Per Twitter, Dartmouth defensive back Isaiah Johnson has added Western Michigan to his growing transfer portal offer sheet.
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While Johnson's list of suitors has hit double figures, a story in The Athletic shared by a loyal subscriber reports the top target in the portal superstore right now might be another FCS defensive standout from the Northeast. Jared Verse, a 6-foot-4, 247-pound defensive end, has at least 30 schools pursuing him including Florida, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma, Texas and USC. Between the abbreviated spring season and this fall, Verse – a teammate at Albany of graduated Dartmouth running back Caylin Parker – had 21.5 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks among his 75 stops while also forcing two fumbles. He's made more appealing by the fact that he has three more seasons of eligibility.
Verse is the top name from the story in The Athletic headlined College football transfer portal top 25 best available: Tracking the hottest names looking for new homes. Also on the list is Cornell grad transfer Hunter Nourzad, ranked eighth with this capsule:
Who wouldn’t want an experienced Ivy League lineman on their team? Nourzad is a two-time All-Ivy League selection and was a second-team All- American in 2021. He has made 20 consecutive starts at right tackle and helped the Big Red finish with just nine sacks allowed in 10 games this season Nourzad was also a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy as one of the nation’s top scholar-athletes. It’s no surprise, then, that he has more than a dozen Power 5 offers, including half of the schools in the Big Ten.
Quarterback Connor Bazelak, son of former Dartmouth three-point basketball specialist Len Bazelak, is No. 24 after spending much of the past several seasons as the starter at Missouri.
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The Dartmouth's "Winterim" edition has a well-deserved appreciation of John Currier '79, the Thayer School research engineer who passed away in November. Currier was instrumental in the development of the MVP tackling dummy and a tremendous asset – as well as a friend – to a generation of Dartmouth football players interested in engineering. (LINK)
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From a Dartmouth press release:
Due to COVID-19 concerns and safety protocols at Dartmouth College, the Big Green women's basketball game against UMass on Tuesday, Dec. 28 and the men's basketball game against New Hampshire on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at Leede Arena have been postponed. No make-up dates have been announced, but all teams are committed to finding a date to play these games.
Dartmouth and the Ivy League continue to keep the safety of the student-athletes, staff and the greater communities at the forefront of its decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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EXTRA POINT
I'm sitting in the car using public wifi as I peck away on BGA Daily and wait for Mrs. BGA, who has an eye doctor appointment this morning. That Certain Nittany Lion '16, meanwhile, is back at our house. He sent along this photo of Griff the Wonder Dog holding down the fort underneath the desk at the BGA World Headquarters accompanied by this thought: "He's the saddest boy ever when you leave." Awww . . .
