ATLANTA, Ga.- The Southern intercollegiate Athletic Conference kicked off the 2024 football season on July 10 with the annual Media Day. The event was held at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame.
 
Representing SSU at the SIAC Media day was head football coach Aaron Kelton, wide receiver Da'Shun Mitchell, running back Joseph Hampton and defensive lineman Tony Rountree Jr.
 
A day before the event Savannah State's representatives was part of a contingent of each SIAC football playing institution to take part in a community service outreach to assist the less fortunate. The community service event was haled at the Berean Foodbank which is a part of Berean Outreach Ministry located in northwest Atlanta.

For Savannah State University, eight seems to be the magic number as eight Tigers were selected to the preseason all -conference team and SSU was picked to finished eighth in the preseason order of finish.

All nominations and votes were submitted by head coaches and sports information directors.

Being named to the preseason all-conference team were defensive back Deandre Creary, defensive back Ahlik Booker, defensive lineman Nathaniel Chisholm,  quarterback Jadon Adams, wide receiver Da'Shun Mitchell, running back Shamarcus Poole, punt returner Allie Brown and kickoff returner Joseph Hampton.

Creary was named to the First Team Defense while Booker and Chisholm were named to the Second Team Defense. Adams, Mitchell and Poole were named to the Second Team Offense while Brown and Hampton were named as Second Team Return Specialists.

Deandre Creary is coming off of a season where he was in on 33 stops (27 solo), two tackles for loss, three interceptions and seven pass breakups. His efforts on the field landed him a spot on the all-conference First Team in 2023. The Marietta, Georgia native had a season-high seven tackles (6 solo) against Benedict and two pass breakups against Albany State. Creary had interceptions against Southeastern, Edward Waters and Benedict and his tackle for loss came against Southeastern and Albany State.
 
After totaling just eight tackles during the 2022 season, Ahlik Booker had a much better campaign in 2024 with 32 tackles (22 solo) to go along with 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and one pass breakup. He had a season-high six tackles against Tuskegee.
 
Nathaniel Chisholm had his 2023 season cut short due to a season-ending injury but he did play in five games were he had seven tackles (five solo), five tackles for loss and three sacks. Against Albany State, he had three tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.
 
Jadon Adams led the team in passing and rushing last season. He ran the ball 115 times for 415 yards and five touchdowns while completing 124 of 251 passes for 1,526 yards and nine touchdowns and five interceptions.  The 6-foot-3 signal caller passed for 109 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 109 yards against Benedict.  He threw for over 200 yards twice last season with his best game coming against Edward Waters where he passed for 237 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Da'Shun Mitchell had a team-high 50 receptions for 750 yards and four touchdowns last season. The 6-foot-3 wide out finished the season strong with nine catches for 117 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Lane.
 
Shamarcus Poole, who is expected to be the Tigers workhorse in the backfield, played in nine games a year ago and produced 368 yards and three touchdowns on 84 carries.
 
Allie Brown's best game last season as a punt returner came against Lane when he had three returns for 82 yards, including a 37 yarder.
 
Joseph Hampton returned 26 kickoffs for 535 yards last year for an average of 20.58 yards per return. He had three returns for 83 yards against Clark Atlanta and his 41-yard return against Central State set up a scoring drive that resulted in a SSU field goal.

Albany State was predicted to finish first in the SIAC while Fort Valley State was selected to finish second followed by Miles, Tuskegee and Benedict, to round out the top five. Edward Waters was picked to finish sixth while Kentucky State was seventh, SSU was eight, Central State was ninth and Clark Atlanta was tenth, to round out the top ten. Filling out the predictions were Allen (11^th), Lane (12^th) and Morehouse (13^th).

Savannah State enters the 2024 campaign fresh after a 2023 season that was filled with ups and downs.

In a brief recap of last year, SSU started the season winning two of their first three games but closed out the year with a seven-game losing skid. Four of the losses were by seven points or less. In addition, the Tigers hung tough with a FCS opponent for more than three quarters. Six opponents finished the year with a .500 record or better and two of those advanced to post-season play with Benedict advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs while Fort Valley State participated in the Florida Beach Bowl.

The Tiger defensive unit ranked third in the SIAC in pass defense, allowing 196.1 yards per game.