2022 Countdown to IUFB Kickoff: 2 Days Part I (James Monds III)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The 2022 Hoosier Huddle Countdown is very nearly complete. Only two short days from now, IU will take the field at Memorial Stadium to open the 2022 season against the Illinois Fighting Illini. There are still a few very important players to profile and we’ll get to two of them today: James Monds III and Shaun Shivers.

Name: James Monds III

Hometown: Fort Pierce, FL (Vero Beach High School)

Position: Defensive Back

Year: Freshman

Height/Weight: 5’11”/181 pounds

James Monds III, another product of the Sunshine State, was a member of IU’s most recent recruiting class. He comes from a football family as his father (James), cousin (Mario) and uncle (Wonder) all played college football. Mario was drafted in the 2001 NFL Draft and Wonder was chosen in the 1976 NFL Draft. James Monds III would love to be the next NFL player from his family.

He began his high school career at Port St. Lucie High School before moving to Fort Pierce Westwood and finishing up at Vero Beach High School. There, he was named to the 6A first-team All-State squad. Interestingly, he also lettered in soccer and scored an impressive 21 goals in his junior season.

In his National Signing Day press conference, Tom Allen gushed about the potential of Monds and how excited he was to have him at IU.

“I’ll tell you what; we had several guys I would say were leaders in this class in putting them together. He’s (Monds) near the top. Just tremendously active on social active, tremendously active with his future teammates in the recruiting process. Loves football. He’s always, always working to do something to get better as a player.”

James Monds showed that work ethic early on as he arrived in the spring, enrolling early and going through practice with the team. Allen mentioned him specifically when talking to the media after a scrimmage. “James Monds III is another one that continues to grow and develop each time we take the field in those scrimmages.”

The defensive secondary is as deep as any the Hoosiers have but Monds III is already proving to be a factor in the rotation. He was listed as a backup in an early two-deep chart that was released by IU, right behind veteran leader Jaylin Williams and ahead of several older players. We know that Williams and Tiawan Mullen will be starting and they form one of the better defensive back tandems in the conference. Transfer Brylan Lanier and returning players Lem Watley-Neely and Christopher Keys along with fellow freshman Trevell Mullen will also factor in. IU plans on playing a lot of defensive backs and Monds appears set to be a part of that before being in place to take over a starting role in the near future.

The countdown continues with a new profile for one more day so come back to hoosierhuddle.com tomorrow as we wrap things up!