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BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti didn’t downplay the importance of landing cornerback D’Angelo Ponds during the spring transfer window.
“He’s a big get,” Cignetti said, speaking to reporters ahead of an NIL-related event at Huber’s Orchard and Winery on May 29.
Cignetti would know better than anyone having coached Ponds in 2023. The then-James Madison defender took home freshman All-American honors and earned second team All-Sun Belt honors.
It’s why Ponds heard from more than 20-plus Power Four teams when he hit the portal. It was in stark contrast to his experience as a three-star prospect coming out of Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Hollywood, Florida.
His lone Power Five offer at the time was from Syracuse.
“He had special qualities when he came in as a freshman in fall camp,” Cignetti said.
More: Projected 2024 Indiana football defensive depth chart after spring practice
Indiana’s new corner D’Angelo Ponds gave former team a ‘shot in the arm’
Ponds only played four defensive snaps over the first two weeks of the season, but as JMU’s pass defense struggled — it gave up 377 yards to Virginia and 333 yards to Troy in consecutive weeks — the coaching staff threw him into the lineup at the boundary corner.
The Dukes gave up 402 passing yards to Utah St. in Ponds’ first start, but he had a pass breakup and interception.
After giving up 314.5 passing yards per game through the first four weeks, JMU held opponents to 221.3 passing yards through the final nine games and held two opponents (Georgia State and Air Force) to less than 100 yards.
“It was really a shot in the arm for our entire defense,” Cignetti said, of Ponds entering the starting lineup. “He was a freshman All-American — great competitor, super intelligent, can really move and play the ball in the air.”
He finished…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-indiana-cornerback-d-angelo-080447029.html
Author : The Herald-Times
Publish date : 2024-06-04 08:04:47
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