MIAC’s Wheeler, Williams honored at Allstate Sugar Bowl

NEW ORLEANS — A pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) soccer standouts had been celebrated at halftime of the 2026 Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. 

Saint John’s University senior extensive receiver Dylan Wheeler and Bethel University senior cornerback Devin Williams had been chosen to the thirty fourth annual Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team® for his or her extraordinary dedication to neighborhood service. The Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® was established in 1992 to acknowledge a choose group of faculty soccer gamers who’ve made a dedication to service and enriching the lives of others.

| AFCA Release |

“These young men are passionate leaders with hearts driven to serve others,” two-time nationwide champion, Heisman Trophy winner, 2009 Good Works Team member, and 2008 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy recipient Tim Tebow stated within the AFCA press launch that introduced the honorees final September. “It’s an honor to celebrate the many ways they make their communities better.”

Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn. / Mounds View) was a consensus All-American in 2024 and acquired recognition once more in 2025 from each D3football.com and the Associated Press. Wheeler began every of SJU’s final 34 video games and owns three convention or program receiving data, together with six MIAC video games with a number of landing receptions and 12 MIAC video games with at the least 100 receiving yards. Wheeler additionally holds the SJU report for video games of three receiving touchdowns or extra (8). He ended his profession in December ranked second in program historical past in receptions (247), receiving yards (3,182), receiving touchdowns (50) and 100-yard receiving video games (15). In the classroom, the accounting and finance double-major was named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Second Team. In the neighborhood, Wheeler launched a performance-based fundraiser that raised greater than $25,000 for Folds of Honor in 2024, serving to to offer scholarships for households of fallen or disabled navy members and first responders. A three-year member and newly elected president of the SJU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Wheeler has additionally helped elevate greater than $35,000 and pack almost 100,000 meals for youngsters in want throughout his time in Collegeville. He has additionally taken a service journey to the Bahamas and continues to help St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital alongside his staff.

Williams (Fridley, Minn. / Fridley) was the MIAC Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-America choice from the AFCA, AP, and D3football.com. Williams completed the 2025 marketing campaign with 86 tackles – 48 solo – and three interceptions. He additionally ranked eighth in NCAA Division III with a punt return common of 14.3 yards per return. Off the sector, Williams has poured over 260 hours into mentoring college students with mental disabilities by means of the Bethel BUILD program, which helps younger individuals develop life expertise and navigate internships. He additionally coaches youth soccer and baseball, utilizing sports activities to show management, teamwork, and self-discipline. Williams additionally volunteers his time to pack meals with Feed My Starving Children, clear up native areas, and arrange neighborhood occasions, together with the Springbrook Nature Center Pumpkin Walk. He has additionally helped handle youth sports activities tournaments in his hometown in his dedication to nurturing the subsequent technology.

Wheeler and Williams had been chosen from a report 195 nominees, submitted by school sports activities info administrators and coaches nationwide. Eleven gamers had been chosen from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), with the opposite 11 extra coming from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Divisions II, III, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). University of Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables was named the honorary head coach. Seven of the eleven non-FBS honorees play on the NCAA Division III stage.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) leads all school athletic conferences with 91 choices to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® because it started in 1992. The SEC is adopted by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with 58 choices, and the MIAC with 45 choices.

The full staff roster and their tales of neighborhood service will be discovered at ESPN.com/Allstate.