BGSU recruitng class features 13 Ohio players (2-5-14)

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Dino Babers’ first football recruiting class at Bowling Green State University is highly invested in
players from Ohio.
Babers was hired to replace Dave Clawson in December. Clawson, BG’s head coach for five years, resigned
after the Falcons beat Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference championship game, to become the
head coach at Wake Forest.
‘‘We need to make sure to give credit, where credit is due,’’ Babers said about the recruiting class
announced Wednesday. ‘‘A majority of this class was recruited by coach Clawson, and his former staff …
In the interview process Chris Kingston (BG’s athletics director) made sure that we wanted to honor
every commit of everybody coach Clawson handed to him and said they were committed to Bowling Green
State University.
‘‘We did that to 100 percent of everybody that was on the list,’’ Babers added.
Babers said the players who had originally committed to Bowling Green under Clawson, banded together to
honor their commitments, after Clawson’s departure.
‘‘They started getting together on social media and spending a lot of time talking to each other, during
the interim process of when the university was looking for a new head football coach,’’ Babers said.
‘‘Once I was named head football coach, they kind of had their own little circle going. They kind of
adopted me into their circle, and let me know what was going on because they were interested in being
Falcons.
‘‘I am very proud of them. The character that they showed, what the word commitment means to them and
their parents, and the way they fought off late-comers who were trying to disrupt this football class,
was really astounding for people their age. It’s not normally done now days,’’ Babers continued. ‘‘There
are some leaders in that freshman class. I am not going to single out anyone. They took the forefront
… and kept that class together.’’
A total of 13 of the new recruits are from Ohio with three from Michigan and one from Florida.
‘‘This is our country. This is our land. This is the state we want to recruit,’’ Babers said about Ohio.
‘‘We need to live off of Ohio, the state of Ohio football players, and we are absolutely committed to
doing that.’’
Clayton Nichols, a quarterback who transferred from Texas Tech rounds out the class.
Florida has been a fertile recruiting ground for the Falcons in recent years, but wide receiver Clint
Stephens from Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens is the only Florida recruit this season. Dwyer
High School won the 2013 7A Florida state championship.
Nichols along with wide receiver Roger Lewis, defensive back Marcus Milton, and defensive back Nick
Johnson started classes in January. Both Lewis and Milton are from Pickerington Central and Jireh Prep
in Matthews, N.C., and Johnson, a first-team All-Ohio pick, is from Canton Timken.
Nichols will redshirt in the 2014 season.
Babers said the opportunity to practice with the team during spring drills will make a difference for the
early enrollees.
‘‘It gives them a very strong opportunity to be a leader and a contributor,’’ Babers said.
There are two quarterbacks, one wide receiver, three offensive and three defensive linemen, two
linebackers, and seven defensive backs in the recruiting class.
‘‘Defensive back was a big thing for us. We really had to concentrate on the secondary this year with the
graduations we had on defense,’’ Babers said.
Among the recruits are two players whose fathers played at Bowling Green.
Cody Callaway, a quarterback from Grafton Midview who was first-team All-Ohio as a junior, is the son of
former BGSU baseball player Dwayne Callaway. Cody Callaway also plans to play baseball with the Falcons.

Tyler King, a defensive tackle from Lakewood St. Edward, is the son of Dan King who lettered three years
in football for the Falcons in the 1990s. Tyler King was a first-team All-Ohio pick for the 2013 season.

Others earning all-state honors were Nilijah Ballew, a defensive back from Cincinnati Walnut Hills, and
Trevahn Beery, a defensive back from Norwayne High School in Creston. Both were second-team All-Ohio
selections.
Also Jack Walz III, a defensive back from Lakewood St. Edward, has been selected to play in Ohio’s
North-South all-star game.
‘‘Some of the things that we look for are young men with great leadership ability and winning programs.
That tells you that they know what it takes, so to speak. Now you just have to make sure your evaluation
process is correct, and that they fit into the things you do offensively and defensively,’’ Babers said.

Bowling Green’s football program announced it’s recruiting class Wednesday.
The recruits are: Nilijah Ballew, defensive back, 6-foot-2, 196 pounds, Cincinnati (Walnut Hills);
Trevahn Beery, defensive back, 6-1, 175, Creston Norwayne); Cody Callaway, quarterback, 6-3, 195,
Graftom Midview; Jalen Dingle, linebacker, 6-2, 215, Detroit (South Lake); Ben Hale, 6-2, 187, Columbus
(St. Charles); Nick Johnson*, defensive back, 6-2, 183, Canton (Timken Senior);
Tyler King, defensive tackle, 6-2, 285, Lakewood (St. Edward); Austin Labus, offensive line, 6-6, 300,
Portage, Mich. (Portage Northern); Roger Lewis* wide receiver, 6-3, 200, Pickerington (Pickerington
Central/Jireh Prep);
Marcus Milton*, defensive back, 6-1, 185, Pickerington (Pickerington Central/Jireh Prep); Isiah Moore,
offensive line, 6-3, 280, Tiffin (Tiffin Columbian); Brian Sanders, defensive line, 6-4, 230, Detroit
(Cass Tech);
Griff Saunders, linebacker, 6-3, 215, Columbus (St. Francis De Sales); Clint Stephens, wide receiver,
5-9, 170, West Palm Beach, Fla. (Dwyer); Jack Walz III, defensive back, 6-0, 190, Lakewood (St. Edward);

De’Angelo Ware, offensive line, 6-5, 320, Cleveland Heights (Cleveland Heights); and Chance Weltz,
defensive tackle, 6-3, 250, Elida (Elida).
* enrolled at BGSU in January 2014.
+ In addition, Clayton Nichols, quarterback, 6-3, 126, Abliene, Texas (Cooper) a transfer from Texas Tech
is enrolled at BGSU.

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