Countdown to 2019 IUFB Kickoff: 27 Days (Ivory Winters)

/
public.jpeg

Written by Amanda Pavelka

COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 27 DAYS (#20 IVORY WINTERS)

Height: 6’0’’

Weight: 215 pounds

Hometown: Hayti, Missouri

Class: Freshman

Position: Running Back

Only 27 days remain until the long-awaited 2019 Indiana football season. The Hoosiers will make their season debut at Lucas Oil Stadium where they will take on the Ball State Cardinals on August 31st in a noon game. Today we will introduce a freshman running back who will wear the No. 20 jersey— Ivory Winters. 

Hailing from the small town of Hayti, Missouri, Ivory Winters worked tirelessly as a multi-sport athlete to put his hometown on the map. Winters left his mark on the Hayti track and basketball teams, running the 4x100m relay at the state championship his junior year and earning two-time all-district honors as a standout power forward. 

It was as a running back on the Hayti High School football squad that Winters made history for himself and for the town of Hayti, Missouri. During Winters’ senior year, he carried Hayti to their first state championship with an undefeated 15-0 record and took credit as 1A Offensive Player of the Year in 2018, according to his profile at IUHoosiers.com. Winters’ 59 touchdowns and unbelieveable 2,786 yards in his senior year crushed records at Hayti, placing him first in career and single-game rushing yards, touchdowns, and total points. Winters’ golden hands and feet had him ranked the No.15 prospect in Missouri (ESPN) and No. 49 running back in the country by 247Sports.

Winters was the star football player in his hometown of less than 3,000 people, and the transition to Big Ten football in Bloomington will be challenging, but it does not seem to phase him so far. The running back position is stacked with Stevie Scott returning and likely starting his sophomore year. Add Sampson James and Ronnie Walker to the mix and you have a bloody battle for minutes as an IU running back. Time will tell if Winters takes the redshirt. Either way, it is for certain Winters is a guy that has what it takes to make an impact at IU too in the years to come.