Alabama Welcomes Australian Punter To Tuscaloosa
The Alabama Crimson Tide received a unique commitment over the weekend from a player who's never played a down of football. Punter, James Burnip from Mount Macedon in Victoria, Australia announced on Twitter that he would be decommitting from Ole Miss in order to join the Crimson Tide.
Burnip announced that he decided to flip his commitment in order to play college football longer, the Rebels offered him a three-year opportunity and the Tide offered him a four-year offer. Originally he had planned to enroll at Ole Miss in the spring of 2022 but has reclassified as a 2021 prospect. He stands at 6-foot-6 and 216 pounds and is rated a 4.5-star prospect by prokicker.com.
Burnip has been training with Nathan Chapman, John Smith and Tom Hornsey at ProKick Australia as well as Dave Tuinavi from Conquest Athletic Perfomance. ProKick Australia has produced five Ray Guy Award winners in their history, most recently Michael Dickson from the University of Texas in 2017 and Mitch Wishnowsky from Wisconsin in 2016.
Burnip will join a roster that includes Troy transfer Jack Martin, junior Ty Perine and sophomore Sam Johnson.
Alabama's last notable player from Australia was defensive lineman Jesse Williams in 2011. He was a part of two national championship teams for the Crimson Tide and became the first Australian to win a Super Bowl ring as a part of the Seattle Seahawks 2013 team.
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