VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State football team had four players selected to the 2022 All-Gulf South Conference Teams, announced Thursday.  Senior running back Seth McGill earned first team honors as the all-purpose back, as did graduate wide receiver Victor Talley, while senior running back Jamar Thompkins was a second team honoree, along with graduate wide receiver B.K. Smith.
 
McGill and Thompkins are the only two players on the teams to earn all-conference honors four-straight years and just two of 12 players to earn multiple all-league accolades on the 2022 teams.  First team running back Shomari Mason of West Florida and second team special teams utility player Joe Skinner of West Georgia earned their third all-conference honors this season.  
 
For his outstanding career, McGill, a Miami, Fla., native, finished the 2022 campaign with his second, first team all-league selection, this time as an all-purpose back (AP).  He earned first team all-conference honors in 2021 at running back and first team honors in 2019 at all-purpose back and second team accolades in 2018 also as an all-purpose back.  This season, McGill finished second on the team in rushing with 739 yards and five touchdowns for a 67.2 average per game on a team-high 142 attempts.  His 739 yards placed him seventh in the GSC, while the 67.2 yards per game was good for sixth in the league.  In addition, McGill handled kickoff return duties for the Blazers as he returned 34 kicks for 808 yards and a 23.8-yard average per return.  McGill is second nationally in combined kick return yards (817), while he is 16^th nationally and second in the GSC in all-purpose yards per game at 151.8 clip.
 
McGill finished his career playing in exactly 50 games with 571 rushing attempts for 3,369 yards, while his 42 rushing touchdowns were good for second all-time in school history.  He had nine games of rushing over 100 yards with a career-high 190 yards against Delta State in 2021.  McGill finished sixth all-time in school history in scoring with 46 total touchdowns for 276 points.  He was named to the GSC All-Decade First Team as an all-purpose back in 2021 and earned D2CCA All-Region honors that season.  McGill also returned 48 kicks for 1,192 yards and a 24.8 average for second all-time in program history in return yard average.  
 
Talley, a native of Brunswick, Ohio, capped a two-year career for the red and black playing in 23 games with 15 starts.  This season, he tied for the team-lead in receptions with Smith, each with 42, while Talley had 640 yards receiving for second on the team and a team-high seven touchdown receptions.  Talley averaged 58.2 yards per game and 15.2 yards per reception.  He finished third in the GSC in receiving touchdowns (7), while he was fourth in receiving yards (640), seventh in receptions per game (3.8) and fourth in receiving yards per game (58.2).  Talley also had a blocked punt return for a touchdown this season and earned GSC Player of the Week honors once.  For his career, he caught 74 balls for 1,073 yards and ten touchdowns. 
 
Thompkins, also a native of Miami, Fla., ended his Blazer football career playing in his 50^th game and needed 77 yards to tie former Blazer Cedric O'Neal (2012-2015) for the all-time team rushing title with 4,115 yards in the final game of the season last Saturday versus Shorter.  He capped his career with ten carries for 113 yards and a score, including an electrifying 66-yard run in the second quarter to break the record.  Thompkins finished with 4,151 yards on 541 carries and 36 rushing touchdowns for his outstanding career, that included two 1,000-yard rushing seasons, a Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year honor and three-straight GSC First Team All-Conference selections.  He also was named to the GSC All-Decade Honorable Mention Team.  Thompkins finished in elite company as he is third all-time in rushing in the GSC with only Tyrone Rush (1989, 91-93, North Alabama, 4,421) and Fred McAfee (1987-90, Mississippi College, 4,416) in front of Thompkins.  His 36 rushing touchdowns placed him tied for third all-time in school history in rushing touchdowns with former Blazer Dominique Ross (1992-94).  Thompkins finished with 228 career points on 38 total touchdowns, also tied with Ross for seventh all-time in school history in scoring.  For his career, Thompkins had 18 games over 100 yards rushing.
 
For this season, Thompkins played in all 11 games and had 134 carries on 871 yards and seven rushing scores to lead the team.  He averaged 79.2 yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry.  Thompkins sits 12^th nationally and second in the GSC in rush yards per carry this season (6.5), while he is fifth in the league in rushing yards per game (79.2) and sixth in rushing touchdowns (7).  Thompkins is eighth in the league in all-purpose yards at 93.55 per game and had six games over 100 yards rushing this season.
 
In his first season in Titletown, Smith, a native of Louisville, Ky., made an immediate impact for the Blazers as he led the team with 726 receiving yards on 42 receptions and six scores.  He averaged 66.0 yards per game and 17.3 yards per reception to lead the team.  Smith had a season-high 148 yards receiving against Mississippi College (Oct. 15), while he is third in the GSC in receiving yards (726), fifth in receiving touchdowns (6) and third in receiving yards per game (66.0).  Smith also had four punt returns for 28 yards.