Six members from the now defunct University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) football program are now Georgia State Panthers.
Wide receiver Nyiakki Height, linebacker Alonzo McGee, cornerback Demarco Davis, offensive guard Kelepi Folua, safety Bobby Baker, and running back Demarcus Kirk all will be suiting up for the Panthers in the fall for the 2015 football season.
Read on for the new additions to the team.
UAB’s end
These six players were expecting to be suiting up for the UAB Blazers again next fall when the football season kicked off.
The team had just completed what was the best season in a decade with a 6-6 record which had the Blazers bowl eligible for the first time since 2004 under first-year head coach Bill Clark. UAB football was on an uptick, until the school announced in early December that the football program would be canceled. According to UAB president Ray Watts, the program was too much financially for the University to continue to sustain.
The shocking announcement left 150-plus student athletes confused, hurt and misplaced. The reality of not being able to play football with the brothers they had accumulated was setting in. The friendships and team comradery was taken away due to the abrupt end to the program.
“Losing a family. Losing a brotherhood. That’s the first thing that went through my mind. It wasn’t even football,” Cornerback Demarco Davis said of his thoughts of the closing of the program at UAB. “When I first got to UAB, I found 150 brothers who I knew had my back. from freshman year to senior year. So, when they took the program from us it just felt, it was first of all heart breaking. It was real shocking.”
The misplaced athletes were then left pondering their shaky football futures that once certain and in view out of their windshields.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) stepped in and granted the former UAB players the freedom to transfer anywhere in the country, along with the right immediately play for the school in which they transferred to.
There are a few cases in recent memory with programs such Southern Methodist University (SMU), Penn State and the University of Southern California (USC) for multiple reasons to help protect the student-athletes for the difficulties of the institutions in which they compete for.
This led to a college football gold rush on UAB in which college football programs looked to scoop up some seasoned college football players to their programs.
New beginnings at Georgia State
Georgia State also looked to grab a few of the former Blazers and ended up coming out with six new faces to add to their program to fill a few needs and add depth.
“I see myself fitting in good. I came here to make plays,” said running back Demarcus Kirk of how he feels he will fit into the fold at Georgia State.
Kirk will be looked at to compete for playing time at the running back spot with the mid-season departure of Krysten Hammon. Georgia State is hoping for healthy competition at the runningback position with Kyler Neal returning from an injury and the transition back to cornerback for senior Marcus Caffey.
The new Panthers look to add what they can on the field as well as becoming voices of the team.
“I want to take on more of a leadership role. I know I’m a young cat, coming from UAB as a redshirt freshman this year,” Davis said. “But I know I can be a leader to some of the older guys and some younger guys. Because I do know a lot about playing defensive back. But, I know I can learn more from the older guys and the younger guys as well.”
One task for the UAB transfers will be getting acclimated to a new city, a new playbook, a new philosophy and a new football family.
That transition to making the Panthers has been aided by having the familiar faces around them from their old family to guide them into to the comfort zone to truly become a part of Georgia State’s nucleus for next season. They planned it to be that way.
“The other five, we all came on the trip together. There was probably more of us, but the five that did came here. Before we even committed, we gave each other calls to see what the plan was. I think in December was when we all committed, so it was kind of like a team choice,” Senior Guard Folua said.
Folua thinks that having his former teammates as new teammates has already paid dividends.
“Knowing that I would be playing with more of my teammates that I did at UAB really helped my choice. Coming in here not as a new face, but knowing people. It really helped,” Folua said.
Family draws Davis to new family
Demarco Davis’s recruitment to Georgia State was aided by having his UAB family coming with him. But also having his actual family in the Atlanta area and on the team.
Davis is not only an Atlanta-native where he played at local Booker T. Washington High School, but Davis is a cousin to current Panthers’ redshirt freshman cornerback Jerome Smith.
“Me and my cousin are very close. Me and him are very very close. We’re more like brothers. So, talking to him, he told me, ‘It’s your decision bro. Don’t rush it, — don’t rush — don’t rush it at all. Make your decision wisely.’ I just felt like being closer to him and with him being closer to me, we’ll be able to push each in the right direction. He was a big part of my recruitment,” Davis said.
Smith is also coming off a redshirt season and would be looking to be a factor in Georgia State’s secondary next season alongside his cousin.
The new Panthers will continue to work out off-season and prepare for spring practices.
