For a man that now makes his living using his feet, Mitch McCarthy was not always solely focused on punting the football. McCarthy was once a standout high school basketball player at Village Christian High School in Sun Valley, California before ultimately focusing his talents on football.

So, when he decided to leave UCF and he heard from the Hoosiers, Indiana was certainly a school he was familiar with.

“I was a basketballer before I was a footballer, so I definitely knew about the Hoosiers, so it was very exciting,” said McCarthy.

As a fellow Australian, he also had a connection with Indiana’s former punters James Evans and Haydon Whitehead. All three trained at ProKick Australia before joining the IU program.

“Besides the fact that they were having a very good year and that stood out to me, there was a connection through ProKick Australia,” added McCarthy. “James Evans was there, and I had our guys message me towards the end of the season. UCF didn’t get a bowl game, so I started that pretty early.”

McCarthy joined the Hoosiers after punting 40 times last fall for an average of 44.1 yards per punt and a long of 56 yards. He pinned teams inside the 20-yard line on 17 of his punts. Though he is coming from central Florida, he has experience punting in the elements.

“ProKick runs a very unique program down there. Some days they throw some stuff at you that you think 'I'm never going to need this' but it does, it does prepare you. Where I'm from Melbourne, very windy, cold. So, especially for Indiana, if you're going anywhere cold, ProKick Melbourne is a very good start.”

McCarthy has one year of eligibility remaining. Hoosier fans fan get their first look at him this Thursday at Indiana's spring game at Memorial Stadium.