Coveted CB transfer D’Angelo Ponds commits to Indiana football

The West Park, Fla. native comes to Bloomington after a stellar freshman season at James Madison. He was named to several freshman All-American teams, and was a second-team All-Sun Belt selection. Ponds finished third in the conference and tied for 11th in the nation with 15 passes defended last season — more than any Big Ten player. He added two interceptions and 51 combined tackles, including two tackles for loss.

Ponds is the 12th JMU player to follow head coach Curt Cignetti and his staff to Indiana, and the second player in the spring window. He’s the first DB of that group.

But IU was not a shoo-in to land Ponds. After entering the transfer portal in late April, he heard from a long list of schools, including Arizona, Auburn, Illinois, Miami, Tennessee, and USC. On3 ranked Ponds as the top available player in the transfer portal as of May 1.

247Sports Composite rated Ponds a 3-star prospect from Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Hollywood, Fla. in the class of 2023.

Ponds joins an IU cornerback room that just saw potential starter Kobee Minor enter the transfer portal in late April.