Duke football receiver Eli Pancol wins Brian Piccolo Award

Duke football wide receiver Eli Pancol has been given the Brian Piccolo Award, given to the most courageous football player in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The award has been given out each year in the ACC since 1970 in memory of Brian Piccolo, a running back for Wake Forest who was named the ACC Athlete of the Year in 1965.

After going undrafted in the 1965 NFL and AFL drafts, Piccolo went on to play for the Chicago Bears.

In 51 career games, Piccolo rushed for 927 yards and 4 touchdowns before his career was cut short due to a cancer diagnosis. Piccolo later passed away at age 26 from embryonal cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of germ cell testicular cancer.

Pancol is a graduate student and in his sixth year with the Blue Devils. He's dealt with several injuries throughout his career, limiting him in 2022 and 2023.

Pancol broke his ankle midway through the 2022 season which ended the rest of that campaign, and then suffered a right ankle fracture before the 2023 season keeping him out for the entirety of the year.

The senior has responded in a big way in his final season with the Blue Devils, tallying 55 catches for 741 yards and 9 touchdowns, leading the Blue Devils in touchdowns and receptions.

Pancol has made several huge plays throughout the season for Duke, and his best game came against Virginia Tech where he caught 5 passes for 188 yards and 3 touchdowns. All of his touchdowns in the game came in the first half as well.

He's totaled 125 receptions for 1,653 yards and 14 touchdowns throughout his career at Duke.

Pancol is the seventh Duke Blue Devil to win the Piccolo Award and the first since Scott Youmans in 1993.