James Howell Wilhoit II (born June 30, 1983) was the

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

for the University of Tennessee football team between 2003 and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

High school

Wilhoit attended Hendersonville High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee where he received All-American honors from ''

PARADE A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'', ''PrepStar'', ''SuperPrep'', ''Student Sports'' and ''Borderwars.com''.

College

Wilhoit redshirted his freshman year, but went on to become a four-year starter at Tennessee where he handled

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

and extra point attempts and kickoff (American football), kickoffs. Wilhoit was known for ability to make field goals in the clutch during his four-year career. When he left Tennessee he was the second leading scorer in school history. His last-minute field goals included a 50-yard field goal with 6 seconds left to give Tennessee to a 30–28 victory over Florida in 2004. Earlier in the quarter he missed an extra point that would have tied the game. Wilhoit ranks in the all-time top five in several kicking categories at UT. He made 59 of 82 field goal attempts (72%) and kicked 47% of his kickoffs for touchbacks during his career. He became the 2nd all-time leading scorer at Tennessee with 325 points. He led the SEC in scoring with 96 points in 2006 and was ranked 7th in Southeastern Conference, SEC history.

Professional football career

Wilhoit was not selected in the 2007 NFL draft, but signed with the Baltimore Ravens as a rookie free agent on May 4, 2007. He was later released from the team in July shortly before the 2007 NFL preseason began. In late 2007, Wilhoit signed with the New All American Football League that never played a game. He helped promote the league by doing several autograph signings. He also played for the Kansas City Command of the Arena Football League in 2012, converting 8 of 21 field goal attempts and 62 of 77 extra point attempts.

Currently

Wilhoit recently studied under Special Teams Coach Gary Zauner for six months to learn his kicking and punting techniques. In addition to Coach Zauner, he has trained under Coach Bill Renner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Honors

*2006 Lou Groza Place Kicker Award (semifinalist) * 2006 All-SEC * 2005 Academic All-SEC * SEC Special Teams Player of the Week (September 18, 2004) * 2004 Academic All-SEC * 2003 Freshman All-America Scripps Howard/FWAA and ''The Sporting News'' (2nd) * 2003 Freshman All-SEC * SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll

Notes

External links

Wilhoit web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhoit, James 1983 births Living people People from Hendersonville, Tennessee American football placekickers Tennessee Volunteers football players Kansas City Command players Baltimore Ravens players Players of American football from Tennessee