More Bad MBB News from Portal

On the last day of the portal deadline, BG's MBB team had another player check out.  This one is Josiah Fulcher, who played 53 games in 2 years with BG.  He made the all-freshman team as a FR.  His minutes stayed the same in both years (18 per game) and he played 17 minutes a game in MAC play...and that actually picked up after Reese and Gordon left.  BG was looking down the barrel at numbers issue before this and it only makes it more difficult.

Three More Portal Entrants from BGSU Football

So, the deadline is May 1 to enter the portal and play this Fall.  You can still pick a school after that, but you have to be in the portal by May 1.  For players not happy with their standing after spring practice, this is a decision time.  The risk, of course, is you end up without any place to play.  But, you probably have an idea of how things look.

The following Falcons entered the portal.

Elijah Eberhardt--a DB from the Cincy area, he spent 2 years in the Falcon program.  In 2020 he did not play and he played in 5 games last year with one tackle. He came in as a 3-star recruit with other MAC offers.

John Madden IV is a DLfrom Holland (OH) who went to St. John's.  He did not appear in a game as a Falcon, despite serious depth issues on the DL.

Tommy Guajardo is perhaps the biggest surprise.  He red-shirted at MSU, came to BG....he was highly recruited and ranked out of HS...one of the top players in Michgan.  He did not play in any games at BG last year and now he is back in the portal.

Best of luck to all these young men.  Stay tuned, I suspect there could be more.  Meanwhile, BG is continuing to offer players in the portal.

BG has Men's Basketball Transfer

All in 🖤 #bgsu #gofalcons pic.twitter.com/s8qOB779OZ

— Leon Ayers (@lee_ayers1) April 27, 2022

 

The latest transfer to land in BG is Leon Ayres III.  This will be the 4th institution of higher learning that Mr. Ayers has attended.

He is from Troy, MI originally. Actually, he was originally committed to Green Bay, but after a coaching change he went to Henry Ford Community College.  He was a National JUCO Divison II Second-Team All-American there, where he scored 21.7 PPG in his second year.  Then, he transferred to Mercer, where he played one season, scoring 12.2 PPG, shooting 52% overall and 39% from 3FG.  

Next, he went to Duquesne, where he played last year, scoring 10 PPG on 46% and 27% shooting.  (After going 6-24, 5 ofo the 7 top scorers have left the Dukes). He did benefit from the Bowling Green defense, scoring 20 PPG, on 3 of 6 and 3 of 11 shooting and 5 of 6 at the line.

He's a G and at 6'5" he has some good length.

He will join JUCO transfer Rashaun Agee and FR Willie Lightfoot and Jamai Felt.

BG QB Tucker Melton in Portal

The news today is not great.  Tucker Melton has entered the portal and is planning to leave BG.  It means that both of the highly-ranked QBs from the first full Loeffler class have left without taking a significant snap.  The writing was probably on the wall when Camden Orth took the QB2 rates in the Spring "Game."  Melton wants to play, has four years left and feels like he won't get it here.

Here's the disappointing thing.  He might not get it this year.  Like it or not, McDonald is set to start without any real competition and apparently if he is injured than Orth would come in.

What I don't understand is what will happen next year.  So McDonald cannot come back, which will leave:

Orth

Owen Bainbridge (presumably a R-FR)

Jayden George (Sr)

Drew Guenther, (Sr)

Which starts to look pretty thin again.  Of course, there's always the ability to go into the portal and get a seasoned  QB, but without that it would look like Owen, Bainbridge and ? without much backup if Bainbirdge doesn't develop.

For whatever reason, even when McDonald was injured for the last two years, we didn't put Keller and Melton on the field.  We have bet a tremendous amount on this direction.  Hope it works.

BG Adds Transfer OL

Lord,
Please order my steps. It’s time to walk out on faith… #ayziggy🧡🤎 pic.twitter.com/3tDcAyGeOW

— Kam Stewart (@Kam_The_Man15) April 20, 2022

As promised, BG is back at it with the transfer portal, looking to strengthen the offensive line.  It's vital. If BG cannot block this year, nothing can happen.

This young man is Kam Stewart, who is coming from Coastal Carolina.  He is 6'6" and 270 pounds. He was at Coastal for 3 years, one of which was 2020, meaning I would think he has 2 years left.  He played in 28 games there and started 8 games, although six of those were when he was forced to burn his redshirt and start six games as a FR due to injury.  He played in every game last season.

He was a 3-star recruit out of HS and was the #20 prospect in South Carolina, according to Rivals.  His HS team won three state championships while he played there.  (A full Emanski, back-to-back-to-back).  They were 41-1 and #24 in the nation one of those years.

He is the fourth O-line transfer for this year, with 3 in spring practice right now.  I would not be surprised to see us get more.  Loeffler says he can bring in 7 guys (total) and will focus on the oline and dline.

Welcome to the Falcons, Kam.

Falcon MBB Gets JUCO Verbal

Blessed 🙏🏿and ready to get started !! pic.twitter.com/6Z5tH4ELqP

— ✨High Flyer✨ (@AgeeRashaun) April 9, 2022

BG has a men's basketball verbal today as well.  He is a highly ranked and highly productive JUCO player who you can see filling the role formerly held by Daeqwon Plowden.

His name is Rashaun Agee, originally from Chicago, listed at 6'7" and 225.

He started at New Mexico State where he red-shirted and played only one game the next year due to injuries....and played for former Falcon Coach Chris Jans

He transferred to Casper and had a huge year, scoring 20.1 PPG on 52% shooting and had 11.2 RPG, which was #6 in NJCAA. 

Jucorecruiting.com ranked him as the #65 JUCO recruit.  He held offers from George Mason, Central Michigan, Quinnipiac, Bradley, Montana State, UTRGV, Bryant, and Maine. 

Here is his HS Bio, from his New Mexico page:

Was a four-year letterman at Bogan High School under Arthur Goodwin…averaged 20.3 points, 14.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks his senior year…earned USA Today All-USA Illinois Basketball Second-Team honors after guiding the Bengals to the IHSA 3A Championship game…was named First-Team All-State by the Associated Press for Illinois prep teams for Class 3A and Class 4A...garnered The Chicago Sun-Times All-City First-Team honors as well…also selected as the NBC Sports Chicago Preps Player of the Year and first-team accolade in his final season.

He was a 2-star prospect out of HS and had a lot of interest, including from Nate Oats at UB.  Kent, WMU and NIU were also interested, according to this.

Falcon Football Verbal: Harold Fannin

Federal League Player of the Year and First Team All-Ohio safety Harold Fannin of McKinley is headed to Bowling Green. https://t.co/wMe06PzZN4

— Josh Weir (@jweirREP) April 8, 2022

And the first known football verbal is in.  This is a good one.  Harold Fannin of Canton McKinley HS, a highly decorated player.  The Canon Repository has the story here, and it's a pretty good one.

His coach, Antonio Hall, says he is "the epitome of a football player."

More:

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Fannin — a safety and wide receiver who can play almost any position on the field — won player of the year awards from the Federal League and the Northeast Inland District this past fall. He earned first-team All-Ohio as a defensive back after making 106 tackles (82 solo) to go with two interceptions, six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and two defensive touchdowns.

Fannin also caught 36 passes for 601 yards. He snagged six touchdown receptions and ran for a 78-yard score. A dominant physical specimen who often overwhelmed opponents, he averaged 28.4 yards a kick return and 15.7 yards a punt return.

The article goes on to say that BG plans to play him at the "A" Tight End, which is the pass catching TE--the position played by Morris and Sims.  As noted, that position is moved all over the place to create mis-matches, which is the strategy of the Loeffler offense.

BG was his first offer.  The article says that he had academic issues during COVID, but has pulled them up now and wants to study construction management, which BG has a strong program in. 

Welcome to the Falcons, Harold.