CHARLESTON – The 2025 FCS Punter of the Year Preseason Watch List was announced on Friday Afternoon. Charleston Southern's Gilbert Brown was named to the list after being a semifinalist for the award a season ago.
 
 The listing of the top 11 players at the position are on the list with them representing all places across the country. Brown is the only representative from the OVC / Big South Football Association on the list. This list was compiled based on the 2024 FCS Punter of the Year semifinalists, 2024 All-Americans, and All-Conference selections, and 2025 Preseason All-American and Preseason All-Conference selections.
 
The FCS Punter of the Year Award winner will be determined by the FCS Punter of the Year Award national voting body, which consists of FCS sports information directors and national sports writers.
Brown is coming off a season where he was named the League Special Teams Player of the Year and First-Team All-Conference. He ranked sixth nationally in punting at 46.0 yards per punt. He finished the year with 65 punts on the season. He had a long of 74 yards to rank as the second-longest in school history, 23 punts that went 50 yards or longer and 20 that were downed inside the 20-yard line with only eight touchbacks. Brown had an average of 61.0 yards/punt in four attempts against Tennessee State (Sept. 28), a mark that ranked first nationally and broke the CSU, Big South and Ohio Valley records.
 
2025 FCS Punter of the Year Preseason Watchlist
Ben D'Aquila, Northern Arizona
Brendon Kilpatrick, Youngstown State
Gilbert Brown, Charleston Southern
Jacob Baker, Eastern Kentucky
James Platte, The Citadel
Jeff Yurk, Elon
John McConnell, Mercer
Johnny Schifano, Grambling State
Shane Messenger, Morgan State
Thomas O'Hara, Murray State
Will Haslett, Fordham 
 
About the FCS Punter of the Year Award
The Augusta Sports Council, also home to the Ray Guy Award (awarded to the best collegiate punter in the FBS), created the FCS Punter of the Year Award in 2019 to honor the best collegiate punter playing in the FCS. Among the statistics used to identify the winner is net punting average, percentage of punts inside the 20-yard line, and percentage of punts not returned, with particular emphasis placed on net punting average. The winner must display team leadership, self-discipline and have a positive impact on the team's success.

About the Augusta Sports Council
The Augusta Sports Council (ASC) supports the many facets of local, national, and international sporting events that contribute to our community's quality of life and economic development. To learn more, visit www.augustasportscouncil.org.