Tag Archives: Transfer Portal

Transfer Portal’s Impact on BGSU

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By: Sam Morris

Sam Morris is from Madison Heights, Michigan, and is an undergraduate student at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. He has a passion for sports writing and journalism. In his free time, he also performs, writes, and produces his own rap music.

November 15, 2024

Transfer Portal Background Info

Sports law experts at Greenspoon Marder say that “the transfer portal has become a free agency bonanza.” Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is no exception to this trend, as its 18 varsity sports have all used the transfer portal in 2024.

Since its creation in 2018, tens of thousands of student-athletes have used the portal. According to NPR, the NIL rule in 2022 has increased the applicant pool even more in the past two years.

Football is one of the sports for which the portal has gained the most attention. BGSU football has used it to turn their program around.

Falcon Football and Blane Cleaver

After spending three years at Army West Point, Blane Cleaver, senior tight end for the Falcons, became one of the many BGSU football transfers this past offseason.

Blane Cleaver, BGSU Falcons senior tight end

“I decided to step away (because) the balance between trying to play division one football with academics and the military was pretty challenging; and I just wanted a fresh start,” said Cleaver.

He got that fresh start with the Falcons after entering a chaotic April transfer portal process.

“I talked to between 20-30 schools,” he said. “I had calls, texts, (and) voicemails from the moment I woke up to dinner time.” 

He eventually narrowed it down to three schools. He made his final decision after coming to Bowling Green for a visit.

“When I got to campus, I really liked everything I saw,” said Cleaver.

He believes the transfer portal is a huge positive for mid-sized schools like BGSU.

“If someone’s at Ohio State and they’re not playing, it’s very easy for them to take a step back to a bit of a smaller school, or guys at an FCS can take that step up and make an impact as well,” he said.

BGSU football has seen both cases recently impact their team. Former Indiana quarterback, Connor Bazelak, is now BGSU’s starting quarterback. Former Samford cornerback, Jordan Oladokun, is one of BGSU’s top defenders.

Falcon Hockey and Owen Ozar

Owen Ozar, senior forward for BGSU Hockey

BGSU hockey has also been impacted by the transfer portal recently, getting Owen Ozar, a senior forward from Denver, in the last offseason.

“I chose to come to Bowling Green because they showed that they had a lot of interest in me,” said Ozar.

He had a similar reason for transferring as Cleaver but went through a much quicker transfer portal process.

“I decided to tell the (Denver) coaches that I was going to try to go to a different school because I wanted to play more,” he said. “After that exit meeting, within a day or two, I was in the transfer portal. Then, two or three days after that, I committed to Bowling Green.”

Ozar also believes the transfer portal has been a positive for BGSU hockey in recent years.

“Last year, we picked up two fifth-years that ended up being some of our top goal scorers. This year, we picked up a lot of good players as well, like Jackson Niedermayer from Arizona State,” he said.

Unlike football, small schools like Denver compete for national championships in hockey. Ozar believes that these are the teams mid-sized schools like BGSU can target.

“There are a lot of good hockey players on those teams that just don’t get the opportunity. I think schools like Bowling Green can take those players and use them to their advantage,” said Ozar.    

A BGSU Student Perspective

While student-athletes largely see the transfer portal in a positive light, the public opinion is more of a mixed bag.

Josh Lalik, BGSU freshman SM student

Josh Lalik, a BGSU freshman sport management student, believes there are both pros and cons of the transfer portal.

“I think it’s overall been a positive, but there have definitely been negative impacts,” said Lalik. “A Group of Five guy like Grayson McCall could have a great season and move on to bigger and better things.”

The McCall example Lalik gives put Coastal Carolina football at a major disadvantage. Their star player left, and they could do nothing about it.

Another major negative of the transfer portal is that it is extremely risky. Some athletes get stuck in a situation where they do not end up landing at a new school at all.

Conclusion

Like most other trends in sports, the NCAA transfer portal will continuously evolve. There are some negatives, but the overall sentiment from the athletes themselves is that it is a positive for collegiate athletics.

The M.A.C: A Conference Fighting Against the Odds

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The M.A.C Logo

By: Sam Morris

Sam Morris is from Madison Heights, Michigan, and is an undergraduate student at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. He has a passion for sports writing and journalism. In his free time, he also performs, writes, and produces his own rap music.

November 9, 2024

The culture of the 2020’s NCAA has been dominated by the creation and use of the transfer portal, million-dollar N.I.L deals, and conference realignment, and it is hurting the M.A.C’s ability to compete…..or is it?

NCAA Transfer Portal

The first element of the 2020’s NCAA is the transfer portal, which allows college athletes to choose wherever they want to go in the NCAA if they don’t like or want to be at the first school they picked. This has affected every team and every conference in the NCAA, as THOUSANDS of athletes a year enter the portal, including an all-time high of 20,911 athletes in 2022, and that’s just in Division 1!

The transfer portal has created “super-teams” within the Power 4 conferences but has left smaller conferences, like the M.A.C, constantly searching for players. Although MAC schools occasionally get Power 4 players in the portal, such as Bowling Green landing former Arizona State shooting guard Braelon Green, it is ultimately a much rarer feat than if the school was in a Power-4 conference to start.

Braelon Green (left) blocking a Utah player’s shot while on Arizona State

What often happens instead is M.A.C schools pick up other mid-tier conference players or Division 2/JUCO players in the portal who are looking for a better opportunity, which makes the program weaker overall while increasing the talent level of top-tier programs. This creates a constantly growing talent gap between the mid-tier conferences like the M.A.C and the Power 4 conferences.

N.I.L Deals

Huge N.I.L deals are also dominating the sphere of college athletics, with some athletes, such as Duke basketball’s standout forward, Cooper Flagg, getting an estimated 2.6 million dollars in N.I.L money this year. Whereas, the top 5 N.I.L deals given to M.A.C school, Ball State’s basketball team combined with the top 5 N.I.L deals given to Ball State’s football team, didn’t even hit the million mark. This is a huge problem in recruiting for M.A.C schools because they are at a disadvantage with how much money they can spend on athletics compared to the bigger schools.

Cooper Flagg dribbling up the court

Conference Realignment

On top of the N.I.L and transfer portal creating talent gaps in college athletics, there is a physical gap occurring with conference realignment. This is perhaps the biggest current threat to the M.A.C as they could easily see their conference get torn apart like Conference USA, the American, or even the Power 4 ACC. What would be even worse is if the M.A.C eventually disbands with all of their schools going elsewhere. If it happened to the once powerful PAC-12, why couldn’t it happen to the M.A.C, one of the smallest and weakest financial conferences in America.

Map of conference realignment

M.A.C Football Fighting Back

With all of this being said, the M.A.C is refusing to give up. In fact, they are thriving in many ways. They are currently the ONLY Division 1 conference to not significantly alter the teams in their conference. So far, they have not lost a single team to another conference and have in fact added former FBS-Independent UMASS to their conference starting in the 2025-2026 season. This silver lining should give the M.A.C hope that they can in fact compete with other conferences going forward.

Northern Illinois coach, Thomas Hammock, crying tears of joy after beating #10 ranked Notre Dame

As for the talent gap that continues to grow, this may just be a phenomenon that makes sense on paper but isn’t true in real life. Despite the transfer portal and N.I.L deals making M.A.C teams theoretically weaker, it sure hasn’t seemed like this is the case in the 2024-2025 football season. Northern Illinois, that was picked to finish tied for 3rd in the M.A.C, beat #10 Notre Dame in South Bend in week 2 of the season. This made national headlines and eventually ended up with Northern Illinois ranked in the top 25 for a few weeks. Bowling Green State University (currently tied with Ohio, Miami (OH), and Western Michigan for first place in the M.A.C.), took #8 Penn State and #24 Texas A&M down to the wire, losing both games by only one score, and leading most of both contests as well.

Pros from the M.A.C

Maybe the most important evidence that the M.A.C is not close to being finished is that with all of the disadvantages that they seem to face, they are still producing high-quality professional players and graduates in a multitude of sports.

Raiders DE, Maxx Crosby, grimacing

In the NFL, Eastern Michigan alumni, Maxx Crosby, defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders, is a 3-time Pro Bowler and 2-time All-Pro. In 6 years with the silver and black, he has 222 tackles, 99 tfl’s, and 58.5 sacks. His also consistently ranked in the NFL’s top 100 list, reaching a peak of #10 in 2023.

Yankees INF/OF, Jon Berti, making a throw from third base

In the MLB, Bowling Green alumni, Jon Berti, a versatile utilityman, went to the 2024 World Series with the New York Yankees. He also held the stolen base crown with the Miami Marlins in 2022 by stealing 41 bags. He did so in 102 games, the fewest games a stolen base leader has had in MLB History!

Pacers forward/center, Enrique Freeman (far right), celebrating after a play

In the NBA, Ryan Rollins (Toledo) is a third-string guard for the Milwaukee Bucks, Richaun Holmes (Bowling Green) is a 10-year NBA veteran and third-string center for the Washington Wizards, and Enrique Freeman (Akron) is a backup rookie forward/center for the Indiana Pacers.

Overall, I believe the M.A.C will continue to fight against the transfer portal and N.I.L phenomenon’s if they stick together and don’t abandon the conference in realignment. The widespread success of M.A.C football this year and of M.A.C players in pro sports is also a good sign that the M.A.C will continue to fight against the odds and hopefully stay strong together.