big South’s top awards, Liberty defensive end Chima Uzowihe was voted Defensive Player of the Year, Charleston Southern linebacker Solomon Brown was voted Freshman of the Year and Charleston Southern’s Jamey Chadwell was crowned Big South Coach of the Year after leading the Buccaneers to the regular-season championship.

As for Henderson, he said Ross was the first one to let him know he won the top offensive award.

“Alex came and told me during a play before we started. I was like, ‘Dude, what are you talking about?’ He just said, ‘Congratulations.’ I was like, ‘Run the play.’ And then he told me after, and it hit me but it didn’t hit me. I was just ready to practice,” Henderson said. “Now it’s hit me and it’s pretty cool.”

Henderson, who is the fifth Chant to win the award, is also a finalist for the STATS National FCS Offensive Player of the Year honor and had a Big South-best seven 100-yard rushing games this fall as the only player in the league to average more than 100 rushing yards per game.

With a year of eligibility still remaining, Henderson has already broken Coastal Carolina’s career rushing record with 3,378 yards and ranks fourth on the Big South’s all-time list (just 255 yards from second place). He’s also fourth in conference history with 41 rushing touchdowns and is the league’s all-time leader among running backs with 671 receiving yards.

“I did some pretty good things, but I still have a lot of improvements to make. There’s some things that I feel like I could make better,” he said humbly.

Chants offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude, meanwhile, was a little more effusive in his praise of the running back.

“He’s everything that we stand for,” he said. “He works hard, he does a great job in the classroom, he’s level-headed, he’s really stepped up even over the last six weeks in terms of trying to be a great leader. Last week he got 11 carries or whatever, there was no moping, there was no second-guessing like the [running back] up at Ohio State. The kid’s an All-American candidate and he just [says], ‘Whatever they think is the best thing to do I’ll try to chip in any way I possibly can.’

“He’s going to graduate with two degrees. He’s never been an issue off the field. He’s just a pleasure to be around, he’s a positive kid, comes from a great family and this has really been something that he’s been building towards. And I’m thankful he’s got another year left – it makes me a lot better coach.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Chants’ Henderson honored as Big South’s best offensive player."