BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s secondary took a hit on April 29 when starting cornerback Kobee Minor entered the transfer portal.

But new head coach Curt Cignetti acted quickly, landing James Madison cornerback transfer D’Angelo Ponds on May 4. While Cignetti and his staff had an established connection with Ponds from the 2023 season, they had to fend off the likes of Auburn, Miami, Tennessee, USC and others for Ponds, a 2023 Freshman All-American, who’s Indiana’s top-ranked incoming transfer, per On3.

Ponds was named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List on Wednesday, which included 18 defensive backs, 13 defensive linemen and 11 linebackers around the nation. The award, named after NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, considers both on-field talent and IMPACT, which stands for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. Winners of the award include recent No. 2 and No. 3 overall NFL Draft picks Aidan Hutchinson and Will Anderson Jr.

“[Ponds] was a big get, I think,” Cignetti said. “But he’s going to have to earn it here. Nothing’s given. Everything is earned, not given, and that’s the way it’s got to be.”

Ponds had the best coverage grade (89.3) in the nation among true freshmen defensive backs in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus, ahead of players like Alabama’s Caleb Downs and Notre Dame’s Christian Gray. But like Cignetti mentioned, he had to earn his spot on a talented Dukes defense.

Ponds committed to James Madison out of Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Hollywood, Fla., as a three-star recruit ranked No. 1966 in the class of 2023, No. 170 among cornerbacks and No. 280 in Florida. He had offers from Akron, Arkansas State, Bryant, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Liberty, Louisiana-Monroe, Old Dominion, South Dakota, Syracuse and Tulane. 

Cignetti said Ponds had “special qualities” in preseason fall camp, but he had to clean up his technique. Ponds played just 14 snaps in Week 1 and only four in Week 2. But James Madison’s defense was struggling against the pass, allowing 377 passing yards and 18.9 yards per completion in a 36-35 win at Virginia. So Cignetti gave the freshman a chance, and he ran with it.

Ponds played 68 snaps in a Week 3 win at Troy, then he logged 91 and 90 snaps in wins at Utah State and against South Alabama in Weeks 4 and 5, respectively. He became a mainstay at cornerback the rest of the year on a James Madison defense that ranked 18th in the nation in points allowed per game at 18.5.

“When we did that, it was really a shot in the arm for our entire defense,” Cignetti said of Ponds moving into a starting role. “…Great competitor. Super intelligent. Can really move, play the ball in the air.” 

Making the jump from the Sun Belt to the Big Ten will be a step up in competition and require an adjustment. But Patrick Mayhorn, who covers Group of 5 football for the website “Meet at Midfield,” believes Ponds, with three years of remaining eligibility, was a major addition for the Hoosiers. 

“He was, I think, one of the best corners in America,” Mayhorn told HoosiersNow. “I don’t think I would really need to qualify that with one of the best corners in the G5 or one of the best corners in the Sun Belt. “

“He’s undersized [at 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds], but he is just so good in coverage. It’s so hard to get past him, and he can fill so many different roles for a defense because he’s also a capable, and I would say even a very good tackler, despite his relative lack of size. He was doing that in his first year at the Sun Belt level at the D1 level. He’s excellent. He’s really kind of a foundational piece for a defense, I think, moving forward, and that would have been true at James Madison and I think it’s going to be true at Indiana. That talent translates right away.”

Shane Mettlen, who covers James Madison for the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va., said Cignetti and his staff established a strong track record identifying talented players that recruiting sites overlooked and ranked lower. Often, this was with undersized players. 

Mettlen believes Cignetti had a philosophy of going after speed rather than size, with the belief that a player could put on muscle after training with James Madison. They added players who they knew had speed to get to the ball – in line with their fast, physical and relentless mantra – and that players with all the desired measurables out of high school usually looked to attend Power 5 schools.

During the 2022 season, true freshman cornerback Chauncey Logan – unranked by 247Sports – led James Madison with 10 pass breakups. Ponds followed a similar path with his impressive true freshman season in 2023, despite not being a highly touted prospect from the outside.

“It kind of got to the point where it wasn’t a surprise if anybody did that at JMU, especially in the secondary,” Mettlen told HoosiersNow. “… Guys before Ponds who were a year ahead of him came in and kind of set the tone that if the coaching staff says that this guy can play, then you expect big things out of them even if their recruiting rankings and stuff were not up there.”

Indiana’s pass defense ranked 13th in the Big Ten last season. The loss of Minor, as well as starting safeties Louis Moore and Phillip Dunnam, made that a remaining area of concern heading into 2024. 

The group is now coached by defensive backs and safeties coach Ola Adams, plus cornerbacks coach Rod Ojong. It returns 2023 contributors Jamari Sharpe, Jamier Johnson, Nic Toomer, Josh Sanguinetti and Amare Ferrell. 

Like most of the roster, Indiana added transfers in the defensive backfield both by necessity and in hopes of improving from a 3-9 2023 season. Along with Arizona transfer DJ Warnell Jr., Austin Peay transfer Cedarius Doss and Old Dominion transfers Terry Jones Jr. and Shawn Asbury II, Ponds headlines that effort.

“There’s got to be competition. That’s what makes everybody better,” Cignetti said. “But I was thrilled we were able to get him.”