HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University defensive lineman Kaleb Proctor was named a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award in an announcement from Stats Perform Tuesday.
 
Proctor is one of 30 finalists for the award, presented annually for the past three decades to the national defensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football. The award is named for the legendary defensive lineman who starred at Grambling before his Hall of Fame professional career.
 
Proctor is the fifth player in program history to be named a Buck Buchanan Award finalist, joining SLU Athletic Hall of Famers Robert Alford (2012), Isiah Corbett (2014) and Harlan Miller (2015), as well as former Lion Sione Teuhema (2017). The Buck Buchanan Award will be presented at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show.
 
The Oak Grove, Louisiana native is one of the leaders on and off the field for a Southeastern team that finished the regular season with a 9-1 record versus FCS opposition. Rated as the top FCS interior defensive lineman by PFF with a grade of 90.6 and 36 total pressures, Proctor has drawn all 32 NFL teams to the SLU campus this fall and is projected to be selected in next spring's NFL Draft.
 
Named a first team FCS Midseason All-American, Proctor leads the Southland Conference with eight sacks from his defensive tackle position, while also ranking fourth in the league with 12 tackles for loss. Five of his sacks and seven of his tackles for loss came versus Southland Conference competition. He also had two sacks and three tackles for loss at FBS then-No. 3/4 LSU.
 
Proctor is one of the anchors of a Southeastern defense that ranks among the FCS leaders in scoring defense (17.8, 12th), total defense (295.5, 9th), sacks per game (3.17, 7th), tackles for loss per game (7.3, 9th), first downs allowed (184, 5th) and third down conversion percentage defense (31.9, 12th). 
 
Proctor is one of two Southland Conference players on the finalist list. SFA linebacker Jaydon Southard joined Proctor on the list.
 
Southeastern is the No. 16 national seed in the NCAA FCS playoffs and will host Illinois State Saturday at noon in Strawberry Stadium for a first-round contest. The visiting Redbirds are also represented on the Buck Buchanan Award finalist list, as ISU junior linebacker Tye Niekamp is one of the 30 finalists.
 
Tickets for Saturday's game are available for purchase online at www.LionSports.net/tickets. SLU season ticket holders will have the opportunity to purchase their same seats through Tuesday at 4 p.m. Any tickets not reserved by season ticket holders by the Tuesday deadline will be made available to the general public.
 
The Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office is located in West Stadium. The ticket off will be open 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and Friday of this week.
 
Saturday's game will air on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, The Boss 97.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM).
 
2025 Buck Buchanan Award Finalists
Kaleb Proctor | DL | Southeastern | Sr. | 6-3 | 280
Sean Allison | LB | Drake | Sr. | 6-0 | 235
Luke Banbury | LB | William & Mary | Gr. | 6-2 | 230
Ty Bartrum | DB | Harvard | Sr. | 6-1 | 200
Lando Brown | DL | Southern Utah | Sr. | 5-11 | 215
Kimal Clark | DB | Indiana State | Sr. | 5-10 | 195
James Conway | LB | Fordham | Gr. | 6-2 | 235
Caden Dowler | DB | Montana State | Jr. | 6-0 | 205
Theron Gaines | DL | Tennessee Tech | Sr. | 6-1 | 237
Shane Hartzell | LB | Villanova | Sr. | 6-0 | 230
David Hoage | LB | West Georgia | Gr. | 6-3 | 250
Robert Holz | DL | Gardner-Webb | Sr. | 6-3 | 255
Erick Hunter | LB | Morgan State | Sr. | 6-4 | 220
Quincy Ivory | DL | Jackson State | Sr. | 6-3 | 239
Jalen Jones | DB | William & Mary | Sr. | 6-0 | 195
Abu Kamara | DB | Yale | Jr. | 6-1 | 208
Logan Kopp | LB | North Dakota State | Sr. | 6-1 | 221
Kasyus Kurns | DB | Tarleton State | Sr. | 5-10 | 170
Rashon Myles Jr. | LB | Abilene Christian | Jr. | 6-1 | 220
Tye Niekamp | LB | Illinois State | Jr. | 6-3 | 240
Tyler Ochojski | LB | Lehigh | Sr. | 6-2 | 230
A.J. Pena | LB | Rhode Island | Sr. | 6-2 | 243
Jacob Psyk | DL | UC Davis | Gr. | 6-3 | 265
Maximus Pulley | DB | Wofford | 5^th Year | 5-11 | 200
Nate Robinson Jr. | DB | Marist | SO. | 6-1 | 200
Jaydon Southard | LB | SFA | Sr. | 6-1 | 225
Jack Stoll | LB | Central Connecticut State | 6-0 | 230
Joshua Stoneking | DL | Furman | So. | 6-3 | 264
Jarod Washington | DB | South Carolina State | Sr. | 6-2 | 188
Andrew Zock | DL | Mercer | So. | 6-2 | 250
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on X, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and follow @lionupfootball on Instagram.
 
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics observes a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.