HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- Hampden-Sydney College senior safety and team captain Will Pickren (Mount Pleasant, SC) has been named to the 2023 Associated Press (AP) Division III All-America Second Team, as announced today by the AP. This is the second-straight year that Pickren has been named an AP All-American after earning First Team honors in 2022 when he became the program's first AP All-American since the non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City relaunched its Division III All-America Team selections in 2017.

Will started all 10 games this season and led the team with 99 total tackles, including 40 solo and 59 assisted, 3.5 tackles for loss (13 yards), one sack (8 yards), two interceptions (0 return yards), four pass breakups, one fumble recovery—returned 33 yards for a touchdown—one forced fumble and one blocked kick (punt). He had at least 10 tackles in six games, including a season-high 17 tackles vs. Bridgewater (9/30), finishing third in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) in tackles per game (9.9), fourth in total tackles and tied for seventh in interceptions. Pickren ranked 26th in NCAA Division III tackles per game. Will completed his outstanding collegiate career with 366 tackles (10.5)—a new school record for the program—including 162 solo and 204 assisted, 18 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, 22 passes defended, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two blocked kicks (PAT, punt)—starting 34 of 35 career games.

Pickren has garnered four All-America awards over the past two seasons, as he was recently named to the 2023 D3football.com All-America Third Team, while a 2022 First Team AP Division III All-American and Second Team American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches' All-American—becoming one of the most decorated Tigers in program history. He has twice been named the State Small College Defensive Back of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Richmond (2023, 2021), is a three-time D3football.com All-Region 3 honoree (2021-23), including a two-time First Team selection (2022-23), and is a four-time First Team All-ODAC choice, just the second four-time First Team selection during the 24-year tenure of recently retired head coach Marty Favret. In addition, he was the ODAC Rookie of the Year and the Virginia Sports Information Directors' (VaSID) Defensive Rookie of the Year during an abbreviated five-game Spring 2021 schedule, after the traditional 2020 fall season was canceled due to COVID-19. Pickren is a three-time VaSID All-State First Team honoree and earned ODAC All-Academic Team honors for 2022-23.
 
2023 Associated Press (AP) Division III All-America Football Team
 

1st Team
OFFENSE	PLAYER	SCHOOL	YEAR	HOMETOWN
QB	Zac Boyes	Cortland	Jr.	Buffalo, N.Y.
RB	Giovanni Weeks	Wheaton (Ill.)	Sr.	Kent City, Mich.
RB	Joe Sacco	North Central (Ill.)	Jr.	Bartlett, Ill.
OL	Jeske Maples	North Central (Ill.)	Jr.	Moweaqua, Ill.
OL	Mike Bertoia	UW-La Crosse	Sr.	Lake Zurich, Ill.
OL	Jarod Thornton	North Central (Ill.)	Sr.	Homewood, Ill.
OL	Matthew Kickel	Aurora	Sr.	Bolingbrook, Ill.
OL	Cody Aikey	Cortland	Jr.	Canandaigua, N.Y.
TE	Alex Larson	Saint John's (Minn.)	Sr.	Woodbury, Minn.
WR	DeAngelo Hardy	North Central (Ill.)	Sr.	Lake Villa, Ill.
WR	Wayne Ruby	Mount Union	Sr.	Pembroke Pines, Fla.
WR	Cole Burgess	Cortland	Sr.	Greenwich, N.Y.
All-purpose player	Joey Lombardi	North Central (Ill.)	Sr.	Chicago, Ill.
K	Michael Stack	UW-La Crosse	So.	Oshkosh, Wis.
DEFENSE	PLAYER	SCHOOL	YEAR	HOMETOWN
DL	Justin Blazek	UW-Platteville	Sr.	Naperville, Ill.
DL	Luke Schuermann	Johns Hopkins	Sr.	St. Louis, Mo.
DL	Rossy Moore	Mount Union	Jr.	Lima, Ohio
DL	Anthony Cikauskas	Monmouth (Ill.)	So.	Oswego, Ill.
LB	Owen Grover	Wartburg	5th	Dyersville, Iowa
LB	Odin Soffredine	Alma	5th	Traverse City, Mich.
LB	Caleb Harmel	Trinity (Texas)	5th	Burton, Texas
DB	Parker Rochford	Wartburg	Jr.	Edgewood, Iowa
DB	K.J. Kelley	Howard Payne	Gr.	Abilene, Texas
DB	Derek Slywka	Ithaca	Gr.	Waterloo, N.Y.
DB	Egon Hein	UW-Whitewater	Sr.	St. Charles, Ill.
DB	Josh Jones	Mount Union	Sr.	Twinsburg, Ohio
P	Cameron Shirangi	Pomona-Pitzer	Sr.	San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
2nd team
OFFENSE	PLAYER	SCHOOL	YEAR	HOMETOWN
QB	Luke Lehnen	North Central (Ill.)	Jr.	Chatham, Ill.
RB	Hunter Clasen	Wartburg	5th	Springbrook, Iowa
RB	Brandon Cade	Berry	Jr.	Duluth, Ga.
OL	Ben Lilly	Mount Union	Sr.	Wadsworth, Ohio
OL	Vinny LePre	Grove City	5th	Pine Grove, Pa.
OL	Nehemiah Nixon	Randolph-Macon	Sr.	Garner, N.C.
OL	Alex Klecker	UW-River Falls	Sr.	River Falls, Wis.
OL	Justyn Lester	Endicott	Sr.	Tewksbury, Mass.
TE	James Nye	Muhlenberg	Sr.	Clinton, Conn.
WR	Collin Brunstein	Illinois College	Sr.	Jacksonville, Ill.
WR	Jake Breitbach	Gustavus Adolphus	Sr.	Golden Valley, Minn.
WR	Jack Studer	UW-La Crosse	Sr.	Eyota, Minn.
All-purpose player	James Mautino	Aurora	Sr.	Spring Valley, Ill.
K	Tyler Huettel	Trinity (Texas)	Jr.	McKinney, Texas
DEFENSE	PLAYER	SCHOOL	YEAR	HOMETOWN
DL	Jordan Downing	Wartburg	5th	Waverly, Iowa
DL	Ryan Bodolus	Ursinus	Sr.	Pottstown, Pa.
DL	Martin Egbo	North Central (Ill.)	Sr.	Coraopolis, Pa.
DL	Brian Pritt	Benedictine (Ill.)	Jr.	Chicago, Ill.
LB	Robert Coury	Carnegie Mellon	Sr.	Phillipsburg, N.J.
LB	Blake Rybar	Linfield	Sr.	Monroe, Wash.
LB	Jack Winey	Cortland	Jr.	Lindenhurst, N.Y.
DB	Raylens Boutin	Brockport	Sr.	Nyack, N.Y.
DB	Julian Bell	North Central (Ill.)	Sr.	Oswego, Ill.
DB	Dalton Tjong	Ohio Northern	Jr.	Cumming, Ga.
DB	Will Pickren	Hampden-Sydney	Sr.	Mount Pleasant, S.C.
DB	Jack Shaw	Coe	5th	Atkins, Iowa
P	Andrew Toler	Rose-Hulman	Sr.	Bidwell, Ohio
2023 Panelists: Ira Thor (New Jersey City; Chair); Mark Albanese (Pacific Lutheran), Ashley Birchmeier (Hanover), Phil de Montmollin (Brevard), Kim DeRitter (Kean), Lindsay Dietmeier (Wisconsin-Platteville), Tristan Durgin (U. of New England), Fran Elia (Cortland), Ryan Emerson (Dean), Mark Fisher (Carnegie Mellon), Joe Flaherty (Central (Iowa)), Lance Franey (Redlands), Tim Glon (Ohio Northern), Chad Grubbs (Hardin-Simmons), Brent Harris (Wabash), Geoff Henson (Olivet), Sean King (Allegheny), Brian Kipley (Aurora), Ryan Klinkner (Saint John's (Minn.)), Ernie Larossa (Johns Hopkins), Justin Lutes (Ithaca), Kathy Lynch (Framingham State), Brian Magoffin (Springfield), Brett Marhanka (Wheaton (Ill.), Maxx McNall (Wesleyan), J.J. Nekoloff (Old Dominion Athletic Conference), John Painter (Maryville (Tenn.)), Justin Parker (Trinity (Texas)), Brock Reisler (Ripon), BJ Schneck (Greenville), Clark Teuscher (North Central), James Wagner (Stevenson).
In Memory of Michael Scala (1970-2022), Montclair State University and AP All-America voter (2017-2021), and Lenny Reich (1973-2022) of Mount Union