Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech senior wide receiver Cam Phillips has been named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List and senior kicker Joey Slye has been selected to the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List, the award’s respective committees announced Tuesday.
The Biletnikoff Award is presented to the most outstanding receiver in the nation while the Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to college football’s top community servant.
Phillips caught five touchdown passes last season and ranked second on the team with 76 receptions and 983 receiving yards, single season totals that rank second and third, respectively, in Tech history. The Laurel, Maryland native was named to ESPN’s All-Bowl team after catching six passes for 115 yards en route to earning MVP honors in the 2016 Belk Bowl.
Entering this season, Phillips ranks sixth in program history with 2,063 career receiving yards and is tied with Danny Coale for third all-time in career receptions with 165.
True to Virginia Tech’s spirit of Ut Prosim, Slye has been active in honoring his brother’s memory by working with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In 2014, Slye’s older brother, A.J., died at the age of 20 after a valiant 14-month battle with leukemia. In April, he hosted a fundraiser at Tech’s Indoor Practice Facility that coincided with a “Be The Match” event – a group that collects swabs of people’s cheeks of those possibly interested in donating bone marrow. The event aligned perfectly with Slye’s focus since many with leukemia or other blood cancers need bone marrow transplants.
Slye is also a nominee for the 2017 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, one of the most prestigious off-the-field honors in college football. College football's top community service honor awards student-athletes for their outstanding community service achievements and commitment to giving back.
The Stafford, Virginia native was named first-team All-ACC by the league’s coaches last season after finishing first in the ACC with 118 points among kickers and third with 20 field goals made. His six made field goals at Pitt on Oct. 27 tied a conference record and his 21 points were the most by a Hokies’ kicker in a single game. Slye led the nation with 73 touchbacks in 2017 and is also the ACC’s active career leader in field goals with 63.
2017 Virginia Tech Football Watch List Selections
LB Tremaine Edmunds: Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy, Butkus Award
WR Cam Phillips: Biletnikoff Award
K Joey Slye: All-State AFCA Good Works Team, Groza Award, Wuerffel Trophy
CB Greg Stroman: Jim Thorpe Award, Hornung Award