Eastern Michigan football gets Big Ten help from transfer portal, including ex-Michigan RB

Posted by Admin December 25, 2024 Football

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Tavierre Dunlap has a new home, and it’s darn close to his old home.

Dunlap, a running back at Michigan for the past four seasons, will transfer to Eastern Michigan for his final year of eligibility, he announced on social media this week.

Dunlap was a three-star prospect out of Texas when he arrived at Michigan in 2021. He was a backup running back during his tenure, behind the likes of Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, though he also contributed on special teams. He scored his first career touchdown in a November win over Northwestern.

Dunlap, 6-foot and 229 pounds, played on special teams during Michigan’s runs in the College Football Playoff in 2022 and 2023, winning a national championship with the Wolverines.

Dunlap is one of two former Big Ten players to commit to Eastern Michigan in the last week. Cameron Edge, a one-time four-star prospect out of Delaware, has committed to the Eagles, he told 247Sports this week. Edge played sparingly the past two seasons, completing 11 of 17 passes for two touchdowns and an interception over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Edge, 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Tanner Lemaster, a 6-5, 250-pound tight end from Ohio, is transferring to Eastern Michigan from Kentucky. He didn’t play for the Wildcats in 2024, his true freshman season.

The additions should help offset a pretty significant exodus for Eastern Michigan, which is losing several of its standout players from 2024 to power-conference schools.

Among them are kicker Jesus Gomez, a second-team all-Mid-American Conference selection who is heading to Arizona State; and cornerback Daiquan White, who has committed to Georgia Tech in his home state.

Two of EMU’s top receivers, Markus Allen and Oran Singleton, also are in the transfer portal, as is Elijah Jackson-Anderson, one of the Eagles’ top running backs from this past season. Also among more than a dozen Eastern Michigan players in the portal is defensive back Quentavius Scandrett, one of the team’s leading tacklers in 2024.

Eastern Michigan was 5-7 in 2024, losing its regular-season finale to rival Western Michigan, 26-18, to miss out on bowl eligibility for the first time since 2017, not including the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Head coach Chris Creighton’s contract now runs through the 2028 season. He signed an extension in 2021 that took him through 2025, with an additional year being added to the contract for each bowl game the Eagles made.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984