Five mid-year transfers have joined the University of Massachusetts football team and will be eligible for the 2011 season whether the program moves up in status or not.
The new players could address needs at quarterback, wide receiver and running back, where key players from last year's 6-5 team will be lost through graduation.
UMass coach Kevin Morris announced that three of the five newcomers arrive from programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) - tailback Chris Burns from Pittsburgh, defensive back Ryan Campbell from Mississippi and quarterback Kellen Pagel from Bowling Green.
UMass football team adds five transfers, including quarterback Kellen Pagel
Published: Friday, January 28, 2011, 4:12 PM Updated: Friday, January 28, 2011, 6:36 PM
UMass
football coach Kevin Morris announced that five mid-year transfers,
three of whom come from FBS programs, have joined the Minutemen's
program.AMHERST - Five mid-year transfers have joined the University of Massachusetts football team and will be eligible for the 2011 season whether the program moves up in status or not.
The new players could address needs at quarterback, wide receiver and
running back, where key players from last year's 6-5 team will be lost
through graduation.
UMass coach Kevin Morris announced that three of the five newcomers
arrive from programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) - tailback
Chris Burns from Pittsburgh, defensive back Ryan Campbell from
Mississippi and quarterback Kellen Pagel from Bowling Green.
The Minutemen also welcomed linebacker Greg Hilliard, a Brockton native
who played for Suffield Academy, and wide receiver Chase Danska, who has
played the last two seasons at two junior colleges in California.
UMass is studying a move to the FBS from the Football Championship
Subdivision (FCS). The Minutemen have not announced an upgrade, which
means the five newcomers are joining an FCS program.
They are therefore guaranteed eligibility in 2011, even if UMass announces a move to the FBS before the season begins.
The rules will change the moment UMass does declare a move to the FBS.
From that point on, new transfers from other FBS schools would have to
sit out one season, in accordance with NCAA rules.
Mid-year transfers from prep schools or junior colleges would not be required to sit out a year.
Burns and Danska each have two years of eligibility remaining. Campbell and Pagel have three apiece, and Hilliard has four.
Pagel is a candidate for the 2011 quarterback job. He arrives from a
Mid-American Conference team that could become a UMass league rival, if
the Minutemen become an FBS team by joining the MAC.
Pagel was a high school star in Ohio. As a freshman at Bowling Green, he
played in one game last year, going 2-for-3 for 20 yards in a cameo at
Michigan on Sept. 25 in Ann Arbor.
That was one week after UMass had played the Wolverines in the same stadium.
"Kellen will come in and compete at quarterback. He has a strong arm and moves very well on his feet,'' Morris said.
Pagel joins a UMass quarterback crew that includes Brandon Hill, a
freshman who redshirted last year, and junior college transfer Ian
Shultis, a sophomore who played in two UMass games last year but did not
throw a pass.
The Minutemen need to replace senior starter Kyle Havens.
Danska is a converted quarterback who spent the 2011 season at Diablo
Valley, a junior college that sent Havens to UMass in 2009.
In 11 games, Danska had 53 catches for 755 yards and four touchdowns. He
averaged 14.4 yards per catch and is known for his speed.
He could help fill a void left by Anthony Nelson, a senior receiver.
Burns played in 12 games as a redshirt sophomore for Pittsburgh in 2010,
including the BBVA Compass Bowl. In all, he carried 21 times for 49
yards.
A 5-foot-10, 190-pound tailback, Burns comes to a position already manned by Jonathan Hernandez, who will be a senior.
However, UMass enjoyed success by alternating Hernandez and John Griffin at tailback, and Griffin is graduating.
This year's transfers followed a more conventional pattern than in 2010,
when UMass picked up six players from Hofstra or Northeastern, FCS
schools that dropped football after the 2009 season.
That group included Nelson and Griffin, who arrived as seniors. Players
who transfer after their school drops football are not required to sit
out a season.
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