BROOKEFIELD, Ill. – Augustana's Devon Jones has been named the 2023 Don Hansen NCAA Division II Special Teams Player of the Year. Jones, arguably the nation's best return specialist, highlighted four total All-America honors from the Don Hansen Team.
 
Along with Jones, Blake Larson was named First Team Offense at offensive line while Peyton Buckley and Avery Book earned Second Team honors. The four members helped lead Augustana to the NSIC Championship in 2023 as the Vikings tied a program record with 11 wins.
 
Jones, a senior wide receiver from San Diego, California, led the nation with his 19.3 return yards per punt while ranking second with a pair of touchdowns. He returned a touchdown in the season's opening game and never looked back while shattering the school record for punt return yards at 347 and surpassing the average return per punt by more than four yards.
 
In the season opener, Jones returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown to set the school record for longest punt return. The very next week, Jones did it again, this time 89 yards to reset his own school record.
 
Larson, a senior hailing from Brandon, South Dakota, concluded a career of 46 games played at Augustana by protecting a rushing attack that saw a running back eclipse 1,000 yards on the ground. He also held strong on the line that protected a quarterback that led the NSIC and ranked 16^th in the nation with passing efficiency. He started all 13 games at right tackle and has found himself on many draft boards of NFL programs.
 
Buckley, a junior from Rice Lake, Wisconsin, led Augustana with 78 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss. He recorded three interceptions, tallying 91 yards of return, and was credited with nine pass breakups giving him nearly a pass defended per game. He totaled a season-high 11 tackles in the win at Concordia-St. Paul, the same contest he forced a fumble. Of his 78 tackles, 57 were marked solo for the safety.
 
Book, a junior from Ironton, Ohio, reset the Augustana single-season punting records in 2023 with an average of 44.8 yards per punt. That concludes the season for Book ranking third in the country. He totaled 19 punts of 50-plus yards while pinning 14 inside the 20-yard line. He also recorded just seven touchbacks on 48 punts, showing superior accuracy when pinning the opposing offense inside the 20-yard line 14 times.
 
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.

Augustana 2023 All-America Honors

Avery Book
AFCA All-America, 2^nd Team
Don Hansen Division II All-America Team, 2^nd Team
 
Peyton Buckley
AFCA All-America, 2^nd Team
D2Football.com Elite 100
Associated Press Little All-America, 2^nd Team
D2CCA All-America, 2^nd Team
Don Hansen Division II All-America Team, 2^nd Team
 
Devon Jones
Don Hansen Division II All-America Team, 1^st Team
D2football.com Elite 100
D2CCA All-America, 2^nd Team
 
Blake Larson
AFCA All-America, 1^st Team
Don Hansen Division II All-America Team, 1^st Team
D2Football.com Elite 100
Associated Press Little All-America, 2^nd Team
D2CCA All-America, 2^nd Team