July 23, 2008

Four Wake Forest football players were named to the Preseason All-ACC team as selected by the media members attending the annual ACC Football Kickoff earlier this week at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Georgia.

The four include running back Josh Adams, linebacker Aaron Curry, cornerback Alphonso Smith and placekicker Sam Swank.

Wake Forest tied for the ACC lead with four selections. Clemson and Florida State each had four players selected as well.

Adams, a redshirt sophomore, was Wake's leading rusher in 2007 with 953 yards. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Year and earned second team Freshman All-America honors while rushing for over 100 yards three times.

Curry, a redshirt senior outside linebacker, was a second team All-ACC pick in 2007 after leading the nation with 256 interception return yards. He returned three interceptions for touchdown and led the Deacons with 13.5 tackles for loss. Curry was a two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Week selection as a junior.

Smith, a redshirt senior cornerback, was a first team All-ACC choice as a junior and also a second team All-American. Smith tied for the national lead with eight interceptions and returned three of those for touchdowns. He set a school record with a 100-yard interception return in a 31-24 overtime win over Maryland.

Swank, a redshirt senior, is already Wake Forest's career scoring leader with 286 points. Swank has been perfect on all 106 career PAT attempts and is the nation's active career leader with 60 field goals. A three-time semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, Swank is nine-of-12 lifetime in field goal attempts of 50 yards or longer.

Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper was selected as the Preseason ACC Player of the Year. Clemson running back James Davis was second. Adams was tied for fourth in player of the year voting with two votes while Curry received one vote.