Washington State punter Nick Haberer earns freshman All-America honors

Nick Haberer punted on a broken ankle throughout the back half of his first collegiate season.

For his perseverance, Washington State’s rookie specialist from Australia was rewarded Monday when he landed on the Football Writers Association’s Freshman All-America team.

Haberer is WSU’s first freshman All-American since safety Jalen Thompson and running back James Williams both took home the honors in 2016.

Despite severely injuring his nondominant ankle during WSU’s win against Stanford on Oct. 16, Haberer finished the year out, punting 26 times across the Cougs’ last six games.

Haberer, who had never played American football before this year, averaged 42.8 yards on 52 kicks overall, dropping 14 inside the 20-yard line and booting five over 50 yards downfield. He finished second in the Pac-12 in average hang time (4.12 seconds).