GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T Aggies did not have the type of season it sought, but that does not mean the team was without its highlights. That was showcased on Tuesday when the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Football Conference released its postseason accolades. Four Aggies made one of the four all-conference teams released on Monday, including one first-teamer.
Senior Taymon Cooke was the one individual who earned first-team honors as a kickoff returner. Graduate right tackle Tairiq Stewart made the second team, and graduate linebacker BJ Turner and junior cornerback Karon Prunty earned third-team accolades.
"I would like to congratulate Taymon, Tairiq, BJ, and Karon on their selection to the CAA all-conference team," said A&T head coach Vincent Brown. "This is a tremendous honor to be recognized by the other coaches in the conference for their outstanding play this season. It is the result of the extraordinary hard work and dedication they demonstrated this season, and they all have a very bright future ahead of them."
Cooke shares the school record for kickoff returns for touchdowns with four. Cooke posted three kickoff returns for touchdowns in 2023, including an 80-yarder against N.C. Central (Sept. 9), a 94-yarder against Villanova (Oct. 7) and a 91-yarder against Richmond on Oct. 21. After his 91-yard return against the Spiders on Oct. 21, Cooke earned FedEx Ground FCS STATS National Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 23. On the same day, the CAA named him its special teams player of the week.
Cooke leads the nation in KOR for touchdowns. He is second in the nation and first in the CAA in yards per kickoff return (34.2). He also ranks 19th nationally in combined kickoff return yards (515). Cooke ended his career with 1,340 kickoff return yards on 48 kickoff returns to average 27.92 yards per kickoff return. He earned second-team All-Big South honors a year ago as a kickoff returner.
Stewart will seek NFL glory after three glorious seasons in Aggieland. Stewart is second-team All-CAA after earning first-team honors in the Big South last season. The Aggies had the sixth-best rushing offense in the conference, rushing for 156.7 yards per game. A year after playing 644 snaps and helping the Aggie offense rush for more than 2,000 yards, Stewart played more than 500 snaps this season.
Turner had his season cut short with an injury sustained at Hampton on Oct. 28. Before the injury, he was putting together a first-team all-conference season. Turner would have likely been the first Aggie in 10 years to record 100 or more tackles in a season had he not been injured.
Regardless, he still had an outstanding season in eight games played. Before the Aggies' season finale, Turner ranked as the conference's leader in solo tackles per game (7.1). He was third nationally. Turner was third in the conference in tackles for loss per game (1.5) and ranked 14th in the nation. His 10.8 tackles per game ranked him 11th nationally and second in the CAA. At the end of September, he jumped on the national season when he made 19 tackles, including 2.5 for loss and a pass breakup in the Aggies 28-26 win at Norfolk State.
He had another double-figure tackle game against Richmond on Oct. 21 with 13. Turner made program history on Oct. 2. The conference named him CAA co-defensive player of the week, becoming the first Aggie football player to win a CAA weekly superlative. Turner started his career in Charlotte playing for the 49ers. He finishes his collegiate career with 160 tackles, including 92 unassisted and 20 for loss.
Prunty completed his second season with the Aggies after transferring from Kansas University. He now has back-to-back all-conference accolades after earning first-team honors from the Big South last season. He is among the least-tested cornerbacks in the CAA because of his excellent coverage skills. Prunty still managed to break up five passes on the season. Thirty-five of Prunty's 43 tackles came in conference play. He proved to be an outstanding tackling corner, with 17 of his tackles coming within five yards of the line of scrimmage. He had a critical sack against Villanova on Oct. 7.
