
Ball State Football: Inside the Spring Transfer Portal Moves of the Cardinals
It’s been a busy offseason for
Ball State
football under new head coach Mike Uremovich, and the spring transfer portal window was no different.
After
welcoming in 16 transfers during the winter transfer portal window
that opened at the end of the season, the Cardinals added 18 more new faces from the spring portal window to bring its total number of incoming transfers to 34. In addition to 16 high school signees and three walk-ons, Ball State has welcomed 53 new players since
Uremovich
was hired as head coach in December.
After the winter portal window,
The Star Press highlighted quarterback, pass catcher and defensive back
as the positions most heavily impacted by portal movement. Now, here’s a look at three positions most heavily impacted by the spring transfer portal movement:
Tight end
-
Transfers Out/Off Roster:
Christian Abney (Illinois), Carson Neu (Lake Erie College), Preston Ross (Furman), Jeffrey Simmons, Max Sullivan -
Transfers In:
Ben Dutton (Washington State), Koby Gross (Florida A&M), Tate Hoover (Hutchinson CC)
One of Ball State’s biggest losses of the offseason was the departure of the record-breaking Tanner Koziol, who put together the best single-season receiving performance by a tight end in school history with 94 catches for 839 yards and eight touchdowns. Ball State did add one tight end during the winter portal window — Butler transfer Drew Cassens — but the Cardinals continued overhauling their tight end room after the departure of Christian Abney, Koziol’s primary backup, to Illinois.
Ball State added a pair of all-conference tight ends from the spring portal. As a redshirt senior, Florida A&M transfer Koby Gross brings some good experience to the tight end room. The 6-foot-2, 245-pounder was named second-team All-Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2024 after catching 24 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns in 2024. Meanwhile, Tate Hoover brings championship-winning pedigree to the table as a member of the 2024 NJCAA national champions at Hutchinson CC. Hoover was named first-team all-conference by the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference as a fullback and profiles as a blocking tight end/h-back in Uremovich’s run heavy offense.
Washington State transfer Ben Dutton didn’t see any playing time through two seasons with the Cougars but impressed on the scout team. The redshirt sophomore should provide solid depth to the tight end corps early on and could make more of an impact down the road.
Defensive line
-
Transfers Out/Off Roster:
DE Dantu Gardner Jr. (Butler), DT L’Cier Luter (Florida International), DT Kyran Montogmery, DT Dion Smith II -
Transfers In:
DT Ameir Glenn (Wake Forest), DT Reese Hill (Purdue), DE George Okorie (Vanderbilt), DT Spencer Vaka (Dodge City CC), DT Khristian Zachary (Alabama A&M)
After adding two defensive lineman during the winter portal window, Ball State seemed to prioritize building its depth in the trenches in the spring window with five new additions to the D-line. Although the Cardinals were very active at the position, most of the players added feel more like potential future contributors than immediate starters.
The most experienced of the bunch is redshirt senior Khristian Zachary. He earned playing time during his freshman and sophomore seasons at Liberty but has bounced around since then, spending the 2023 season at Southern before joining Alabama A&M in 2024, where he appeared in just one game last season. Zachary initially committed to Texas Southern but re-entered the portal in the spring window and landed at Ball State. Now in his final season of eligibility, Zachary could push fellow redshirt seniors Scott Hudson and Hunter Sanderson for playing time in the defensive interior next to Drew Hughes, another redshirt senior who anchored the unit last season.
Spencer Vaka joined linebacker Micah Wing as Ball State’s second pickup out of Dodge City CC this offseason. He was a productive player as a redshirt freshman for Dodge City, compiling 18 tackles, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery last season. Adjusting to the D-I level from JUCO will take some time, but Vaka’s early career productivity is a good sign for his future in Muncie.
Ameir Glenn, Reese Hill and George Okorie will all join Ball State with four years of eligibility remaining. Glenn and Hill both spent one season at their respective schools and earned redshirts after not seeing playing time. Okorie, on the other hand, is a very enticing prospect. Born in Nigeria, he never played high school football but has spent the last few years training in America and Canada. Okorie transferred to Ball State after spending spring practices at Vanderbilt and has excited the staff with his impressive physical traits. Still extremely raw as a player, Okorie’s development as an edge rusher is something to watch for in the future.
Special teams
-
Transfers Out/Off Roster:
K Jackson Courville (Ohio State), K Hunter Liszka, P Brian Cooey Jr. (graduated) -
Transfers In:
K DC Pippin (Southeast Missouri State), P Adam Saul (Washington)
With the graduation of punter Brian Cooey Jr. and the departure of kicker Jackson Courville to the reigning national champions, Ball State needed to replace both of its specialists ahead of the 2025 season. Missouri transfer Brady Boehm joined the fold during the winter portal window and is listed on the Ball State roster as a kicker/punter, but the Cardinals added further reinforcements in the spring.
Former Washington punter Adam Saul was Ball State’s first committed player from the spring transfer portal. He did not see game action during two seasons at Washington but was an impressive punter at the JUCO level for El Camino College. In 2022, he averaged 42.4 yards on 55 punts over 11 games and was named to the Southern California Football Association All-Central League second team. With two redshirt freshmen — Boehm and Cole Stumbaugh — as the only other punters rostered, the experienced leg figures to win the punting job.
Ball State made a big splash at kicker to replace Courville by signing Southeast Missouri State transfer DC Pippin. A three-year starter at SEMO, Pippin was named an AP FCS first-team All-American in 2024 after leading the FCS with 26 made field goals. He also earned first-team all-Big South-Ohio Valley Conference honors and was recognized as Placekicker of the Year by the FCS Athletic Directors Association. Redshirt junior Carson Holmer remains in the fold at kicker, but Pippin seems like the most likely starting kicker for the Cardinals this season when considering his résumé.
Contact Cade Hampton via email at
cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com
or on X, formerly known as Twitter,
@CadeHamp10
.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press:
Ball State football: Breaking down the Cardinals spring transfer portal activity
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