Highlight Hoos 2021-2022: Dontayvion Wicks | UVA Football

Wicks' breakout sophomore season was the best of an elite Virginia receiving corps in 2021

Dontayvion Wicks was the best of an elite UVA receiving corps in 2021 :: Courtesy of Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

With the 2021-2022 Virginia athletics season officially completed, we enter the college sports offseason optimistic for things to come for the Cavaliers next season. But with the fall seasons still a couple of months away, we have time to take a look back at some of the incredible athletic accomplishments achieved by UVA student athletes during the 2021-2022 sports year in a series called Highlight Hoos.

So far, we've covered Diana Ordóñez (Virginia women's soccer), Mia Barnett (Virginia cross country and track & field), Leo Afonso (Virginia men's soccer), Brooklyn Borum (Virginia volleyball), Amber Ezechiels (Virginia field hockey), and Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass (Virginia swimming). 

Today, we look at the breakout sophomore season of Dontayvion Wicks, who was the best of an elite Virginia receiving corps in 2021. 

The first two years of Wicks' career at UVA were frustrating. After waiting his turn on the depth chart as a freshman in 2019, he suffered a season-ending injury in preseason camp in 2020. When he finally returned to the field as a starter last fall, Wicks proved that he was worth the wait. 

With Brennan Armstrong slinging the ball, the Cavaliers boasted one of the top batch of receivers in all of college football, but Wicks was the best of the bunch. He shattered the Virginia single-season receiving record with 1,203 yards, surpassing Herman Moore's record of 1,190 receiving yards set in 1990. That feat is even more impressive when you consider the number of talented targets Armstrong had to choose from like Keytaon Thompson, Jelani Woods, Ra'Shaun Henry, and Billy Kemp. 

Wicks finished with nine touchdown grabs and 57 receptions and averaged 21.1 yards per catch, the best mark in the ACC and fifth-most in all of college football. He became just the second Cavalier receiver to have three-consecutive 100-yard receiving games, joining Germane Crowell (1997). Named the ACC Wide Receiver of the Week in back-to-back weeks, Wicks was voted to the All-ACC First Team at the end of the season. He was also an honorable mention on Pro Football Network's All-America Team. 

Wicks had a number of highlight receptions last season, but none more memorable than his spectacular acrobatic touchdown catch against Miami:

With both Dontayvion Wicks and Brennan Armstrong returning this season, UVA fans can expect this duo to connect plenty more this fall at Scott Stadium. 

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