Malaki Starks named to 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team

UGA football junior defensive back Malaki Starks has been named to the 2024 Allstate AFCS Good Works Team, it was announced on Tuesday.

Starks is one of 22 student-athletes named to the team, which was narrowed from a list of over 100 nominees by a panel of judges.

“Each year, I’m inspired by the way these young men use their gifts to make a positive impact on their communities,” said Tim Tebow, two-time national champion, Heisman Trophy winner, 2009 Good Works Team member and 2008 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy recipient. “I’m once again honored to help celebrate this award and the outstanding work it highlights.”

Below is the complete 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team:

Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)

• JJ Pegues – DT, Sr., Ole Miss
• Nick Dawkins – OL, Sr., Penn State
• Chase Griffin – QB, Gr., UCLA
• Malaki Starks – DB, Jr., Georgia
• Brayden Schager – QB, Sr., Hawaii
• J.J. Weaver – OLB, Gr., Kentucky
• Jack Kiser – LB, Sr., Notre Dame
• Gavin Sawchuk – RB, So., Oklahoma
• Hayden Conner – OL, Sr., Texas
• Dean Janikowski – K, Gr., Washington State
• Garrett Greene – QB, Sr., West Virginia

Combined Divisions (FCS, II, III & NAIA)

• Dru Johnson – WR, Jr., Ashland U.
• Aaron Ellingson – RB, Sr., Bethel (MN)
• Christo Kelly – C, Sr., Holy Cross
• Micah Green – LB, Sr., Dartmouth
• Julian Rawlins – DL, Sr., Davidson
• Clayton Mosher – LB, Sr., Indiana Wesleyan
• Matt Wrather – C, Sr., John Carroll
• Thomas Grehan – LB, Sr., Johns Hopkins
• Isaac Pingel – DB, Sr., Morningside
• Jake Schwinghammer – LB, Sr., Saint John’s
• Matt DeVirgilio – LB, Sr., Stonehill

Honorary Head Coach

• Marcus Freeman – Notre Dame

From the UGA release:

Starks has given his time to the community in a variety of ways, including working at the Wilderness Works Football Camp where he conducted a football camp for 30 youth at Atlanta’s Cabbagetown Park; hosted participants for the Next Gen Tour of UGA, which is a tour of the University of Georgia and impromptu football camp; assisted with the donation of $10,000 to Athens-area schools in association with the Georgia Teachers Initiative, which was created by the College Football Playoff Foundation; teamed with Dick’s Sporting Goods to provide $300 gift cards during the Christmas holidays to 16 deserving youth from the Boys & Girls Club of Athens; in addition to working with a number of other local charities and groups.

On the field, Starks has started 31 of 32 games in his three-year career, earning 2023 Consensus All-America honors for the 13-1 Bulldogs.  He has 131 tackles in his career to go along with six picks during a 31-1 stretch that includes the 2022 national championship.  This season, Starks has 11 stops and an interception and is part of a Bulldog defense that has yet to allow a touchdown.

Georgia will enjoy its first open date of the season this weekend. The following week on Saturday, Sept. 28, the Bulldogs travel to face the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the game will be televised by ABC at 7:30pm ET (Buy Tickets).

2024 UGA Football Schedule