A change of scenery can be hard, but transfer athletes to Ferris men’s basketball have adjusted to the rhythm of the team.
The Bulldogs brought in three new transfers this year in junior wing Dorian Alyui, junior post Logan Ryan, and junior wing Quantes Jackson. The team also recruited junior wing Walt Kelser once he hit the transfer portal a couple of years ago. Head Coach Andy Bronkema said the team really focuses on building with freshmen and then sprinkling in transfers.
“Walt is a guy we knew about even in high school,” Bronkema said. “We didn’t recruit him as much in high school as we thought he was a division one talent and then got onto him at junior college while we were watching him at Schoolcraft. Quantes was a local guy so we knew him, we knew about Logan too … Dorian is just from an area that we like to recruit, so he hit the transfer portal and he plays the position similar to Markese Mayfiled, who we lost, so we picked him right up knowing we needed to plug him in.”
Before making the decision to transfer to Ferris, all four men had previous college experience. Kelser left School Craft and Alyui started his collegiate career at Minot State in North Dakota. Logan Ryan left Colorado State, which is a Division I team, and Quantes left Paris Junior College before he left Sinclair Community college. Now, all have found their spot on a loaded Bulldog roster.
“I think Ferris has welcomed me really well, my teams welcomed me, the fans have welcomed me, so I like it I really do. I like the environment; I like playing here with my teammates and we’ve had a good run so far and everything’s really been good. I really have no complaints,” Alyui said.
Bronkema said all the men have fit in from the very beginning and the athletes seem to agree.
“I’ve come into my role pretty well especially being a transfer as it was difficult in the beginning, but I definitely have gotten more in tune as the season’s gone on, so I think I’ll be good for the rest of the year and next year to come too,” Alyui said.
When Ryan was recruited, he said that the coaches and his former high school captain Greg Williams helped make the decision to come to Ferris that much easier once he hit the transfer portal. Williams and Ryan were teammates during their times at Canton High school and Ryan said not only did Williams jump at convincing him to come to Ferris, but all the coaches jumped on it as well.
“Ferris stuck out to me during the process after my visit,” Ryan said. “I had a really good time and I really enjoy spending time with the guys. I knew Greg from before, so it seemed like a good fit. He was my captain in high school, my captain now and its close to home too which is a nice change.”
Ferris will look to the final three games on the season to tally more wins before the start of the GLIAC tournament.