Sylla Named Don Hansen All-American
Findlay, Ohio – Four months after the Oilers played their final game, the Don Hansen Football Committee has released their selections for the 2017 Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America Team.
Senior running back Daouda Sylla was the lone player for the Oilers, who finished the year ranked no. 22 in the country, to make the list, earning a spot on the third team. Sylla, a first team all-conference pick and Harlon Hill nominee, carried the ball 243 times for 1,554 yards and scored 19 touchdowns this season, both the fifth-best single-season marks in school history. The Ypsilanti, Mich. native led the G-MAC in attempts, yards, yards per carry, and touchdowns. He was a major factor in the Oilers playoff win over no. 2 Shepherd when he rushed for 205 yards on 33 carries.
Sylla joins Chris Reaper as the only players to earn a spot on the Don Hansen All-America team. Reaper earned first team in 2015.
The Don Hansen team carries out the legacy of long-time small college football advocate Don Hansen, who passed away at age 75 on Aug. 29, 2010. Hansen, from Brookfield, Ill., started and published Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette for three decades, selecting NCAA Division II All-America teams for the first time in 1988. Don Hansen's Football Gazette began selecting Division II All-Region squads in 2003.