Pitt's Calijah Kancey named 1st-team Walter Camp All-American

The honors keep coming for Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey.

The most recent arrived Thursday night when Kancey was named a first team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. The announcement was made during ESPN’s live telecast of The Home Depot College Football Awards.

The Walter Camp All-America Team was selected by the nation’s 131 FBS head coaches and sports information directors. It is college football’s oldest All-America squad, dating to 1889.

Kancey is the third Pitt defensive player in the past three seasons named first-team Walter Camp All-American, joining ends Patrick Jones II and Rashad Weaver (2020), both of whom are in the NFL.

Previously, Kancey was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a first team All-American by CBS Sports and Pro Football Focus. He also earned College Football Network’s National Defensive Tackle of the Year award.

During the season, Kancey, a Miami native, was one of the nation’s dominant defensive players — regardless of position. He recorded 31 tackles, 14½ for a loss and 7½ sacks in 11 games. Facing double-team blocking schemes on a regular basis, he averaged 1.32 TFLs per game to rank 16th nationally and first among interior defenders.

Kancey is part of a Pitt defense that leads the nation in sacks (a 3.75 per-game average), ranks seventh against the run (95.5) and 19th in fewest total yards allowed (319.7).

The Walter Camp All-America squad is one of five used in the NCAA’s selection of an annual college football consensus All-America team. The other All-American teams, which will be released in the next several days, are Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America and Sporting News.