BATON ROUGE, La. – Two ULM football players were recognized on the 2024 All-Louisiana College Football Team which was revealed on Thursday (Jan. 2) by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
True freshman running back Ahmad Hardy was voted Louisiana Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the First Team Offense while junior defensive back Wydett Williams Jr. garnered All-Louisiana First Team Defense accolades.
Hardy was named the top freshman in Louisiana after receiving 2024 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year honors. The freshman tailback rushed for 1,351 yards, which was the 10th highest in the country and fourth highest of all group of five running backs. Hardy eclipsed the 200-yard rushing mark twice this season and scored 13 touchdowns, which was the second-highest season total in ULM football history.
Williams Jr. was ULM's top tackler and made 100 stops in his first season as a Warhawk, finishing within the top 10 of the SBC tackles leaderboard. The Lake Providence, La., native snagged three interceptions and recovered two fumbles while adding 4.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, one forced fumble, one sack and a blocked kick.
Hardy edged Tulane's Darian Mensah and LSU's Caden Durham for Freshman of the Year, winning the vote 14-9-5. Williams Jr. received nine votes for Newcomer of the Year, two behind Tulane's Mario Williams, who won the honor. Bryant Vincent earned three votes for Louisiana's Coach of the Year. Michael Desormeaux of the Ragin' Cajuns was named Coach of the Year while LSU's Garrett Nussmeier collected Offensive Player of the Year. His teammate Whit Weeks won Defensive Player of the Year to round out the top honors.
The team was chosen by a group of voters from state media relations and communications office and selected media based on nominations made by each University. School media relations voters could not vote for players from their own schools.
LSWA ALL-LOUISIANA TEAM
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
POS/NAME/SCHOOL/CL/HOMETOWN/NOTES
OL/Landon Burton/Louisiana/Sr./Lafayette, La./First Team All-SBC
OL/Will Campbell/LSU/Jr./Monroe, La./First-Team AP, Walter Camp, AFCA All-America
OL/AJ Gillie/Louisiana/Sr./Natchitoches, La./First Team All-SBC, HM All-America (CFN)
OL/Shadre Hurst/Tulane/So./Cartersville, Ga./First Team All-AAC, HM All-America (CFN)
OL/Evan Roussel/Nicholls/Sr./Lutcher, La./SLC OL of Year, Second Team AP FCS A-A
TE/Terrance Carter/Louisiana/So./Killeen, Texas/First Team All-SBC; 48 rec., 4 TDs
WR/Tru Edwards/Louisiana Tech/Sr./Shreveport, La./First Team All-CUSA; 77 rec., 897 yds, 6 TDs
WR/Kyren Lacy/LSU/Sr./Thibodaux, La./Second Team All-SEC; 58 rec., 866 yds, 9 TDs
RB/Ahmad Hardy/ULM/Fr./Monticello, Miss./SBC Freshman of Year; 1,351 rush yds, 13 TDs
RB/Makhi Hughes/Tulane/So./Birmingham, Ala./AAC RB of Year; HM A-A (CFN); 1,372 yds, 13 TDs
QB/Garrett Nussmeier/LSU/Jr./Lake Charles, La./3,735 pass yards; 26 TDs; 3 rushing TDs
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
POS/NAME/SCHOOL/CL/HOMETOWN/NOTES
DL/David Blay/LA Tech/Jr./Levittown, Pa./First Team All-CUSA; 46 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 6.5 sacks
DL/Ckelby Givens/Southern/Jr./Shreveport, La./SWAC Co-Def. POY; Buchanan Award finalist; 28.5 TFL
DL/Patrick Jenkins/Tulane/Sr./New Orleans, La./First Team All-AAC; 30 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks
DL/Jordan Lawson/Louisiana/Jr./Brandon, Miss./Second Team All-SBC; 38 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 5.5 sacks
LB/Andrew Jones/Grambling/Jr./Marrero, La./SWAC Co-Def. POY; Buchanan Award finalist; 20.5 TFL
LB/K.C. Ossai/Louisiana/Sr./Conroe, Texas/First-Team All-SBC; 110 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 INT
LB/Whit Weeks/LSU/So./Watkinsville, Ga./First Team All-SEC; 119 tackles, 10.0 FGL, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT
DB/Keydrain Calligan/Southeastern/Sr./New Iberia, La./All-SLC; 39 tackles, 1 INT
DB/Tyrone Lewis/Louisiana/Sr./Hammond, La./Second Team All-SBC; 2.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 4 INT, 1 FR
DB/Keyon Martin/Louisiana/Sr./Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Second Team All-SBC; 50 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 INT
DB/Wydett Williams/ULM/Jr./Lake Providence, La./Third Team All-SBC; 100 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 2 FR, 3 INT
FIRST TEAM SPECIALISTS
P/Finn Lappin/McNeese/Fr./Melbourne, Australia/All-SLC 1st Team; 46.1 avg; 21 punts 50+; long 60+
K/Kenneth Almendares/Louisiana/Sr./Clute, Texas/Lou Groza Winner, First-Team A-A; 1st FBS 27 FGs
RS (tie)/Darius Lewis/Southeastern/Sr./New Orleans, La./First Team All-SLC; FCS leader 18.5 yds per punt ret.
RS (tie)/Rayshawn Pleasant/Tulane/So./West Monroe, La./Second Team All-ACC specialist, 2 KR TDs
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
Vote – Nussmeier 10.5; Ben Wooldridge (UL) 8.5; Makhi Hughes (TU) 8; Ahmad Hardy (ULM) 1; no vote 1
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Whit Weeks, LSU
Vote – Weeks 14, Andrew Jones (GSU) 5, Eli Ennis (Nich) 3, K.C. Ossai (UL) 3, Tyler Grubbs (TU) 2, Ckleby Givens (SU) 1, no vote 1
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Ahmad Hardy, ULM
Vote – Hardy 14, Darian Mensah (TU) 9, Caden Durham (LSU) 5; no vote 1
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Mario Williams, Tulane
Vote – M. Williams 11; Wydett Williams (ULM) 9; Warren Peeples (SLU) 6; Vincent Paige (SU) 2; no vote 1
COACH OF THE YEAR – Michael Desormeaux, Louisiana
Vote – Desormeaux 14; Jon Sumrall (TU) 7; Terrance Graves (SU) 4; Bryant Vincent (ULM) 3; no vote 1
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
OL – Derrick Graham, Tulane (Jr., Lake Minneola, Fla.); Emery Jones, LSU (Jr., Baton Rouge, La.); Cole LeClair, McNeese (Sr., Middleburg, Fla.); Josh Remetich, Tulane (Sr., New Orleans, La.); Brockhim Wicks, Southeastern (Sr., Plaquemine, La.).
TE – Mason Taylor, LSU (Jr., Plantation, Fla.)
WR – Darius Lewis, Southeastern (Sr., New Orleans, La.); Mario Williams, Tulane (Sr., Tampa, Fla.)
RB – Joshon Barbie, McNeese (So., New Orleans, La.); Daylon Charles, La. Christian (Sr., Gueydan, La.); Collin Guggenheim, Nicholls (Sr., Kenner, La.)
QB – Ben Wooldridge, Louisiana (Sr., Pleasanton, Ca.
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL – Logan Brimmer, La. Christian (Sr., Boutte, La.); Savion Jones, LSU (Sr., Vacherie, La.); Rasheed Lovelace, Nicholls (So., Pensacola, Fla.); Warren Peeples, Southeastern (Sr., Stone Mountain, Ga.)
LB – Eli Ennis, Nicholls (Jr. Ohatchee, Ala.); Blake Gotcher, Northwestern State (Sr., Little Elm, Texas); Bradyn Swinson, LSU (Sr., Douglasville, Ga.)
DB – Zy Alexander, LSU (Sr., Loreauville, La.); Bailey Despanie, Tulane (Jr., Lafayette, La.); Khamron Ford, Southeastern (Sr., Olive Branch, Miss.); Yusef Leak, McNeese (Sr., Orlando, Fla.); Tyree Skipper, Louisiana (Jr., New Orleans, La.); Jacob Wilson, Centenary (Fr., Shreveport, La.)
SECOND TEAM SPECIALISTS
P – Alex Mahler, Southeastern (So., Vacherie, La.)
K -- Damian Ramos, LSU (Jr., Baltimore, Md.)
