Ohio
Which central Ohio college football players moved in transfer portal?
The transfer window in college football closed Jan. 16, and several players from central Ohio were among the thousands nationwide who took advantage in finding new teams.
Some of them found familiarity in moving, whether with former teammates, coaches who previously recruited them or both.
Here are the Columbus-area players who transferred to Football Bowl Subdivision programs in the past two weeks, according to the On3 transfer tracker. Players’ new schools are listed next to their names, with their previous school in parentheses:
Braydon Alford, Michigan (Butler)
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Sophomore
Eligibility remaining: Three seasons
High school: Dublin Jerome
The son of Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford, who formerly coached the same position at Ohio State, Braydon Alford did not appear in any games in two seasons at Butler after a high school career that saw him catch 90 passes with 1,487 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior at Jerome. Alford earned third-team all-state in Division I as a senior.
Landon Beal, Ohio State (Maine)
Position: Long snapper
Class: Redshirt freshman
Eligibility remaining: Three seasons
High school: Grove City
The 6-foot Beal long snapped for the Dawgs and did the same this past season at Maine after redshirting his first year with the Black Bears in 2024. Beal was the second long snapper picked up by the Buckeyes in the portal, after Dalton Riggs was added from Central Florida.
Rasheem Biles, Texas (Pittsburgh)
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
Eligibility remaining: One season
High school: Pickerington Central
The two-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference linebacker and the top-ranked transfer at his position, according to 247Sports, is headed to the SEC for his final college season.
Biles had 101 tackles, including 17 for loss, and three touchdowns in 10 games in 2025 and 185 total stops and 10 sacks in three years at Pitt. He was a second-team all-district defensive back as a senior at Central despite missing most of the season because of injury.
Biles and the Longhorns host Ohio State on Sept. 12.
Preston Bowman, Ohio University (Kentucky)
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Freshman
Eligibility remaining: Four seasons
High school: Pickerington North
Bowman will join a slew of Pickerington players in Athens after a freshman season at Kentucky in which he redshirted. Bowman caught 52 passes for 1,248 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior at North – he also averaged 34.9 yards per punt – and was named OCC-Ohio Offensive Player of the Year and first-team all-state in Division I.
Francis Brewu, Notre Dame (Pittsburgh)
Position: Defensive lineman
Class: Sophomore
Eligibility remaining: Two seasons
High school: Thomas Worthington
Another departure from Pitt, Brewu will reunite with former position coach Charlie Partridge in South Bend. Brewu, who also visited Ohio State, had 7½ tackles last season with a sack, forced fumble and two quarterback hurries. He had four total sacks in two seasons and, according to a South Bend Tribune story, benches 475 pounds and squats 700. A first-team all-state honoree in Division I as a senior, Brewu started 12 of 13 games in 2025 after overcoming thumb and hamstring issues in 2024.
Kamari Burns, Kansas State (Cincinnati)
Position: Edge rusher
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Eligibility remaining: Two seasons
High school: Gahanna Lincoln
Burns will remain in the Big 12 after playing 11 games without a start this fall for the Bearcats, finishing with 11 tackles and half a sack. Burns, who helped Gahanna reach a Division I state semifinal as a senior and redshirted as a freshman, matched his career high of three tackles in a game twice.
Sam Dixon, South Carolina (Ohio State)
Position: Running back
Class: Redshirt freshman
Eligibility remaining: Three seasons
High school: Pickerington North
Dixon entered the transfer portal after each of the past two seasons and is leaving Columbus this time, having caught on with a Gamecocks team that went 4-8 last fall. Dixon, who played half his senior season at North after transferring from Millersburg West Holmes, ran for 53 yards in four games as a freshman during OSU’s national championship season but never made a dent in the Buckeyes’ rotation of backs this year, running for 9 yards and scoring a touchdown in his only appearance, a Week 2 win over Grambling State.
Terris Dudley, Connecticut (North Carolina State)
Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt freshman
Eligibility remaining: Four seasons
High school: Hilliard Bradley
The former safety from Bradley will end up playing for Jason Candle after all, having originally committed to Toledo when Candle was coach of the Rockets before switching to the Wolfpack, for which he did not play a snap in the fall. Candle was hired at Connecticut in December. Dudley had 116 tackles, including 77 solo, as a senior and earned third-team all-state in Division I.
Dawayne Galloway, Akron (West Virginia)
Position: Defensive back
Class: Redshirt freshman
Eligibility remaining: Four seasons
High school: Marion-Franklin
A four-star cornerback in high school who had 1,478 all-purpose yards as a senior in 2024, Galloway did not see any game action as a freshman in Morgantown and retains all of his college eligibility. Akron went 5-7 last season and is seeking its first winning season and bowl appearance since 2017.
Tyler Gillison, Ohio University (Michigan State)
Position: Defensive line
Class: Redshirt junior
Eligibility remaining: Two seasons
High school: Pickerington Central
Gillison’s third college stop brings him back to his home state. He made two tackles in nine games last fall for the Spartans and missed the 2024 season because of injury after two years at Cincinnati. A first-team all-state honoree in Division I as a senior in 2021, Gillison is the younger brother of former Michigan State tight end Trenton Gillison.
Ethan Grunkemeyer, Virginia Tech (Penn State)
Position: Quarterback
Class: Redshirt freshman
Eligibility remaining: Three seasons
High school: Olentangy
Grunkemeyer hopes to build on his late-season success with the Nittany Lions in a new setting but with a familiar coach – James Franklin, who recruited Grunkemeyer to Happy Valley but was fired at midseason. Grunkemeyer threw for 1,339 yards and eight touchdowns with four interceptions in seven games as a starter, guiding Penn State to wins in its final four games. He took over as the starter after Franklin’s firing and the loss of starter Drew Allar to a broken ankle.
Grunkemeyer threw for 3,517 yards and 39 touchdowns as a high school senior in 2023.
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Sid Kaba, Minnesota (Marshall)
Position: Defensive lineman
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Eligibility remaining: Two seasons
High school: KIPP Columbus
Kaba comes to the Big Ten after recording 18 total tackles, including 2½ for loss and half a sack, in nine games for the Thundering Herd in 2025. Kaba, a three-star prospect for KIPP and first-team all-state honoree in 2022, started his college career at Western Michigan but did not play a game for the Broncos in 2023 or 2024. He is expected to boost a Golden Gophers defensive tackle group decimated by graduation.
Andrew Marshall, Minnesota (Eastern Michigan)
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
Eligibility remaining: Two seasons
High school: Bloom-Carroll
The latest college stop for Marshall, the Division III state Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2022, is Minnesota after he recorded 61 tackles last fall at Eastern Michigan. Marshall, who originally signed with Ohio University and played a year at Lackawanna Community College, has 121 tackles in three college seasons and was an honorable mention All-American at Lackawanna in 2024. He also rushed for 1,099 yards and 14 touchdowns as a high school senior.
Angelo McCullom, Texas A&M (Illinois)
Position: Defensive line
Class: Sophomore
Eligibility remaining: Two seasons
High school: Pickerington North
A three-star recruit out of high school and first-team all-state honoree in Division I as a senior, McCullom started two games at nose tackle last fall – against Ohio State and Washington – and will join an Aggies team coming off a College Football Playoff appearance. McCullom had 21 tackles in 19 games with the Illini, including 2½ sacks.
Roman Pearson, Kansas (Ball State)
Position: Safety
Class: Junior
Eligibility remaining: One season
High school: Pickerington Central
A son of former Ohio State and NFL running back Pepe Pearson, Roman Pearson was a two-year starter at Bucknell before coming to Muncie last fall and recording 27 tackles, an interception and half a tackle for loss. Pearson, who helped Central win the Division I state championship in 2019, had 40 tackles and started 11 games in 2024 at Bucknell.
Hammond Russell IV, Wisconsin (West Virginia)
Position: Defensive line
Class: Redshirt senior
Eligibility remaining: One season
High school: Dublin Coffman
A first-team all-state honoree in Division I as a high school senior, Hammond will finish his college career playing for former Buckeye Luke Fickell with the Badgers. He had 40 tackles the past three seasons for the Mountaineers, including two sacks, 2½ stops for loss and a forced fumble last fall. Younger sister Imarianah led Reynoldsburg’s girls basketball team to the 2022 Division I state championship and played one collegiate season at WVU.
Kaden Saunders, Southern Mississippi (Penn State)
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Graduate
Eligibility remaining: Two seasons
High school: Westerville South
Limited by injuries in four seasons at Penn State, including missing all of 2025, Saunders played in three games in 2022, 12 in 2023 and four in 2024. Saunders, a four-star receiver in high school who had 1,867 career yards and was a two-time first-team all-state selection, had eight catches for 77 yards and a touchdown as a Nittany Lion.
Justin Terry, Virginia Tech (Ohio State)
Position: Offensive line
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Eligibility remaining: Three seasons
High school: Pickerington Central
After one year with the Buckeyes in which he played in six games at right tackle and did not allow a quarterback pressure, according to Pro Football Focus, Terry became the second area product after Grunkemeyer to head to Blacksburg. Terry will be reunited with offensive line coach Matt Moore, who recruited him to West Virginia out of high school and coached with the Mountaineers until 2024. Terry was honorable mention all-state in Division I as a senior at Central.
Ethan Thanthanavong, Kent State (Defiance)
Position: Quarterback
Class: Freshman
Eligibility remaining: Three seasons
High school: Bloom-Carroll
A prolific high school passer with 6,369 yards and 70 touchdowns in four seasons, Thanthanavong is headed to Division I after a freshman season at Defiance in which he completed 112 of 170 passes for 1,468 yards and 10 touchdowns with six interceptions. Thanthanavong saw action in seven of the Yellowjackets’ 11 games. He was Division III district Offensive Player of the Year as a senior and earned first-team all-state.
Jaden Yates, Houston (Mississippi)
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
Eligibility remaining: One season
High school: Gahanna Lincoln
Yates’ only season with the Rebels after two years at Marshall ended in a CFP semifinal. One of several Ole Miss players to enter the portal after the departure of coach Lane Kiffin to LSU, Yates had 55 tackles, including 1½ for loss and half a sack, in 2025 and has 181 stops in his college career. His 120 tackles as a sophomore led the Sun Belt Conference and ranked ninth nationally.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
A Kentucky woman who had been missing for more than two weeks was found dead in her vehicle in Ohio, authorities said.
The body of Debra Wireman was found in her vehicle on July 3 in Clermont County, Ohio, the Flemingsburg Police Department in Kentucky said on Facebook on Wednesday. Investigators were called to the scene after a report identifying the vehicle as belonging to a missing person, police said. The remains were identified as Wireman’s by the Clermont County Coroner’s Office on July 7, according to law enforcement.
Police in Kentucky said the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio is investigating the woman’s death. No additional information will be released by Flemingsburg police “out of respect for Debra’s family and the integrity of that investigation.”
“While this is not the outcome any of us hoped and prayed for, we are thankful that Debra has been found and that her family can now begin to receive the closure they deserve,” police added on Facebook.
Wireman, according to police, was last seen on June 17 at around 4:30 p.m. in Aberdeen, Ohio, while traveling toward Maysville, Kentucky. She was driving a white 2020 Kia Forte with front-end damage. Police said family and friends were “concerned for her welfare.”
“The overwhelming response from our community, neighboring agencies, the media, and countless individuals across the region demonstrated the very best of people coming together in the hope of bringing someone home safely,” Flemingsburg police said.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Central Ohio has a new option for late-night sweets.
Jeff’s Donuts opened its first Ohio location Wednesday morning at 5717 N. Hamilton Road, between Gahanna and New Albany.
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Sixteen ‘almost feral’ children. Aged 18 months to 18 years. Hidden from sight in an Ohio house of horrors.
Until now.
It’s a situation difficult to fathom: Investigators found 16 kids living inside a 1,300-square-foot home in Vinton County, Ohio, confined in a 12-by-12 bedroom investigators say was covered in human waste. Gary Siders Jr., Elizabeth Siders, Gary Siders Sr., and Christina Siders were arrested on Tuesday, June 30th, and remain in jail after waiving their preliminary hearings today, Tuesday, July 7th.
Investigative reporter Anne Emerson goes beyond the headlines to understand the human impact in the developing Siders child abuse case. How did children live under these conditions for so long? We wanted to hear from the local community affected by this horrific story.
In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, we hear from those voices – from Captain Jeremiah Griffith who was a first responder to the shocking scene, to local Vinton County Pastor James Dimel who describes the community’s support of children who were trapped in a ‘den of evil’. Law enforcement and locals share their shock at the horror lurking in their own community. And Attorney Thomas Stolly, who represents Elizabeth Siders, says the case is more complicated than many believe, urging the public to remember that his client is presumed innocent.
Today, we react in real time to what we know so far in this developing story, and offer multiple perspectives of those closest to this case.
Subscribe to Criminally Obsessed for continuing coverage of the Siders investigation, true crime updates, courtroom developments, and exclusive interviews with the real people impacted by these cases.
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