Football Signees

BG has two more portal players coming in.

The first is Mateo Sudipo, a safety who has played at Coastal Carolina and Western Carolina.  He was a 2-star rated recruit who is listed as having an offer only from Coastal.  In 2021, he played for the Chanticleers, making 27 total tackles with 21 solo stops and six assists with 0.5 TFL on a sack, plus two passes defended in 2021.

He transferred to WCU, where he had a productive 2022 season:  46 tackles, 2 sacks, 6 passes defended.

In 2023, he suffered a season-ending injury, but bounced back in 2024 as 2nd-team All Southern Conference, with 3 INT.

PFF gave him outstanding grades last season. He had 71 overall, 73 in coverage and 68 on run defense.

The other is Isaiah Thomison.  He's transferring from Memphis, where he was a LB. He was a 3-star recruit, though Memphis and Navy where his only FBS offers.  He play one down (special teams) at Memphis.  His x post talks about getting "another chance."  Could be a backstory there.

He was a Mr. Football nominee from Divison I, Class 1A in Tennessee. He was All-State in the same classification.  Also a star basketball players.

Mateo..Isaiah....welcome to the Falcons.

Football Verbals....

There are two additional football signees over the last couple of days.

One is a FB named Leo Kemp, who transferred from UCLA and was at San Diego State the year before that. He's 5'11 and 220 pounds.  He played 21 games over those two years, catching 2 passes at SD State and playing mostly special teams for the Bruins.

He was a 3-4 star recruit out of HS, depending on who you watch.

We have had mixed relationships with FBs.  Sometimes we haven't had them at all.  A hybrid blocker and pass catcher can always fit.

The other is a QB...Hunter Najm. Was an early-enrollee at Washington State, did not play at all and then transferred.  He's 6'1".

He was not rated out of HS and was listed as a walk-on at WSU.

He appears to have been a dual-threat QB in HS...

• Amassed 3,744 career passing yards with 29 touchdowns
• Also rushed for 592 yards and 13 touchdowns
• His senior year he passed for 1,548 yards and 13 touchdowns, while rushing for 333 yards and eight more scores as he led Aliso Niguel to a 7-5 record and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division 8 playoffs
• Played in the Orange County All-State game as a senior

He is one of 5 QBs in the "QB Room."  Pyne, Anderson, Melvin, May, Najm.

BG Football Commits

BG has two more football verbals, as the portal continues to turn.  These are two highly recruited and ranked players...the first in a while.  Be interesting to see how their time at BG unfolds.

The first is WR Austin Clay.  Austin was at one point a verbal to BG (this is what I wrote about him at the time).  The original verbal was in June heading into his senior year.  Clearly, BG had found a guy on his way up, because Clay had an incredible senior season that ended up getting him recruited to MSU.

Here is where he was by the time he switched.

Ranked one of the top overall prospects in the state of Ohio by On3 (No. 40), 247Sports (No. 42) and ESPN.com (No. 48) . . . rated the second-best wide receiver in the state of Ohio for the Class of 2024 by 247Sports . . . first-team all-state selection in Division 1 by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association . . . tallied 49 catches for 739 yards and seven touchdowns for the Titans . . . collected 1,652 all-purpose yards after racking up 913 return yards with three touchdowns . . . named the Southwestern Conference Special Teams Player of the Year . . . first-team honoree on the Division 1 Northeast Lakes All-District Team .

He did not appear in a game for the Spartans in one year, but I'm certain he will for the Falcons.

 Next is Andrew Hines III, who is transferring from Wake Forest, where he was recruited by Dave Clawson. He's from Alpharetta, GA and was also a highly recruited player.  ESPN had him at 4 stars and 247 at 3.  Also, highly productive in HS.

Four-star recruit according to ESPN and the 27th-rated linebacker in the country…Named 2023 All-State in Georgia 6A while also earning First Team All-Region honors… Preseason Butkus Award Watch List member for the best high school linebacker in the country…Recorded 185 total tackles with 115 solo tackles and 22.0 tackles for loss during his career at Woodward Academy… Ended his career with 8.0 sacks, four hurries, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles and one blocked field goal… Posted 84 tackles including 59 solo tackles while having 10.0 tackles for loss, two interceptions, two pass deflections and a forced fumble during his senior season…Helped lead Woodward Academy to an 11-1 record in 2021, an 11-2 record in 2022 and a 12-3 record, leading Woodward to the Georgia 6A State Playoff Championship appearance.

He did not appear in a game at Wake Forest.

Both of these guys walk into positions of need.  Welcome to the Falcons, Austin and Andrew.  Note that the portal document in the sidebar is updated.

Additional FB Commits

I knew as soon as I posted the latest verbals there would be a couple more, and there was.  Both for football, as I understood it we have the basketball roster set for this season and I assume we are turning to high school players at this point.

For football, there were two players who have signed, one from Missouri and one from Memphis.

Austyn Dendy is a RB from Pine Bluff, AR.  He was with the Missouri Tigers, he played 2 snaps against Murray State, which was his only game time in one season there.  Presumably, that's a redshirt and he comes to BG as a FR.  At 6'0" and 220, he's a solid guy who can make yards in the MAC.  He's a really good athlete without much game experience.

He was an all-around player in HS.  He registered 83 rushes for 343 yards (4.13) with seven TDs, while adding 64 receptions for 937 yards (14.64) with 10 scores … also chipped in 279 kickoff and 43 punt return yards during senior season … on defense, finished with 30 tackles, 2.0 TFL, five INTs and one caused fumble in 20 games

He was also highly recruited.  A consensus three-star prospect by 247Sports.com, ESPN.com, and Rivals.com … charted as the No. 8, No. 10 and No. 10 prospect from the state of Arkansas according to 247Sports.com, ESPN.com and Rivals.com, respectively … listed as the No. 35 athlete nationally according to Rivals.com.

He was offered by Missouri, Arkansas State, Liberty, Memphis, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Purdue, Tulsa, UNLV and some FCS schools.

The other player is AJ Odom, a LB from Memphis.  He's 6'3" and 220 pounds. He redshirted his first year, played in all 13 games with one tackle his second year and then DNP at all last season.  The 23 snaps were almost all on special teams, getting a 57 grade from PFF.

•He was a three-star prospect by Rivals and ranked the 30th best overall prospect in Alabama.

Others:

• Also ranked the 98th best linebacker in the by 247Sports

• Ranked the 505th best recruit in the region by ESPN

• Region 6 Defensive Player of the Year

• Daily Mountain Eagle Defensive Player of the Year

• First-Team All-State

He was also highly recruited with offers from Arizona State, Army, FAU, Marshall, Southern Miss, Troy and UAB.

Welcome to the Falcons, Austyn and AJ. 

Football and MBB Verbals

 As the portal turns, a couple more players coming to BG.

The football player is Reis Stockdale, a WR from Ohio State.  Stockdale was a walk-on at OSU, but did make it to the field, playing 6 games and catching 1 pass.

Prior to that, he was an all-state WR at Little Miami High School in Morrow, OH.  There are gym rat vibes around this guy, which is the kind of guy who can thrive at BG.

The MBB player is Justin Thomas.  Justin has had an interesting career.   This will be his sixth school...Queens, Navarro, Milwaukee, UTSA and Florida State were the others.  That' s quite a journey.  Here's the thing...based on his FSU bio, he has two bachelor's degrees. That takes perseverance when you transfer every year.  

This guy has sleeper/glue guy on him, making like Humphrey played last year. He's 6'7" which is good added length for us on the wing.

First, let's look at Milwaukee, which was comparable competition.

Averaged 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 33 games played...shot .432 percent (82-of-190) from the field overall, .429 percent (24-of-56) from the 3-point line, and .684 percent (52-of-76) from the free throw line…a starter in 14 games.

I know you saw those 3FG stats.

With the Seminoles, he started 5 games last year and played in 32. He scored 4.8 PPG, had 2.3 RPG and 1.7 APG.  He made 33% from 3FG. That was done in 22 minutes per game.

Reis, Justin...welcome to the Falcons.

MBB Adds Colorado Transfer

 BG has added another transfer...my understanding is that they have one slot left.

This one is Javon Ruffin, from Colorado.  His Father, Michael Ruffin, played nine years in the NBA.  He is from NOLA, red-shirted his first year.  The next year, he scored 6 PPG.  In 23-24 he scored 2.1 PPG and had a knee injury in April.  It was expected to be season-ending, but he was cleared to play at mid-season.  He scored 5.6 PPG.  For his career, he shot 45% from 2FG and 33% from 3FG.  Free throws, he was 83%.  Assist to turnover was 100/86.

Some other notes.  He's 6'4" which is a nice size for a MAC guard.  

Welcome to the Falcons, Javon.

There still could be one more signed for next year.