July means a few things in the college football world. Conference media days are only a couple of weeks away. That of course means training camps open soon thereafter. Players are moving onto campus already and going through their “voluntary” workouts. And the pre-season awards and watch lists will start to become weekly news. The first one out of the gate has the Walter Camp Foundation tapping ACC players for its annual pre-season All-American team.
The Walter Camp Foundation gets dibs as the first of the major organizations to release its list because it is the oldest All-American team in the country, going back to 1889. It is also one of the five certified post-season All-American teams, (The FWAA, Associated Press, Coaches’ Association, and The Sporting News being the others).
This year’s Walter Camp pre-season All-American team has three ACC players on the first team.
Omarion Hampton; Running Back, North Carolina Tar Heels
Hampton made the post-season Walter Camp All-American team after the 2023 season. The third-year player from Clayton, NC finished last season with more than 1,500 yards rushing and nearly six yards per carry. He also had 15 rushing touchdowns. He was first or second-team All-American on the Walter Camp list, AP, Sporting News, CBS, and the Coaches’ Association.
Ashton Gillotte; Defensive Line, Louisville Cardinals
The senior enters his fourth year and started all 13 games for Louisville in 2023. He had 45 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks. Gillotte was a second-team Walter Camp All-American last year. He was also conference All-Academic and first-team All-ACC.
Alex Mastromanno; Punter, Florida State Seminoles
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Mastromanno was the punter and placekick holder in every FSU game in 2023. He averaged 45.5 yards per punt and was second-team All-ACC. Mastromanno was also the first punter in school history to be a finalist for the Ray Guy Award for the nation’s best punter. He was a Sporting News second-team All-American.
Other ACC players getting recognition from the Walter Camp pre-season All-American committee are:
2nd Team Offense
Bryson Nesbit; Tight end, North Carolina Tar Heels
Andrew Borregales; Placekicker, Miami Hurricanes
2nd Team Defense
Peter Woods; Defensive line, Clemson Tigers
Barrett Carter; Linebacker, Clemson Tigers
For those who don’t want to forget Notre Dame as a partial member of the ACC, there were some players for the Irish recognized by the Walter Camp Foundation.
The pre-season watch lists for the Maxwell Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Outland Trophy, and Jim Thorpe Award come later in July.
