Jonathan Cruz, a transfer kicker from Charlotte, has announced a commitment to play in the SEC.

Cruz finished his 4 years at Charlotte by connecting on 72 percent of his field goal attempts, 97 percent of his extra points and a career long of 56 yards twice. In a message posted to social media, Cruz thanked Charlotte and all the relationships he built in that time, and wrote that he would play at Ole Miss for his final season.

Cruz overall hit 5 field goals of more than 50 yards. His 56-yarder at WKU was the longest in Conference-USA in 2021 and tied for 4th-longest in NCAA. The Cartersville, Georgia native had his most productive field goal season last year when he made 17-of-22.

 

Here is his complete bio from Charlotte:

At Charlotte: School-record holder in career FG% (.719; 41-57) … School-record with five FGM of 50+ yards (5-6, .833) … Shares school-record for longest FGM (Game-winning 56-yarder at FAU, 2018; 56-yarder at WKU, 2021) … 56-yarder at WKU was longest in C-USA in 2021 and tied for 4th-longest in NCAA … GW 56-yarder at FAU in 2018 was longest in C-USA and second longest in FBS … owns single-season (2018) school records for 40+ FGM (8) and 50+ FGM (3) … 16-of-25 (.640) all-time from 40 or more … tied a school record with 10 consecutive made field goals, spanning 2018, 2019 seasons … set school record with 61 straight made PATs (spanning 2019-2021 seasons) … 2019 Lou Groza Award Watch List … 2019 Preseason C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year … 2019 Preseason all-C-USA … Athlon Sports’ 2019 Preseason all-C-USA First Team selection … 2018 Second-Team all-Conference USA … 2018 C-USA all-Freshman Team … named first-team all-C-USA by Pro Football Focus and second-team all-C-USA by Phil Steele … Signed with the 49ers in February 2018 as part of the 49ers seventh recruiting class.

2021: Handled all kicking duties … 10-15 FG (.667) and 40-41 PAT (.976) … kicked a 56-yard FG at WKU, to tie the school-record and tie his own career-best … longest FGM in C-USA in 2021; 4th longest in the FBS … was 7-of-9 (.778) from inside 40 yards … averaged 57.9 yards on 65 kickoffs … had 44 touchbacks … led team with 70 points scored … made first 24 straight PATs to extend streak to a school-record 61 consecutive made … has new streak of 16 straight heading into 2022 season.

2020: Starting kicker for third straight year … 4-of-7 FG in pandemic-shortened six-game season … perfect 18-18 on PATs … tied school record with 7-of-7 PATs in 49-21 win at North Texas … 2-2 FGA at App State, including season-long 49-yarder … kicked a 43-yard FG at FAU … averaged 62.9 yards on kickoffs (29 KO; 1824 yds) with 21 touchbacks.

2019: Lou Groza Award Watch List … Preseason C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year … Preseason all-C-USA … Athlon Sports’ Preseason all-C-USA First Team selection … 10-of-13 in FGA (3-of-4 from 40+ yards) … longest make of the season was a 53-yarder … kicked 32-yard FG in Bahamas Bowl … 41-of-44 PATs.

2018: Second-team all-Conference USA … 2018 C-USA all-Freshman Team … named first-team all-C-USA by Pro Football Focus and second-team all-C-USA by Phil Steele … was 17-of-22 in FGA and 27-of-27 in PATs … three-time C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week … tied school-record for longest FGM with a game-winning 56-yarder with 00:25 left in a 27-24 win at FAU … 56-yard FGM was longest make in C-USA and second-longest in FBS … owned C-USA’s two longest kicks of the year (56; 54) … single-season school records for FGM from 40+ (8) and 50+ (3) … three-time C-USA ST POTW: vs. App State: 3-3 FGA; all of 46 yards or more, including 54-yarder; vs. Southern Miss (W): 2-2 FGA (40, 39); 2-2 PAT; at FAU (W): 2-2 FGA (30, 56); 3-3 PAT; GW 56-yd FG with :25 seconds left … twice tied single-season record with seven straight made field goals … perfect 27-of-27 PATs — a 49ers single-season record for most made without a miss … 31 of 55 kickoffs were touchbacks … led 49ers with 78 points scored.

Academics: 2018 C-USA Honor Roll … Athletic Director’s List: Spring, 2021

At Cartersville High: Received five stars with a FG rating of 99 from National Camp Series after representing Team Jackson at the 2016 South Region event … added a punt rating of 83 …. Took first-place among upperclassmen in FG category for kicking coach, Brian Jackson … four-time Special Teams Player of the Year … two-time all-state kicker … first-team all-state punter … four-year varsity starter …. enjoyed a 53-3 record in his career, including a school-record 41-game winning streak … career included two state titles, three final four appearances and 14 playoff wins … Hurricanes went 11-1 and won AAAA Region 5 with a perfect 6-0 mark … was 72-of-72 in PAT attempts … 6-of-8 in FGA with a school-record long of 55 yards … scored 90 points as a senior and 401 in his career … had 81 kickoffs for touchbacks … perfect 4-4 in PAT’s with a 47-yd FG in 38-5 win over Westlake … reached second round of state AAAA Playoffs for coach Joey King … kicked 55-yard FG in state playoffs …. added a 45.3 punting avg. … back-to-back 15-0 AAAA State Champion seasons in 2015 and 2016 … four-time region champions.

Personal: Born April 8, 2000 … mother is Juana Cruz … major in Kinesiology … grew up playing soccer before switching to football.