The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its postseason honors on Tuesday afternoon. The league revealed its all-conference teams, while player of the year awards will be handed out on Wednesday.

Nine Pitt players earned All-ACC honors, which was second in the league behind only Clemson. Four players earned first team recognition, while three players made the second team, and two garnered third team status.

Headlining the first team on offense was Israel Abanikanda, the league's leading rusher for the 2022 season. Abanikanda rushed for 1,431 yards and posted 21 total touchdowns during the 2022 season. His 21 touchdowns leads the nation, and he is also second nationally in all purpose yardage.

Abanikanda stormed onto the national scene after producing a 320-yard and 6-touchdown game against Virginia Tech back in October. His rushing total against the Hokies broke a record previously held by Pitt's only Heisman winner, Tony Dorsett. Abanikanda's 20 rushing touchdowns is also the fourth highest total in Pitt single season history. He rushed for over 100 yards in nine of the 11 games he played in this season.

Paving the way for Abanikanda was a veteran offensive line anchored by Marcus Minor. The Pitt offensive line faced a multitude of injuries throughout the season, but the one constant was Minor.

Prior to the 2021 season Minor transferred to Pitt after three seasons at the University of Maryland. He has now started 25 of the team's 26 games over the past two years, missing one contest for injury last season. Minor helped produced one of the most prolific offenses in school history in 2021, and returned to help pave the way for Abanikanda's big season in 2022.

The Pitt defense ranks towards the top in the conference in nearly every major category, and naturally a few standout players led the way there. Calijah Kancey picked up first team All-ACC honors for the second straight season. Kancey posted 14.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks on the year. He had a dominant 3.5 sack performance against Virginia earlier this month.

Kancey is also finalist for the prestigious Outland and Nagurski awards and is very likely heading towards All-American honors after the season. Also collecting first team defensive honors was senior linebacker and captain SirVocea Dennis.

Dennis was a third team pick in 2020, second team last year, and worked his way to the top in 2022. It is a well earned honor after leading the Pitt defense with 94 tackles and 12 TFLs on the season. The Pitt defense ranks in the top 10 against the run and leads the country in sacks, and Dennis has a big hand in both. The senior linebacker has a career-high 7 sacks this season.

Jared Wayne, Erick Hallett, and MJ Devonshire all earned second team honors. Over the weekend, Wayne posted a career performance with 11 receptions for 199 yards and three touchdowns. He went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season and is only the 11th player in program history to reach that accomplishment.

Hallett has been a steady player in the Pitt secondary for the past two seasons. The senior safety has 47 tackles, but generating turnovers was the biggest strength for the Texas native in 2022.

Hallett has three interceptions, three fumble recoveries, and two forced fumbles on the year, as he seems to always find his way to the football.

Devonshire earned recognition for his play as a return man. He led the conference in punt return yardage and was the only player in the league to take a punt back for a touchdown this season. Devonshire also doubled as Pitt's starting cornerback, and recorded two pick-sixes on the season, in which he also showed off his speed.

Jake Kradel and Matt Gocanlves, two of Pitt's starting offensive linemen, earned third team honors. Kradel has started 30 games over the past three seasons, and has been valuable in his ability to play multiple positions. He has played as both right guard and center this season. As evidence to his versatility, Kradel earned honorable mention honors for his play as a center while placing on the third team as a guard.

Goncalves has also been valuable to this team for the same reason. He had been Pitt's sixth man of sorts the past two years on the line, but stepped in and started at both left and right tackle this season.

In addition to those nine, five players earned honorable mention:

- Deslin Alexandre DE

- MJ Devonshire DB

- Brandon Hill DB

- Jake Kradel C

- Marquis Williams DB