BG MBB Gains New Verbal

𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝘽𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙣: EJay Greer

🏀6-foot-8, Wing
🏀Incoming Freshman from Rocktop Academy
🏀Averaged 25.1 points per game, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals with Rocktop#AyZiggy https://t.co/KAf9obV4UI

— BGSU Men's Basketball (@BGSUMBB) June 13, 2023

So, BG has what I believe is their final addition to the roster, unless one of the previous guys was a PWO, which I doubt.

This young man is also very interesting.  His name is EJay Greer, and he's a 6'8" wing.  He comes from the Rocktop Academy, which is in Pennsylvania.  These post-grad prep schools are becoming more prevalent---you can get the idea here. It's worth a read.

The idea is that you are immersed in a basketball environment.  Any academics are done online. 

Todd Simon was head coach at one --Findlay Prep, which was one of the first in this category.  Not sure if he had contacts that made this happen, but it certainly seems to be possible.

Here's an email that Rocktop sent out to encourage schools to recruit Ejay.  According to this, he had offers from Manhattan, FIU, UAB and NJIT.

There are references to him being the top postgrad player in the country, but I couldn't find where that came from.

Look, he has put up bonker numbers.  He grew a lot during HS, which leads to bigger guys with guard skills. How that translates remains to be seen.  

For example, Bernie Blunt at Rocktop averaged 29 at Rocktop, went to Quinnipiac, played 11 games and then transferred to a JUCO.  AJ Burnett is playing NAIA. Torrin Andrews plays JUCO...along with others from this article.

These are not predictions, of course.  EJay has solid academics, D1 offers and his Dad was a hall of fame player at East Stroudsburg State.  I think an upbeat style at Rocktop is assumed, but that's what he will see here as well.  Coach Simon says he will be a tough matchup--and if his skills translate, he surely will be.

Welcome to the Falcons, EJay.

So.  14 players on the roster.  Don't forget about Jamai Felt.  Was injured last year but was making a real impression before that. Here is how it looks:

Wings:

• Ejay Greer (FR, Rocktop Academy)
• Da'Shawn Phillip (Sr, Maryland Eastern-Shore)
• P.J. Edwards (So, UCF)

Guards:

• DaJion Humphrey (Sr, JUCO)
• Trey Thomas (Sr. Vanderbilt)
• Marcus Hill (Jr., JUCO)
• D.J. Smith (So, UALR)
• Anthony McComb III (So, holdover)
•  JZ Zaher, (So, EMU, walk-on) 

Forwards:

• Rashaun Agee, (Sr. holdover) 
• Jason Spurgin (Sr, Southern Utah)
• Sam Towns (Sr. holdover)
• Greg Spurgin (So)
• Jamai Felt (R-FR, holdover)

Football Gets TE Commit for '24

1000% Committed! @CoachLoefflerBG @CoachBWhite7 @CHaaseBGSU pic.twitter.com/hbmsp591tD

— Jaylin Ballew (@JBallew23) June 11, 2023

So, the football team has its first commit for '24, so far as I know.  This is an interesting one.  

Jaylin Ballew is a TE from Brooklyn, NY, where he attends Erasmus Hall.  Currently, his 247 lists him as unrated, but also reports him as having offers from the Other Miami, Rutgers, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M.  People started offering him when he was a freshman. He had an offer from UConn and Bethune-Cookman recently. 

He scored a TD in their championship game in December. 

He was on Lemming's radar.

Brooklyn Erasmus hall HS has a storied tradition in football and this year boast 3 big-time talents including TE/WR Jaylin Ballew 6'3" 210 class of 2024. good hands, excellent body control and a great first step. Knows how to get open. 3.3 GPA.@JBallew23 productive and reliable pic.twitter.com/xQw08fIl3s

— Tom Lemming (@LemmingReport) October 21, 2022

FWIW, Erasmus Hall was also the HS of Armon Bethea, an OL who transferred to BG from Arizona State and will be on the team this year.  There's another Bethea player there right now, as well.

He's 6'3" and 210.  

Welcome to the Falcons, Jaylin.

BG Lands Potentially Significant OL Transfer from Iowa State

Beyond to be able to say I have committed to Bowling Green State University @CoachGregNosal pic.twitter.com/pAu3Whe7qs

— Hunter Deyo (@DeyoHunter) May 30, 2023

 Well, BG has landed a new transfer, and this one has the potential to be a big one.  Not just a big one...an important one.  Depending on how you feel about recruiting ratings, he's one of the best players we have had here in the era where we have ratings.

His name is Hunter Deyo, and he is transferring from Iowa State.  The Des Moines Register said that he was one of the top-rated recruits the Cyclones had ever had, for that matter.

He was rated with 4-stars and chose Iowa State over Iowa and Arkansas, among numerous other suitors. He was listed as the 38th-best defensive lineman nationally and fourth-best player in Iowa by 247Sports.  He was picked as the 26th-best defensive tackle nationally and fourth-best player in Iowa by Rivals and On3.  He was three-time first team all-state selection by the IPSWA and Des Moines Register and named to the 2021 Des Moines Register Elite Team.  As a senior, he tallied 4.5 tackles and 2.5 TFL in the state championship game… he also tallied 42.5 tackles, including 16 TFL, and ran for a touchdown in 2021 … led Class 3A in TFL (22.5) as a junior … also had 38 tackles and 3.5 sacks … amassed 45.5 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 26.5 TFL as a sophomore … tallied 43.5 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 13.5 TFL as a freshman.

Woof.  That's some production.  Now when he got to Ames, they moved him to the OL.  He didn't play at all his first year and then apparently didn't play in the Spring Game and then went into the portal.  His Twitter announcement (above) indicates he is still looking at the o-line.  At ISU, he was listed as 6'2" and 280.

O-line remains one of the biggest questions for the BG team.  The 2021 line was a nightmare.  BG was 11th in pass blocking and 12th in run blocking.  The 2022 line was better, but still far from championship level.  BG moved up from 9th in pass blocking and 11th in run blocking (via PFF). 

Jakari Robinson and Jalen Grant are gone from that line.  Cade Zimmerly was injured last year and Tunde Fatuski was in a split time role.  

But Deyo and Armon Bethea, both coming from P5 programs, have the potential to help get the line up to at least MAC average.  If running the ball is going to be a priority, run blocking has to get better.

Welcome to the Falcons, Hunter.

BG MBB Gets Transfer

 I have no information, but I am assuming this young man is a PWO as he was at EMU.  His name is Joey Zaher, and he's from Fenton, MI, the home of Todd Simon.  PWO in the sense that his Uncle owns the Detroit Pistons, so presumably he can afford tuition.  He played 2 minutes last year for EMU and averaged 4 PPG as a senior in HS.  FWIW, he is pinning his recruiting on being a maniacal hard worker.

Welcome to the Falcons, Joey.

Football Announces Nine New Players

 Most of which had already been discovered on Twitter.  There were two new names and one "new" name.

The "new" name is Davon Ferguson, who is returning to BG.  This is tremendous news.  Ferguson is a transfer from Kansas who has been star-crossed by injuries, playing 8 games his first year and 2 last year.  Notwithstanding that, he has been one of our best players on defense through that time, and we definitely have a spot for him.  He had transferred to Georgia Southern, that didn't work out for some reason and he's back in BG.

Chris Akporoghene is an OL transferring from Tulsa.  Before that, he was at Tennessee for 3 years. He's 6'3" and 310, and played 10 games in one year at Tulsa and 7 in 3 years at Tennessee.  Most of his snaps have been on kick protection.  He played only 14 offensive snaps last year, in a game against Jacksonville State.  He was a three-star recruit who played at IMG his senior year.  He had offers in HS from almost two dozen P5 schools and 33 in total.  If he can help, we need it, having lost our two best lineman from last year.

Evan Branch-Haynes, he is a DL who is 6'2" and 300. He played for two years at Arizona and has three years left to play.  He played 4 games for the Wildcats.  He was all-state in HS as a sophomore, all-conference as a junior and then lost a season to COVID. He had offers from Fresno, Montana State and Stetson, in addition to Arizona.

Welcome or Welcome Back, Davon, Chris and Evan.

BG MBB Gets Transfer

Players continue to come through the portal to the BG MBB program.  Greg Spurgin is the 8th, leaving BG with 12 scholarship players for next year, assuming everyone we have announced is on scholarship.

Greg is the brother of Jason Spurgin, who played for Coach Simon at USU and announced his transfer to BG earlier.

Greg is 6'7" and Coach Simon says he is an "up and coming stretch forward" who can play the offense we envision, which is a 4-out spread offense.  If you are interested, and I mean REALLY interested, here is an hour+ seminar by Simon on the attack.

Greg was at Westminster College in Salt Lake City for two years.  He red-shirted one year and then played sparingly last year.  Last ye forget, the Spurgins are from Australia.

Welcome to the Falcons, Greg.

BG Nets 2 WR Transfers

BG has a couple commits at WR...both are transfers, could be scholarship could be PWO...

The first is Finn Hogan.  He's 6'5" and 190 and is transferring from CMU. He started there as PWO.  He red-shirted and did play last year, with 19 catches and 6 starts, one TD. According to PFF, he played wide and in the slot and was most effective in middle-distance routes.

He was all-state in Michigan, first team.  He also won the 400 yard dash and was the Traverse City Record-Eagle Male Athlete of the Year.  He's from Maple City.

Jaylon Tillman is a transfer from Grand Valley State. He's 6'0". Grand Valley is a highly successful DII program and they were 12-1 last year.  He is originally from Plainfield, IL, also the home of RayJ Dennis. As a senior in HS, he caught 18 catches for 11 TDs and 29 yards per catch to be the team MVP.  At GVSU he caught 31 passes last year, 18 yards per catch and 4 Tds.

Welcome to the Falcons, Jaylon and Finn.