Virginia senior safety Jonas Sanker was named to the 2024 All-ACC Preseason Football Team, as announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Thursday afternoon. The team was selected by the same panel of 170 media members who voted for the ACC Football Preseason Poll, which predicted the Cavaliers to finish 16th in the conference standings this season.

Sanker received 73 total votes, third-most among the defensive players named to the All-ACC Preseason Team. See the full 2024 Preseason All-ACC Football Team below (note: votes in parenthesis).

2024 Preseason All-ACC Football Team
QB: Cam Ward, Miami (85)
RB: Omarion Hampton, North Carolina (114)
RB: Jaydn Ott, Cal (70)
WR: Kevin “KC” Concepcion, NC State (119)
WR: Xavier Restrepo, Miami (93)
WR: Elic Ayomanor, Stanford (42)
TE: Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse (48)
AP: Jaydn Ott, Cal (49)
OT: Darius Washington, Florida State (93)
OT: Blake Miller, Clemson (53)
OG: Willie Lampkin, North Carolina (64)
OG: Michael Gonzalez, Louisville (56)
C: Maurice Smith, Florida State (62)

DE: Ashton Gillotte, Louisville (52)
DE: Rueben Bain, Jr., Miami (49)
DT: Joshua Farmer, Florida State (75)
DT: Aeneas Peebles, Virginia Tech (64)
LB: Barrett Carter, Clemson (129)
LB: Francisco Mauigoa, Miami (72)
LB: Marlowe Wax, Syracuse (67)
CB: Dorian Strong, Virginia Tech (65)
CB: Aydan White, NC State (56)
S: Jonas Sanker, Virginia (73)
S: R.J. Mickens, Clemson (44)

PK: Andres Borregales, Miami (92)
P: Alex Mastromanno, Florida State (81)
SP: Brashard Smith, SMU (36)

12 of the conference’s 17 teams were represented with at least one player on the 27-member All-ACC Preseason Team. Led by quarterback Cam Ward, who was voted the 2024 ACC Preseason Player of the Year, Miami led all teams with five selections, while Florida State had four players named to the team, Clemson had three honorees, and six other teams had two players selected.

Sanker is coming off of an incredible 2023 campaign that saw him earn a First-Team All-ACC selection after leading his team in tackling with 107 stops, pass breakups with 11, and forced fumbles with three. He made at least seven tackles in 11 out of UVA’s 12 games and led the Cavaliers in tackling eight times.

Sanker has reeled in several preseason recognitions. In addition to earning Preseason All-ACC honors, Sanker was also named to the watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, presented annually to the National Defensive Player of the Year, and the Jim Thorpe Award, which honors the top defensive back in college football.

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EXCLUSIVE: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will announce Thursday that his state has surpassed a business-creation milestone he made a campaign pledge to meet.

After he was declared the victor in November 2021 against Democratic former Gov. Terence McAuliffe, Youngkin, a Republican, pledged to foster 10,000 new start-up businesses during his term.

“On day one, we’re going to jumpstart our jobs and reinvigorate the economy so it lifts up all Virginians,” Youngkin said at the time, having repeatedly declared since that “Virginia is open for business.” 

On Thursday, Youngkin said he achieved that goal in “record time.”

YOUNGKIN: EDUCATION IS THE ‘BEDROCK OF THE AMERICAN DREAM’

“Through our ‘Compete to Win’ strategy, we’ve reached this incredible milestone by driving innovation, fostering entrepreneurship, bolstering our talent pipeline, providing needed tax relief, and truly creating an environment where startups and businesses can thrive,” he said.

“Our efforts to bolster our business environment over the past two and a half years have earned Virginia the top state for business accolade. All startups should come to Virginia because we are fostering an environment of success.”

Youngkin will visit ZEBOX in Arlington later Thursday to commemorate the milestone. ZEBOX is a “startup accelerator” and “innovation hub,” the governor’s office said in a statement.

In response, Virginia Secretary of Commerce Caren Merrick said it is exciting to see so many innovators and entrepreneurs choose Virginia to launch their projects.

“I look forward to thousands more in the future,” Merrick said.

With Virginia being the rare state in which governors cannot be sequentially re-elected, that left the Falls Church businessman with only four years to meet the goal.

Youngkin said he is also proud to see CNBC name Virginia the top state for business in the country.

One recent ribbon-cutting took place not far from the governor’s office, as Youngkin joined Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham to open the Petersburg Pharma Campus, which houses several pharmaceutical manufacturers.

YOUNGKIN VETOES A SLEW OF VIRGINIA BILLS INCLUDING CONTRACEPTION ACCESS MEASURE

The Virginia State Capitol in Richmond was designed by Thomas Jefferson and its cornerstone was placed in 1785. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

On the other side of the state, Firefly Aerospace chose Virginia Spaceport Authority’s Wallops Island facility near Accomac earlier this summer as the launchpad for its Alpha launch vehicle. Wallops Island is also home to an active NASA site.

As early as 2022, Youngkin’s name was being floated as a potential Republican presidential candidate, though the governor has repeatedly stressed his focus remains on Virginia rather than any national political aspirations.

“They elected me to lead change. They elected me to lead Virginia forward. And that’s what we’re doing,” Youngkin told Fox News at the time.

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Welcome to Virginia sign on I-95 North leaving North Carolina.

Until Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, was ultimately selected by former President Trump, the political newcomer had also been floated as a potential vice presidential nominee.

Prior to venturing into politics, Youngkin himself had a successful career in the business sector, helming an executive position with the private equity firm Carlyle Group since 1995.

During his tenure there, he reportedly helped Carlyle lead a high-profile $12 billion revamp of John F. Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 1.

Football season is almost upon us.

As the season begins to get closer and closer and the calendar turns to August, Virginia Tech is now back on the practice field. The Hokies are a team that is getting a lot of attention going into 2024 and were picked 6th in the ACC preseason media poll that was released today. These are the most expectations that the program has faced in some time.

After Virginia Tech’s first day of Fall Camp, head coach Brent Pry met with the media and answered some questions. Here is everything that he had to say.

1. On his impressions for the first day of practice…

“Yeah let me tell you, the guys came out and worked really maturely, good energy, and I thought that it was a quality practice. I pointed out some thing that we need to do better on that side of the ball, but at the same time, even though it was good work, we gotta have a better day tomorrow and that was the last message that I sent to them.”

2. On what his goals are regarding the practice structure…

“Yeah, so we have like five or six three day mini camps and that is how we approach each one. It is three practices, three days of meetings, this is what we are trying to accomplish, these are the types of practices that we are going to have from an intensit standpoint. Lets worry about mini camp one as coaches and players right now and let’s go and win that.