2018 Football Roster
Sep 6 (Sat)
12:00pm
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A.J. Cole III
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- College Park, Ga.
- High School:
- Woodward Academy
- Height:
- 6-4
- Weight:
- 218
OVERALL:
• Enters his senior campaign with the third-best career punting average in school history (42.2).
• Ranks fifth in school history with 171 career punts and 7,212 career punting yards.
AS A JUNIOR (2017):
• One of 22 players nationally to be named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, which honors community service.
• A finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy.
• On the preseason watch list for the Ray Guy Award.
• Ranked 25th in the FBS, fifth in the ACC, with a 43.7 punt average for the season - the fifth-best single-season mark in school history.
• His 69-yard punt against South Carolina was the second-longest in the ACC this season.
• 67 of his 171 career punts have been downed inside the opponent’s 20 yard line. 41 career punts have been for 50+ yards.
• Turned in two punts of 60+ yards in 2016 and two in 2017.
• A CoSida Academic All-District performer.
• Co-winner of the team’s Earle Edwards Award for top GPA and was named the team’s most valuable special teams player.
AS A SOPHOMORE (2016):
• Posted the No. 15 single-season punt average in school history - 41.3 ypp.
• Turned in two punts of 60+ yards in 2016. Boomed a 61-yarder at ECU and tied his career high with a 72-yarder versus Wake Forest. That 72-yarder tied (with himself) as the ninth-longest in school history.
• Posted a 54.5 average on four kicks in the win over Wake Forest - that was the third-best single-game average in school history.
• Posted an impressive 37 yd. average while punting in a driving rain in the win over Notre Dame.
• Earned the team’s Community Service Award for 2016.
• Named to the midseason Watch List for the Ray Guy Award.
AS A FRESHMAN (2015):
• Ranked fifth in the ACC in punting average in the conference-games-only stats with a 43.1 avg.
• Placed 28 punts inside the 20 - tied as the fourth-best mark in the ACC. 10 were inside the 10.
• Booted a 72 yard punt in the win at Boston College - that was the ninth-longest punt in school history and the longest since Austin Herbert had a 76-yarder vs. UConn in 2003.
• Posted a 50.6 yard average against Clemson - the 9th-best mark in school history (at the time).
• Placed four punts inside the 20 (2 inside the 10) in the win at ODU. Also put four inside the 20 in the wins at Wake Forest and Boston College.
• Signed with the Wolfpack in February of 2014. He enrolled at NC State for the 2015 spring semester and participated in spring drills.
In HIGH SCHOOL:
• The punter and kicker for coach John Hunt, he also saw action at tight end and defensive end.
• Helped lead team to a 9-3 record as a senior and the quarterfinals of the Georgia 3A state playoffs.
• Also played high school basketball.
• Senior Stats: Averaged 40.1 yards per punt on his 26 punts as a senior. Converted 7-of-9 field goal attempts and 33-of-38 extra point tries for 54 points. Of his 42 kickoffs, 32 were touchbacks.
• Honors: Named to the 2013 Atlanta Journal Constitution’s All-Metro team. Also named all-region and second-team all-state.
• Rankings: No. 13 punter in the country by Kohl’s Kicking in the 2014 rankings. No. 5 kicker nationally and No. 70 player in Georgia by rivals.com and the No. 19 kicker nationally by ESPN.com in 2014 rankings.
• Personal: Has spent his last four spring breaks on a mission trip to a school in Kenya.
• Major: Industrial engineering.
PERSONAL
• Has spent his last five spring breaks in Nakuru, Kenya working with a school there.
• Was enrolled in an undergraduate graduate program where he worked on his master’s degree while pursuing an undergraduate degree.