'09 AL K Jimmy Newman (Wake Forest Verbal)

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'09 AL K Jimmy Newman



Kicker
Oxford (AL) Oxford

Ht: 6-foot-2
Wt: 195 lbs
GPA: 3.9
ACT: 26
Class: 2009 (High School)

Alabama kicker commits to Wake Forest

Coach Billy Mitchell takes due diligence in selecting kickers and punters for Wake Forest.
Head coach Jim Grobe said that only after watching hours and hours of film on a prospect will Mitchell walk by his office and report, "I've got us one."
"And he's never been wrong," Grobe said.
The Deacons banked on Mitchell's eye and instincts again by offering a scholarship to kicker-punter Jimmy Newman of Oxford, Ala. Bill Newman, Jimmy's father, said yesterday that his son has committed to playing for Wake Forest.
"We're very excited," Bill Newman said. "It's a great fit for him, for what kind of kid he is, what he believes and how he wants to work."
Jimmy Newman, who kicked and punted for Oxford High, chose Wake Forest over scholarship offers from Rice and Alabama-Birmingham. He made 7 of 10 field goals this past season, the longest from 47 yards. He had 37 touchbacks on kickoffs and punted 22 times for an average of 38 yards.
"He had a couple of other schools that were nibbling on him," Bill Newman said. "Georgia had inquired. He was in kind of an unusual situation because Alabama (gave one kicker a scholarship) last year. But they were real classy and they just let him know they were probably not going to put money in a kicker this year. Auburn was the same way.
"He had some SEC interest as well. He could have waited a little longer, but once he got up there and saw that campus and how they treat kickers, there were no comparisons to anything else. He told me on the way home 'Dad, if Alabama comes in late — or somebody like that — I'm not changing my mind.'
"He said, 'I'm just sold on Wake.'"
The Deacons will lose Sam Swank, their all-time leader in points and field goals to spent eligibility. Shane Popham, a redshirt freshman on scholarship, had a baptism under fire when Swank missed six games with a pulled quadriceps.
Popham struggled, particularly early, and finished 7 for 12 on field-goal attempts, with his longest from 44 yards. He was 1 for 4 on attempts longer than 40 yards.
Grobe has said he was pleased with Popham's performance of 50 punts for an average of 39.1 yards. Coaches are not allowed by NCAA rules to discuss a recruit until he signs, but it appears that Newman will compete with Popham for the place-kicking duties during preseason practice this summer.
"He knows he's going to work for that," Bill Newman said.