It wasn’t very long ago when a transfer athlete was either a man with a special set of skills prioritized by the coaching staff, or a splash “get” to send a ripple through the fan base. The Arkansas State Red Wolves have had their share of the latter – Michael Dyer, Cameron Echols-Luper and King Mwikuta are guys that piqued a ton of interest, but for a variety of fun reasons didn’t work out for anyone.
Now that the portal floodgates are pried wide open, more transfer athletes are landing key roles and making significant contributions. In recent years, A-State transfers athletes like Justin McInnis, Eddie Smith, Charles Willekes, and James Blackman have met or exceeded expectations, allowing head coach Butch Jones to give proper developmental time to high school recruits.
Last year, the Sun Belt as a conference greatly benefited from the transfer infusion: Jordan McCloud, Joey Aguilar, Carter Bradley, Chris Lewis, TJ Finley, Joey Hobert, and Davis Brin were among many transfers who saw their star shine on Sun Belt gridirons.
Who will arrive this season to punch a dent in the SBC universe? I reached out to the most powerful voices in the Sun Belt for answers.
Appalachian State Mountaineers
Andres Dewerk from USC. App is turning over a lot from the OL (especially considering the tragic death of Jack Murphy) and Dewerk is one of several OL transfers who are designed to be a plug and play. Plus, you can’t teach 6’7″, 340 lbs.
– Thomas “TK From the Paper” Sherrill
Troy Trojans
The main transfer I’m excited about is Marquez Dortch coming in from Cal. With Chris Lewis’ status for 2024 still up in the air, Troy needs a ready-to-play weapon available for Goose Crowder. His talent will be put to the test alongside guys like Devonte Ross and Troy native Jywon Boyd.
– Ben “Ben On Sports” Whitehead
Texas State Bobcats
Jordan McCloud (James Madison), for sure. 2023 Sun Belt OPY. One of four QBs to toss for 3,500 yards and 35 TDs last year. The other four were Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix and Bo Nix. Put that with the top offense in the Belt last year and there will be fireworks.
– Keff “Win Now Or Get Bent” Ciardello
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
QB Tate Rodemaker (Florida State) is the flashy answer. But will he win the starting job? No idea. OL Zack Conti (Eastern Michigan) is the least flashy answer, but he’ll log a ton of high value snaps. LB Ryan Johnson is a good in-between pick. He’ll be in the rotation for a LB group that desperately needs experience.
ULM Warhawks
General Booty (Oklahoma) just generates a comment on name alone. Whether that translates to success on the field though is still TBD.
– Dusty “Warhawk Report” Thibodeaux
South Alabama Jaguars
Ladarius Webb Jr, safety from OK State. He emerged from spring as the starting nickel safety, which is a position of great importance in South Alabama’s 4-2-5 defense. It’s also a position of great need following the departure of 3-year starter Yam Banks to Ole Miss. Webb isn’t very big, but showed excellent athleticism and ball skills in the spring.
Old Dominion Monarchs
Diante Vines, WR from Iowa. Our passing game was the weak point last year. We gave up too many sacks, we missed too many throws, dropped too many balls and it simply wasn’t effective enough. It was the difference between us just being a 6-win bowl team and a true contender for the conference title. Diante has the speed, experience and talent to be a true number 1 wide receiver this year and can hopefully make the passing game a more effective tool for us. He had a great spring and is showing leadership in practice/workouts and has the drive to be that guy. But only time will tell.
James Madison Dukes
North Texas RB transfer Ayo Adeyi could be one of the best players in the Sun Belt. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 7.1 per carry last season and should take a lot of pressure off the other offensive newcomers.
– Shane “Daily News Record” Mettlen
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Noah Kim is a transfer QB from Michigan State. He has a lot of potential and I believe he can definitely help at that position to replace Grayson McCall. He can run and has excellent passing ability! I believe he started 10 games at Michigan State.
Arkansas State Red Wolves
The answer should undoubtedly be someone on defense – there are more departures there, more question marks, and more opportunities for a newcomer to shine. But I like points, so I’m going with WR Reggie Harden (Benedict College). At 6’5, Harden brings in some size at the receiver position that has been lacking over the past few seasons. The offense is already going to be good, but having that rangy guy to put on the sideline or in the back of the endzone to outreach the SBC corners could take the offensive production to the next level. There will be catches up for grabs with Jeff Foreman out of eligibility and in the NFL, and Harden – or maybe Malik Hornsby – should be able to help fill that void. Harden had a solid spring, and finished with 3 receptions for 40 yards and a TD in the spring game. If he can adjust to the speed and physicality at the D1 level after spending last year at D2 Benedict College, then this receiving corps should be a lot of fun to watch.
Georgia Southern Eagles
We got two transfers that excite us the most: WR LV Bunkley-Shelton from Oklahoma is a potential home run threat and will keep the defenses from doubling up on Derwin Burgess, and TE Tyler Fromm from Auburn, great target for our QB, should force mismatches against opposing defenses.
Georgia State Panthers
I will swerve since it’s always the QB no matter what and that can get boring – CB Sam McCall from Texas A&M. He’s got by far the best HS prospect grade (a 97 on 247) of any player that’s come to GSU and his success would work two ways. One, it’d show other formerly top recruits they can come to GSU, play and earn attention/accolades for it and, two, it’d give credence to Dell McGee’s strategy of going after those type of players and having it pay off for the program’s benefit
Brady “PantherTalk.com” Weiler
Louisiana Ragin Cajuns
Excited about Fitzgerald West (LSU) returning to Lafayette to play for his hometown Ragin’ Cajuns. Fitzgerald is one of a little more than a handful of transfers into the program, but outside of their new punter (Nathan Torney), will immediately contribute to the Cajuns defensive line. Louisiana rotates their defensive tackles in and out of the game, but Fitzgerald is expected to start and anchor what is supposed to be one of the better units on the entire Cajuns squad.
David “Locked On Sun Belt” Schultz
Marshall Thundering Herd
The wide receiver group as a whole has been revamped from last year, and the Herd needed it. New weapons in a new offensive system give the Thundering Herd plenty of weapons to work with but Christian Fitzpatrick (Michigan State) is by far the most intriguing prospect. Marshall hasn’t had a downfield threat in several years, but have worked mostly out of the slot position. Fitzpatrick’s combination of size and strength gives the Herd quarterbacks a new, exciting threat. He flashed some of that in the spring game.
Luke “The Herald-Dispatch” Creasy
Thank You, Bad Ass Sun Belt Media Community
Covering the Sun Belt isn’t the most glamorous college sports beat, but it is comprised of the best (and in my opinion, glamorous) people in college sports. Thanks to everyone of you beautiful bastards who participated. You are all scholars and gentlepeople.
PHOTO CREDIT: Me me me
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