Twelve Demon Deacons Earn a Spot on the 2024 All-ACC Academic Team

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh / Wake Forest Athletics

Twelve Demon Deacons Earn a Spot on the 2024 All-ACC Academic Team

2/12/2025 3:56:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Colin Thomas, Ryan Fessler and Travis Smith Jr. all earned the honor for the second time.

By: Dylan Shackelford

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A few months removed from winning its fourth ACC Championship in program history, 12 student-athletes on the Wake Forest men's soccer team were named to the All-ACC Academic Team, as announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon.

The 12 selections are the second-most in a single year and marks the third-straight year the team has had 11 or more selections. Additionally, this is the second ACC All-Academic Team selection for Colin Thomas, Ryan Fessler and Travis Smith Jr.

Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0-grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career.

In addition, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team's contests to be considered for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team.

Ryan Belal, Fr., Undeclared

Appeared in 19 matches with one start
Finished tied for second on the team in goals with four
Recorded his first-career goal, a game-winning strike in a 1-0 victory against Radford
Scored in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals against SMU and NCAA third round against Clemson, helping the Demon Deacons advance in both

Ryan Fessler, Sr., Communication

Appeared in 21 matches with six starts, recording 671 minutes of action
Recorded an assist on Wake Forest's fourth of five goals in a 5-1 victory over Virginia (Nov. 14) in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
Two-Time All-ACC Academic Selection
Four-time ACC Academic Honor Roll

Cooper Flax, Jr., Communication

2024 United Soccer Coaches Third-Team All-American
2024 United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-South Region
2024 ACC All-Tournament Team Selection
2024 All-ACC Second-Team Selection
2024 TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Players (No. 42)
Three-time All-ACC Academic Team Selection
Three-time ACC Academic Honor Roll
The only field player to start all 24 matches during the season, leading the Demon Deacons in points (19), goals (nine) shots (63) and shots on goal (26)
Logged the first multi-goal performance of his career with two goals in a 5-1 victory over Virginia
Became the first Deac to score in three consecutive matches since former teammate Roald Mitchell did so from Sept. 6-13, 2022

Daniel Krueger, Fr., Undeclared

2024 TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Freshman (No. 81)
ACC Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 22, 2024)
Appeared in 21 matches with 18 starts, recording a Wake Forest freshman-high 1,522 minutes of action
Scored the game-winning goal in a 4-1 victory over UNCW
Helped guide the Deacs to six clean sheets including four-straight from Oct. 1-Oct. 12

Nicolas Mancilla, Sr., Finance

Four-time ACC Academic Honor Roll
Played a career-high 15 matches with 313 minutes
Scored his first goal as a Demon Deacon in a 4-1 victory over UNCW
Logged an assist on the game-winning goal in a 1-0 result against Radford

Pariss Mitchell, Fr., Undeclared

Tied for No. 4 in program history for appearances by a freshman (24)
One of five Deacs to appear in all 24 matches during the 2024 season, recording four points on two assists and a goal
Recorded pair of assists in a 3-2 victory over Central Arkansas
Scored the game-tying goal at No. 21 UCF

Travis Smith Jr., So., Undeclared

Two-Time All-ACC Academic Team Selection
Appeared in 22 matches with 21 starts, recording 1,718 minutes of action
Scored his first-career goal, the game-winning strike in Wake Forest's 2-1 victory over Syracuse in the first round of the ACC Tournament
Played 90 or minutes nine times
Contributed to six Demon Deacon clean sheets

Amoni Thomas, Fr., Undeclared

Appeared in 20 matches with 13 starts with 1,310 minutes of action
Recorded three assists
Started four postseason matches including Wake Forest's ACC Tournament Championship against Clemson
Played every minute in a Sweet Sixteen victory over Clemson

Colin Thomas, Gr., Digital Marketing

Three-time ACC Academic Honor Roll
Two-time All-ACC Academic Selection
Appeared in 23 matches with 14 starts with 1,059 minutes
Recorded three points from one goal and one assist
Scored the game-winning goal in a 2-0 victory over ETSU

Joel Torbic, Fr., Undeclared

Appeared in 14 matches, recording 243 minutes of action
Tallied his first-career goal in a 5-1 victory over Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament
Logged his first assist in a Demon Deacon uniform on Wake Forest's game-winning goal against Maryland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament

Basit Umar, Jr., Communication

Appeared in 22 matches with 16 starts
recording 10 points from four goals and two assists
Led the Deacs with three-game-winning goals
Earned his first start against Syracuse and scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 result against the Orange
Scored the game-winning goal in Wake Forest's 1-0 victory over No. 12 NC State in the regular season finale
Tallied the winning strike in a 5-1 victory over Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament
Logged an assist on the winning goal in a 2-1 overtime result against defending National Champion Clemson in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament

Dylan Borso, Fr., Undeclared

Tied for No. 4 in program history for appearances by a freshman (24)
2024 TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Freshman (No. 5)
2024 ACC All-Freshman Team Selection
One of five Deacs to appear in all 24 matches during the 2024 season
Recorded a team-high four assists to go along with 12 points and four goals
Tallied an assist on Wake Forest's game-winning goal against Syracuse in the first round of the ACC Tournament
Recorded goals in NCAA Tournament victories against Maryland and Clemson, as his strike against the Tigers 67 seconds into overtime eliminated the defending National Champions