While many Ferris students were back home for the summer, the campus was certainly not quiet, as many events happened in the Bulldogs athletic world. Here’s what you missed over the summer.
NIL Partnership
Ferris State finalized a partnership with Athlete’s Thread, allowing Bulldog student-athletes to create and expand their brand. This helps to financially benefit Ferris State for their name, image and likeness.
Threadly has been in the licensing apparel industry since 2013. and Athlete’s Thread was created in 2021, quickly becoming the leading name in NIL merchandise. They work with over 100 universities and provide over 10,000 student-athletes with merchandise and jerseys to expand their own brand.
Student-athletes earn a 12 percent commission on all of the merchandise sales and the opportunity to earn an additional 10-15 percent by sharing their own affiliate link. As of the writing of this article, there are 1,379 different Ferris State student-athlete branded merchandise from sports like softball, hockey, football, basketball and soccer.
Skating with Wings
Ferris State hockey’s defenseman, Trevor Taulien, was invited to the Detroit Red Wings NHL Development camp this summer.
Taulien played 27 games for the Bulldogs last season in which he contributed nine points, two goals, and seven assists. He earned a free agent invite at the BELFOR Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena.
Taulien was one of 50 invitees and one of 14 defensemen invited to the camp, where he experienced on-ice instruction led by the Red Wings coaches and development staff.
Award Winners
Ferris State’s senior tennis player Jan Koupil and senior track and field runner Brandon Wirth earned the GLIAC Commissioner’s Award. These awards go to six female and six male student-athletes after each athletic season, but the awards are given out based on the student-athlete’s performance both on the field and in the classroom.
Koupil was a contributing factor to helping lead the Bulldogs to a 2024 GLIAC regular season championship, as well as earning All-GLIAC First Team honors. Meanwhile, Wirth earned the GLIAC Commissioner’s Award for the second time in his collegiate career. Wirth ranks among the Bulldog’s all-time top 10 leaders in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Ferris State basketball earned the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award having eight honorees, among those being seniors Amari Lee and Ben Davidson, juniors Ethan Erickson, Reece Hazelton and Jimmy Scholler, as well as sophomores Brandon Claerbaut, Nate Claerbaut and Cole Vickers.
This award went to programs that have a collective team grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Over 2,100 players earned NABC Honors Court, and over 360 programs received the NABC Team Academic Excellence awards this past season.
Pin HuntingÂ
Ferris State golf’s McCoy Biagioli won the 113th annual Michigan Amateur Championship on June 21 at the Heather Course at the Highlands in Harbor Springs.
Biagioli had quite the week prior to the championship when he won a 26-hole match in the round of 16 against his own Bulldog teammate, Caleb Bond. McCoy drained an 18-foot putt for the win on hole 18 over St. Joseph’s Matt Zerbel in the semifinal round.
Biagioli earned GLIAC Freshman of the Year this past season and made an all-conference selection. Biagioli helped lead the Bulldogs to a GLIAC Championship and an NCAA Division II National Championship this past spring. This Michigan Amateur Championship win is just another testament to his excellent year.
Golf Outings
The Katke Golf Course held another annual round of golf outings for the multitude of sports programs this summer, including the course’s 50th-anniversary outing on August 9.
The outings hosted a number of Bulldog alumni across all programs, including former football head coaches Keith Otterbein and Jeff Pierce, Tampa Bay Lightning video coordinator Brian Garlock, former NHL alumni Zach Redmond, Bill Simonson of the HUGE Show, etc.
The athletics offseason tradition continues to bring past and present Bulldog athletes together and raise money for the Katke Golf Course and Ferris Athletics.