32-year-old NCAA punter enters portal as oldest D1 player

College punter Luke Larsen is entering the transfer portal as the oldest player in Division I college football.

The 32-year-old has spent a total of six years at East Carolina University and is entering his fourth and final year of eligibility in the NCAA.

The sixth-year senior entered the transfer portal on January 20, which will cause him to miss out on the opportunity to break a school record in punting. According to his X profile, Larsen boasts the accolade of “2nd all time [in] net punting” for ECU.

Larsen has 174 career punts for 7,099 yards at ECU, an average of 40.8 yards per punt with 19 punts over 50 yards.

According to BroBible, Larsen first went to ECU in 2020 but lost that year due to COVID shutdowns.

The punter was redshirted in 2021, which can only be done once, and in 2022, he had his freshman year with the university.

Larsen is now finally entering his fourth year of eligibility; typically, student-athletes have five years to compete in four seasons, but the NCAA has floated a fifth year in the past.

Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Larsen is an Australian import who came through the Prokick Australia academy, which develops and prepares kickers and punters in Australia to make it to the NCAA. Photos placed him in Melbourne, Australia, one of six cities where the academy does its assessments.

“Prokick Australia has so far saved Australian families tens of millions of dollars in academic fees by placing students into U.S. colleges on full scholarships,” its website stated. “Our elite training program will develop most students into college-ready punters.”

It added, “So far, our program has successfully placed over 250 punters into U.S. colleges, with 95% of those being on full scholarship.”

The academy says its students practice kicking and punting three times per week and have fitness training six days per week.

It should be noted that East Carolina has a bit of a tradition with Australian punters; Larsen is actually the third Aussie punter to play for the school.

Larsen is also considered an excellent student; he’s earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial distribution and logistics and just earned his second degree last year.

The punter even corrected a recent report on social media that stated he was “leaving the school.” Larsen pointed out he was actually “**Graduating**” with his second degree in five years.

“Fixed it for you,” Larsen told the outlet.

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