NEW HAVEN, Connecticut — BYU kick returner Keelan Marion was named to the prestigious 2024 Walter Camp All-America First Team as part of the Home Depot ESPN College Football Awards Show on Thursday evening.
A total of 25 players, from 22 different schools were selected to the first team of the 135th edition of the Walter Camp All-America Team by the Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and college sports communicators. Marion joins Travis Hunter of Colorado and Wyatt Milum of West Virginia as Big 12 Conference representatives on the first team.
A junior from Atlanta, Georgia, Marion has previously earned All-America recognition from CBS Sports, College Football Network and Pro Football Focus. He is also one of three finalists for the Jet Award, which honors the premier return specialist in college football.
Marion is the FBS co-leader in kick-return touchdowns with two and is 12th nationally in yards per return at 26.2. He has returned 18 kickoffs for 472 yards. Following his 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Utah, Marion was named the Jet Award return specialist of the week on Nov. 11. His other kick return for a touchdown was for 100 yards against Wyoming in week three of the season.
In addition, Marion has 23 catches for 340 yards and a score in 2024, averaging 14.8 yards per reception as a receiver. He also has added 18 carries for 95 yards and two additional touchdowns.
Marion becomes the ninth Cougar to be a Walter Camp All-America First Team selection by the nation’s oldest All-America team. He joins Marc Wilson (1979), Gordon Hudson (1982 and 1983), Steve Young (1983), Ty Detmer (1990), Chris Smith (1990), Luke Staley (2001), Dennis Pitta (2009) and Brady Christensen (2020).
Walter Camp, considered the “Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. The Walter Camp Football Foundation—a New Haven-based all-volunteer group—was founded in 1967 to continue the annual tradition of selecting an All-America team. The Walter Camp Football Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards.
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
WR Travis Hunter, Colorado 6-1 185 Junior Suwanee, GA
WR Nick Nash, San Jose State 6-3 195 Senior Irvine, CA
TE Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green 6-4 230 Junior Canton, OH
OL Will Campbell, LSU 6-6 323 Junior Monroe, LA
OL Wyatt Milum, West Virginia 6-6 317 Senior Kenova, WV
OL Kelvin Banks, Jr, Texas 6-4 320 Junior Humble, TX
OL Addison West, Western Michigan 6-3 305 Senior Cary, IL
C Seth McLaughlin, Ohio State 6-4 305 Grad Buford, GA
QB Cam Ward, Miami 6-2 223 Senior West Columbia, TX
RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State 5-9 215 Junior Jacksonville, FL
RB Kaleb Johnson, Iowa 6-0 225 Junior Hamilton, OH
PK Kenneth Almendares, Louisiana 6-2 252 Senior Clute, TX
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL Kyle Kennard, South Carolina 6-5 254 Senior Atlanta, GA
DL Mason Graham, Michigan 6-3 320 Junior Mission Viejo, CA
DL Mike Green, Marshall 6-4 248 Soph. Williamsburg, VA
DL Abdul Carter, Penn State 6-3 252 Junior Philadelphia, PA
LB Jay Higgins, Iowa # 6-2 232 Senior Indianapolis, IN
LB Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma # 6-4 243 Senior Windermere, FL
LB Shaun Dolac, Buffalo 6-1 225 Grad West Seneca, NY
DB Nohl Williams, California 6-1 200 Senior Oxnard, CA
DB Travis Hunter, Colorado 6-1 185 Junior Suwanee, GA
DB Xavier Watts, Notre Dame* 6-0 203 Grad Omaha, NE
DB Caleb Downs, Ohio State 6-0 205 Soph. Hoschton, GA
P Alex Mastromanno, Florida State 6-1 241 Senior Melbourne, Australia
KR Keelan Marion, BYU 6-0 195 Junior Atlanta, GA
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona 6-5 212 Junior Waimanalo, HI
WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State 6-3 215 Fresh. Miami Gardens, FL
TE Tyler Warren, Penn State 6-6 261 Senior Mechanicsville, VA
OL Spencer Fano, Utah 6-5 304 Soph. Spanish Fork, UT
OL Willie Lampkin, North Carolina 5-11 290 Senior Lakeland, FL
OL Tyler Booker, Alabama 6-5 325 Junior New Haven, CT
OL Kage Casey, Boise State 6-5 316 Soph. Happy Valley, OR
C Leif Fautanu, Arizona State 6-2 315 Senior Honolulu, HI
QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon 6-0 200 Senior Mililani, HI
RB Omarion Hampton, North Carolina * 6-0 220 Junior Clayton, NC
RB Dylan Sampson, Tennessee 5-11 201 Junior Geismar, LA
PK Alex Raynor, Kentucky 6-0 185 Senior Kennesaw, GA
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL Nic Scourton, Texas A&M 6-4 285 Junior Bryan, TX
DL Walter Nolen, Ole Miss 6-3 305 Junior Powell, TN
DL Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College 6-2 247 Senior Williamstown, NJ
DL Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Viginia Tech 6-3 252 Senior Portsmouth, VA
LB Carson Schwesinger, UCLA 6-2 225 Junior Moorpark, CA
LB Anthony Hill Jr., Texas 6-3 235 Soph. Denton, TX
LB Jalon Walker, Georgia 6-2 245 Junior Salisbury, NC
DB Ra'Mello Dotson, Kansas 6-1 190 Senior Daytona Beach, FL
DB Malaki Starks, Georgia * 6-1 205 Junior Jefferson, GA
DB Will Johnson, Michigan 6-2 202 Junior Detroit, MI
DB Jahdae Barron, Texas 5-11 200 Senior Austin, TX
P Eddie Czaplicki, USC 6-1 207 Senior Charlotte, NC
KR Rayshawn Pleasant, Tulane 6-0 185 Soph. West Monroe, LA