In college basketball, the transfer portal and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) eligibility rules have changed the way programs build their rosters. Unlike in the past, transfer players are given immediate eligibility if its their time transferring.
Ball State dipped its toe in the transfer portal this past offseason, adding three players in a span of April to June.
Junior guard Tyler Cochran, senior guard Demarius Jacobs and junior forward Mickey Person Jr are all first-year Cardinals. Cochran spent his first two years at Northern Illinois, where he averaged 15.5 points in 2020-21. Jacobs comes over from Saint Louis, where he made 29 starts in 68 games, while Person Jr played in 19 games for Texas Chrisitan in 2020-21.
Head coach James Whitford noticed distinguished traits in all three while recruiting them.
“It would be different for every position,” Whitford said. “If I summed it up, someone who's really talented and someone who has high competitive character, someone who's a great competitor and a great teammate.”
The Cardinals return eight scholarship players from the 2020-21 season, while also welcoming three freshmen in the 2021 recruiting class (center Peyton Sparks, guard Jalen Sellars and forward Basheer Jihad).
From a leadership standpoint, Whitford said the Cardinals will keep most ‘in-house,’ but has been impressed with a mixture of returning players and leading in their own way.
“I think you know, Luke (Bumbalough), Miryne (Thomas) and Blake (Huggins), guys that have been here,” Whitford said. “But Peyton Sparks, Jalen Sellars and Tyler, those guys all kind of really stand out to me in their own way.”
After a 70-69 exhibition loss against Michigan Tech Nov. 3, Ball State Men’s Basketball begins its season Nov. 9, as they travel to face Georgia Southern.
Against the Huskies, Ball State started junior guard Luke Bumbalough, Cochran, Jacobs, redshirt senior forward Miryne Thomas and freshman center Payton Sparks.
Bumbalough and Thomas each averaged 7.3 points in 2020-21, which is tied for highest among returners. As the Cardinals prepare for the season, Whitford doesn’t know what the Cardinals identity is offensively.
“I know we're going to become a good offensive team, although we're not right now,” Whotford said. “I think we're still searching for it in the offense.”
Although the offense is still influx, Whitford knows what the Cardinals are capable of becoming defensively and believes they will figure it out in the early stages of the season.
“I think we're still a work in progress on that,” Whitford said. “But one of the things I believe it can become is we're a big physical team, that should be able to put you in a box and pummel you on the glass.”
Bumbalough is one of the longest tenured Cardinals and averaged 29.1 minutes per game in 2020-21, which is the highest among all returners. Bumbalough believes the freshmen and transfers have acclimated to the program quickly, which has helped bridge the gap on the court.
“I'd say early on, we're just really connected,” Bumbalough said. “We're not worried about stepping on each other's toes. We all trust each other. We have a whole new different team, so it's pretty cool that everyone's already so close as they are and we're going to keep building that chemistry. I think the biggest thing is just keep trusting each other.”
Ball State had four players score in double-figures against Michigan Tech, including a team-high 13 points from Cochran. Although he missed the game-winning shot attempt at the final buzzer, Cochran expressed his excitement to be in a Cardinal uniform for the first time.
“It felt good,” Cochran said. “It felt good to finally get out there with the guys and go out and compete at a high level. I am very excited for what is to come.”
Contact Charleston Bowles with comments at clbowles@bsu.edu or on Twitter @cbowles01.
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November 04, 2021 at 11:07PM
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Growing together: Ball State Men's Basketball hopes to usher in new talent quickly as they prepare for season - Ball State Daily News
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