Willis Named Sports Illustrated All-American

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami redshirt senior defensive tackle Gerald Willis III was recognized for his outstanding season with second-team All-America honors from Sports Illustrated, the publication announced Thursday.

A New Orleans native, Willis delivered a dominant final year with the Hurricanes en route to national honors.

Willis started all 12 games and finished with a career-high 59 total tackles, four sacks, one fumble recovery and a whopping 18.0 tackles for loss, the most by any defensive tackle in FBS.

A midseason addition the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s top defensive player, Willis posted five games with at least two tackles for loss and the led the ACC in the category.

Willis’ 18 tackles for loss were the most by a Hurricane since Jacksonville Jaguars’ Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell had 20.5 in 2006. Willis was named a midseason All-America by both ESPN and The Athletic.

Willis’ selection to the All-America Second Team by SI represents Miami’s second straight year with such an honor; safety Jaquan Johnson was named a second-team All-American by the publication last December.

To view the full Sports Illustrated All-America teams, click HERE.