BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – Rookie Dante Bowlding picked up Mountain East Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year laurels, while fellow newcomer Jai'Veon Smalls was crowned as the league's Offensive Freshman of the Year, to highlight a big day for the UNC Pembroke football team on Thursday.
 
Junior quarterback Josh Jones and senior defensive back/return specialist Devin Jones were lauded with first team all-MEC honors, while the Black & Gold sent a sextet of players to second team recognition, including senior Gage Baldwin (offensive line), juniors Joseph Early (running back) and Ben Jaramillo (defensive line), sophomores Trey Dixon (wide receiver) and Masanka Kanku (defensive line), and Smalls (wide receiver).
 
Junior Shammond Hicks (wide receiver) and Bowlding were lauded with honorable mention all-MEC honors. The honors marked the program's first-ever all-conference awards, as UNCP competed for the first time as an associate member of the MEC in 2020-21
 
Bowlding, a Fayetteville native and Terry Sanford High School product, amassed 14 tackles (12 solo) in his first season in the Black & Gold, while also logging one tackle for loss (-11 yards), one interception and a forced fumble. He tallied a pair of solo stops and forced a fumble in his collegiate debut against Glenville State, and tallied a season-high five stops on UNCP's road trip to Charleston (W.Va.).
 
Smalls led the Braves in both receiving yards (214) and receptions (20) in his rookie campaign, including a season-best 6-catch, 73-yard performance in the spring season finale against Frostburg State in Pembroke. The Richmond, Va., product logged two catches for 32 yards in his collegiate debut against Glenville State, and registered six catches in each of his last three outings of the abbreviated spring campaign.
 
Josh Jones threw for 1,194 yards and a dozen touchdowns on 94-of-142 (.662) passing with four interceptions. He earned MEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors after throwing for 350 yards and four touchdowns in the season-opening victory over Glenville State, while also tacking up three passing touchdowns against both West Virginia State and Frostburg State. Jones also ran for 86 yards during the spring season, including a career-best 64 rushing yards (15 carries) in the setback to Frostburg State.
 
Devin Jones, a first-team selection at both defensive back and return specialist, ranked third on the team with 17 tackles (13 solo), while also turning in one interception, five pass break-ups, a lone quarterback hurry and a blocked kick. He turned in a season-high four tackles in the season finale against Frostburg State, while logging a trio of stops, two pass break-ups and an interception in the spring opener with Glenville State. A special teams threat as well, he returned eight punts for 53 yards, while also logging 114 yards on 10 kickoff returns, including a season-long 45-yard return on the opening kickoff of UNCP's contest at Charleston.