LAS VEGAS — Graduate defensive back Decobie Durant of South Carolina State was named 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) football Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced Tuesday.
Redshirt senior quarterback Juwan Carter of Norfolk State the 2021 MEAC Offensive Player of the Year, respectively.
The MEAC’s top football honors were bestowed upon the two stars during the 63rd Annual National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame Press Conference, which was aired live on ESPN3.
“These two young men represent the continuing legacy of stellar student-athletes that this conference has produced since its founding more than 50 years ago,” said MEAC Commissioner Dr. Dennis E. Thomas. “The work that they have done as both students in the classroom and athletes on the football field are a direct correlation to ideals taught by the institutions that they represent. So, congratulations are extended to them as they close out their college careers and take aim at what we know will be successful and productive lives.”
Durant (DB, 5-11, 180, Gr., Lamar, S.C.), considered one of the MEAC’s top pro prospects, earned MEAC Defensive Player of the Year following a final season that saw him accumulate 37 tackles, including 29 solo stops. He led the league in passes defended with 14 and tied for second in interceptions with three. Two of his interceptions came against nationally-ranked Clemson on Sept. 11.
Named a Preseason All-American and Preseason MEAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, Durant has two games left in his collegiate career: the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 18 in Atlanta, Ga., and the East/West Shrine Bowl on Feb. 3, 2022 in Las Vegas, for which he has accepted an invitation.
Durant was also named to the MEAC All-Academic Team earlier this fall.