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2022 Second-Team All-ACC
2022 Second-Team All-ACC (Associated Press)
2022 (Redshirt Senior): Started all 12 games at linebacker for Georgia Tech … Earned second-team all-ACC honors after recording 118 tackles (ranked 15th nationally), 3.5 sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles (t-third nationally) and two fumble recoveries (t-22nd nationally) in 2022 … Was one of only two NCAA Division I FBS players since 2000 (and first since Virginia’s Micah Kiser in 2016) to record at least 118 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 9.5 TFL, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in a regular season … Tallied seven double-digit tackling games on the season … Forced three fumbles in the season’s first five games (vs. Clemson – Sept. 5; vs. Ole Miss – Sept. 17; at Pitt – Oct. 1) … Was one of only 10 players in FBS to register at least 11 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in a single game last season, when he accomplished the feat against Clemson in the season opener … Also made nine tackles, two TFLs and one sack against Western Carolina (Sept. 10) … Recorded 10 tackles in three-straight games – 12 vs. Ole Miss – Sept. 17; 10 at UCF – Sept. 24); and 14 at Pitt – Oct. 1 … Also made 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble in the 26-21 win at then-No. 24 Pitt … Made 11 stops at Florida State (Oct. 29) … Recorded 12 tackles (six solo) against Miami (Fla.) (Nov. 12) … Also totaled nine tackles in the 21-17 road win at then-No. 13 North Carolina (Nov. 19) … Forced a fumble to go along with 11 tackles at then-No. 1 Georgia (Nov. 26).
2021 (Redshirt Junior): Ranked second on team, fifth in ACC and 48th nationally with 90 total tackles (8.2 per game) in first season at Georgia Tech … Saw action in 11 games, starting all 11 at middle linebacker … Added 3.5 tackles for loss, half a sack, a pass breakup and three quarterback hurries (tied for second on team) to go along with his 90 total stops … Led Tech in tackles four times … Recorded double-digit tackles four times — team-high 11 vs. Northern Illinois (Sept. 4), team-high-tying 10 vs. Kennesaw State (Sept. 11), team-high 14 at Duke and team-high-tying 16 vs. Virginia Tech … Notched seven tackles at No. 6 Clemson (Sept. 18) … Recorded eight stops against eventual ACC champion Pitt (Oct. 2) … Missed only game of the season at No. 6 Notre Dame (Nov. 20) … Served as a game captain four times — vs. NIU, vs. North Carolina (Sept. 25), vs. Pitt (Oct. 2) and at Duke (Oct. 9).
2017-20 (Maryland): Came to Georgia Tech as a graduate transfer from the University of Maryland … Appeared in 26 games and made 11 starts over three seasons at Maryland (2018-20) … Retained a year of eligibility in final season at Maryland due to Covid-19 pandemic … Earned honorable-mention all-Big Ten after tallying 79 tackles, four tackles for loss, a half-sack, two fumble recoveries, an interception and five passes defended in 11 games (nine starts) as a sophomore in 2019 … Had a career-high 12 tackles at Rutgers on Oct. 5, 2019 … Recorded 13 tackles in 12 games (one start) as a redshirt freshman in 2018 and 19 tackles in three games (one start) during the pandemic-altered 2020 campaign … Totaled 109 tackles, five tackles for loss, three fumble recoveries, two interceptions and eight passes defended in his 26 games at Maryland … Redshirted as a true freshman in 2017.
High School: Was a rated as a four-star prospect by Scout coming out of Good Counsel H.S. in 2017 … Also tabbed as the No. 2 outside linebacker in Maryland, the No. 4 OLB in the East region and the No. 22 OLB in the nation by Scout … Coached at Good Counsel by Bob Milloy.
Personal: Father, Donald Hill-Eley, played football at Virginia Union University, has spent a total of 16 seasons as an NCAA Division I head coach at Morgan State (2002-13) and Alabama State (2017-21) and served as an offensive analyst, then running backs coach, at Georgia Tech during Ayinde’s final season in 2022 … mother, Dr. Songhai Barclift, is an obstetrician … Ayinde graduated from Maryland in December 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in family science … Earned his bachelor’s degree in just three-and-a-half years … Pursuing graduate studies in history, technology and society at Georgia Tech.
