Courtesy of North Carolina Central Athletics
WACO, Texas – North Carolina Central University junior Khalil Baker has been announced as a member of the 2022 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Coaches’ All-America Team, earning First Team distinction as a defensive back.
Baker (6-0, 185, Winston-Salem, N.C.) is the first NCCU Eagle to earn First Team All-America honors from the AFCA on the NCAA Division I-FCS level. Defensive back Bryan Mills (2019) and center Carl Jones (2016) received AFCA All-America Second Team recognition. When NCCU was competing as a Division II program, linebacker Tommy Dorsey (1996), quarterback Earl Harvey (1988), defensive end Charles Smith (1974), and lineman Doug Wilkerson (1968, 1969) were each presented with AFCA All-America First Team honors.
Baker ranked second in the conference with four interceptions, including a touchdown return in a road win over nationally-ranked New Hampshire in September. He topped the team with 61 tackles (43 solo), including 2.0 stops for a loss, while also recording five pass break-ups and recovering a fumble during his junior campaign. Baker is also fifth in the MEAC in passes defended with nine.
He capped his historic season by amassing 10 tackles in an overtime victory over Jackson State to earn the Cricket Celebration Bowl Defensive MVP award.
Among numerous honors, Baker was named the 2022 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, earned Associated Press FCS All-America First Team recognition, and was selected as the recipient of the inaugural Aeneas Williams Award winner, presented to the nation’s best defensive back in HBCU Division I college football on behalf of the award’s namesake, Aeneas Williams, and Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
AFCA Coaches’ All-America Team
Division I-FCS
2019 – Bryan Mills (DB) – 2nd Team
2016 – Carl Jones (C) – 2nd Team
Division II
1996 – Tommy Dorsey (LB) – 1st Team
1988 – Earl Harvey (QB) – 1st Team
1974 – Charles Smith (DE) – 1st Team
1969 – Doug Wilkerson (DT) – 1st Team
1968 – Doug Wilkerson (MG) – 1st Team
