Inside The Panthers

Pitt RB Israel Abanikanda Comes Second in ACC Player of the Year Voting

The Pitt Panthers missed out on claiming back-to-back ACC Player of the Year awards.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt RB Israel Abanikanda Comes Second in ACC Player of the Year Voting
Pitt RB Israel Abanikanda Comes Second in ACC Player of the Year Voting /
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PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers running back Israel Abanikanda was the best running back in the ACC, according to all-conference team voting, but he missed out on Player of the Year honors. 

Pitt's star tailback finished second in voting for the ACC's highest honor. UNC's Drake Maye ran away with first place, garnering 46 of 74 possible votes. Abanikanda earned nine and his teammate, defensive tackle Calijah Kancey got one. 

Abanikanda also finished second in Offensive Player of the Year voting with the same tally of nine votes compared to Maye's 47. 

Maye was outstanding as the total offense leader of North Carolina's league-best offense. Abainkanda finished 12th in the ACC in total offense and all 11 players ahead of him were quarterbacks. He also finished the regular first in all-purpose yards despite playing one game less than five. of the six players behind him. 

Kancey's consolation prize for falling short of the Player of the Year award was Defensive Player of the Year honors. He edged out the runner-up, Louisville's Yassir Abdullah, by two votes. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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