Good Day for Hoosiers, Who Get Commitment from Punter James Evans

James Evans is an rugby player from Auckland, New Zealand who has never played American football before, but is part of a successful ProKick Australia program that's placed dozens of kickers on college football teams.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Australian Haydon Whitehead has been a great punter for Indiana the past several years, and it looks like the Hoosiers are going Down Under to pick up his replacement.  

James Evans, a rugby player from Auckland, New Zealand, announced Sunday morning on Twitter that he was signing with Indiana.

Evans and Whitehead are both products of the Prokick Australia program that has helped place nearly three dozen Aussies and New Zealand natives with college teams this season. Haydon Whitehead, who decided to come back in 2020 for his final year, is a fifth-year senior who will be enrolled in classes to get a master's degree this year.

James, who has never played American football, describes himself as “more as a traditional pocket punter although I'm comfortable with all the different style of punts whether it be spirals, roll outs or going in kicks,” he told Hoosier Huddle.  “The only American football I've played was in PE class in high school when Danny Hay now the NZ head football coach was my PE teacher, so it will be a big adjustment.” 

Evans said he has never been to America, but that he has talked to Whitehead often about what to expect at Indiana.

“I've spoken to Haydon Whitehead over the phone a few times and he's been hugely helpful for me in understanding what life as a student athlete will be like at Indiana,” Evans said in his Hoosier Huddle interview. "Whether that be expectations both as a student and as an athlete but also just what to expect living in a foreign country. I've never actually been to the United States, so he's been hugely helpful for understanding what to expect.”

James said he is  “hugely excited about the opportunity of going to Indiana. Not just the chance to play football in the Big Ten, but to study at a nationally renowned University.'' He has spoken often with Indiana coach Tom Allen, special teams coordinator Casey Teegardin and special teams quality control coach Jeff Mcinnerney. 

"Coach Allen, Coach Teegardin and Coach McInerney have been great to me, they've built a very strong relationship with me over the phone and I'm really excited about the culture and the program they're building at IU.”