CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame (OSHOF) and Jim Thorpe Association released the prestigious Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watch List, on Wednesday, July 31, which included five defensive backs from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
 
Established in 1986, the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award is presented to the nation's best defensive back in college football.
 
Representing the ACC on the preseason watch list are Shyheim Brown of Florida State, Quincy Riley of Louisville, Aydan White of NC State, Donovan McMillon of Pitt and Jonas Sanker of Virginia.
 
The complete 2024 preseason watch list includes 42 of the nation’s best defensive backs overall, representing nine conferences and one independent university. The preseason watch list is selected by a screening committee whose members compile a list of up to 50 players based on previous performance in NCAA Division I college football and preseason All-America lists. This list is not final, and players who have outstanding seasons may be added to the semifinalists and finalists lists as the season progresses.
 
Semifinalists will be announced on October 29, 2024. The three finalists will be announced on November 26, 2024, and are submitted to a national panel of over 250 sports writers, sportscasters, former players and coaches who vote to determine the winner of the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award. The winner will be announced on the ESPN live presentation of The Home Depot College Football Awards.
 
The official presentation of the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award takes place in Oklahoma City on February 4, 2025, following The Home Depot College Football Awards. The current winner and all former winners are invited each year to celebrate. Over 600 supporters attend the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Banquet each year, including many celebrities and dignitaries.
 
ACC Representatives on the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Watch List:
 
Name, School, Class, Position
Shyheim Brown, Florida State, Redshirt Junior, DB
Quincy Riley, Louisville, Redshirt Senior, DB
Aydan White, NC State, Senior, CB
Donovan McMillon, Pitt, Senior, DB
Jonas Sanker, Virginia, Senior, S
 
ACC Football Notes

• The ACC is the Conference of Quarterbacks, with the return of full-time starters Thomas Castellanos at Boston College, Cade Klubnik at Clemson, Grayson Loftis at Duke, Haynes King at Georgia Tech, Preston Stone at SMU, and Kyron Drones at Virginia Tech, and transfers DJ Uiagalelei at Florida State, Tyler Shough at Louisville, Cam Ward at Miami, Grayson McCall at NC State, and Kyle McCord at Syracuse among others.
  • ACC had 10 quarterbacks named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list, no other conference had more.
  • ACC has the top-ranked group of quarterback transfers in 2024 by CBS Sports.
  • 13 QBs in the league enter the 2024 season with over 20 career touchdown passes and 3,500 career passing yards.
  • Eight quarterbacks from ACC schools are projected to start Week 1 in the 2024 NFL season — 25 percent of NFL teams.
  • Since 2018, the ACC has had at least one quarterback drafted in the first round in five different drafts — the only conference to do that.
• The ACC’s non-conference schedule continues to be the most challenging in the country.
  • 27 games against Power 4 opponents, including Notre Dame, the most of any conference.
  • Nine non-conference games against teams ranked in the final 2023 Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the most of any conference.
  • 10 non-conference games against teams in ESPN’s 2024 Way-Too-Early Top 25, the most of any conference.
• ACC Features Elite Coaching Leadership
  • Six ACC head coaches were named to the 2024 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List, as announced by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and the Peach Bowl, no other conference had more.
  • Two of the three active coaches to win a national title reside in the ACC - Dabo Swinney led Clemson to national titles in 2016 and 2018. North Carolina’s Mack Brown won a national title at Texas in 2005.
• The 2024 ACC Football Championship Game will kick off in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About the Jim Thorpe Award
The first Jim Thorpe Award was presented in 1986 and is named after legendary athlete and Oklahoma Native, Jim Thorpe. It was conceived by former Oklahoma City talk show host, Ed Sossen, and former Jim Thorpe Association (now Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame) Executive Director, W. Lynne Draper, as a way to positively promote Oklahoma in a national light. The Paycom Jim Thorpe Award is universally accepted as one of the nation's top collegiate sports honors and is presented to individual athletes based on performance on the field, athletic ability and character. 

Paycom Software, Inc. (“Paycom”) (NYSE:PAYC), a leading provider of comprehensive, cloud-based human capital management software, and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame jointly announced (May of 2017) an exclusive sponsorship of the Jim Thorpe Award. As a result, the accolade is named the “Paycom Jim Thorpe Award.”
 
About the NCFAA
Founded in 1997, the National College Football Awards Association includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit NCFAA.org or follow on X at @NCFAA.
 
About the ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference, in its 72nd year and 18 members strong, stands as one of the most competitive and revered intercollegiate conferences in the nation. ACC members including Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest are dedicated to upholding the league's founding values of academic excellence, athletic competition at the highest level, and integrity. The ACC supports 28 NCAA sports, with 15 for women and 13 for men, and its member institutions span 12 states. In August 2019, the ACC and ESPN partnered to launch ACC Network (ACCN), a 24/7 national network exclusively devoted to ACC sports and original programming. For more information, visit theACC.com and follow the ACC on Instagram (@accsports), Twitter (@theACC) and Facebook (facebook.com/theACC).