by Mike Uremovich officially has his guys as Ball State football announced its full recruiting class Wednesday, Feb. 4.
In the days following the announcement, both players and the first-year head coach himself have spoken about the class and what the 2026 season may look like for the Cardinals.
“It was a ton of work by our staff, by academics, by admissions, by our administration, especially with the way the portal window was this year,” Uremovich said. “Majority of these transfers are guys that we had some sort of relationship with … There are very few guys on [this list] that we didn’t know anything about before they went in the portal.”
The new Cardinals
Here is the recruiting class as of Friday, Feb. 6, provided in an email from Ball State Athletics. The program gained 41 total players, and 34 — nine freshmen and 25 transfers — of those recruits have already reported. The other seven will join the team this summer.
Incoming Freshmen
Mason Atkins – QB, 6-0, 210, Fr., North Aurora, Ill./West Aurora HS
Nolan Cicero – OL, 6-5, 295, Fr., Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point HS
Ace Cooper – WR, 5-11, 175, Cincinnati, Ohio/Middletown HS
Mark Hanniford – WR, 6-2, 188, Fr., Boynton Beach, Fla./Atlantic Community HS
Mason Holbrook, DL, 6-3, 275, Fr., Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton HS
Anthony McMullen – RB, 5-11, 195, Fr., Massillon, Ohio/Washington HS
Stone Perkins – DB, 6-0, 170, Fr., Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy HS
Sam Spicer – OL, Fr., 6-5, 275, Mount Juliet, Tenn./Pope John Paul II HS
Gavin Yates-Lyons – DB, 6-2, 180, Fr., Greenville, Fla./Lowndes HS
Transfers
Jared Badie – DE, 6-3, 230, R-Sr., Aurora, Ill./San Diego State
Carsen Burckhardt – LB, 5-11, 225, R-Fr., Long Lake, Minn./Valparaiso
Jovan Clark – LB, 5-11, 195, R-Fr., Chicago, Ill./Washington State
Cole Coonrod – TE, 6-5, 245, Jr., Manhattan, Kan./Hutchinson CC
Gavin Forsha – LB, 6-2, 214, R-Sr., Nashville, Tenn./Tennessee State
Cedric Franklin II – DB, 6-0, 184, R-So., Mableton, Ga./Arkansas State
Kendrick Gilbert – DL, 6-5, 265, R-Jr., Indianapolis, Ind./Louisville
Maverick Gracio – DL, 6-4, 255, R-Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla./Pittsburgh
Myles Hancock – DL, 6-3, 290, Jr., Corona, Calif./Riverside City CC
Chris Jackson – DB, 5-10, 175, R-Sr., San Diego, Calif./Colorado State
Jacob Jeudy – OL, 6-4, 290, R-Sr., Miami, Fla./Concord University
Cincear Lewis – LB, 6-2, 215, R-Sr., Kalamazoo, Mich./Cincinnati
Keldric Luster – QB, 5-10, 225, R-Jr., McKinney, Texas/Texas State
Tyler Mizzell – QB, 6-1, 180, R-Jr., Denver, N.C./Concord University
CJ Nelson – WR, 5-11, 185, R-Sr., North Richland Hills, Texas/Eastern Illinois
Misael Sandoval – OL, 6-6, 325, R-Jr., Chula Vista, Calif./Vanderbilt
Jabari Smith Jr. – WR, 5-10, 170, R-Jr., Orlando, Fla./Florida Atlantic
Keilan Smith – DL, 6-2, 330, R-Jr., Pickerington, Ohio/Cincinnati
Sterling Smith – DB, 6-1, 192, R-Jr., Indianapolis, Ind./Purdue
Kaleb Stewart – LB, 6-1, 220, R-So., Broward County, Fla./Coffeyville CC
Austin Stief – DL, 6-4, 265, Sr., Orlando, Fla./Davenport University
Ka’Shawn Thomas – DL, 6-1, 292, R-Jr., Brunswick, Ga./Wake Forest
Corey Thompson Jr. – WR, 5-10, 160, R-Jr., San Diego, Calif./Utah State
Johnny Thompson Jr. – RB, 5-11, 200, R-Jr., Canoga Park, Calif./Kansas
DJ Young – WR, 6-0, 160, Jr., Lafayette, Ind./Siena Heights University
Freshmen reporting this summer
Lucas Andresen – TE, 6-3, 210, Fr., New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central HS
Cole Mynett – LB, 6-1, 205, Fr., Muncie, Ind./Delta HS
AJ Seymour – TE, 6-2, 215, Fr., Brookfield, Wisc./Brookfield Central HS
Transfers reporting this summer
Dianté Griffin – DB, 5-9, 187, R-Sr., Lima, Ohio/Ohio State
Alex Scherle – TE, 6-4, 234, R-Sr., Rochester Hills, Mich./Rice
Sean Ward – TE, 6-5, 255, R-Sr., Cleveland, Ohio/Dartmouth
Maxwell Wentz – OL, 6-4, 295, R-Sr., Huntington, W.Va./Dartmouth
‘We have to get better everywhere’
Ball State finished the 2025 season 4-8 overall and ended its Mid-American Conference (MAC) schedule 3-5. Statistically, the team was second to last in the conference in points per game (15.8) while the Cardinals allowed an average of 29.8 points from their opponents.
They gave up 49 sacks and lost 300 yards because of it. Both of their yardage totals — 1,581 rushing and 1,679 passing — ranked No. 11 in the league.
When he spoke about the class and things that needed to change Thursday afternoon, Uremovich was brutally honest.
“We have to get better everywhere … I tell our players all the time that their jobs are to get as good as they can be,” he said. “Our job is to develop them as much as we can and also go and try to attract the best players we can.”
But in the same vein, this was the identical approach Uremovich used when recruiting. He said some players receive ‘bad information’ and can end up in a situation they do not want to be in.
Because of this, he said he got right down to the point.
“There’s no returning starters,” Uremovich said. “Everybody’s got to go earn their spot back, and all those freshmen who redshirted last year are chomping at the bit to go out there and get an opportunity to play.”
He went on to say that this mindset is how teams get better, and it is a tool to see who wants to welcome the challenge.
“What’d Bobby Knight say? Your ass on the bench?” he said. “That’s your greatest motivator, right? It’s like, “Hey, man, I got to do this every day to play. And if I slip up at all, the dude behind me is just right on my heels.”’
The new Cardinals credited the coaching staff for the way they handled recruiting, and multiple said it was one of the driving forces for their decision. Colorado State transfer defensive back Chris Jackson comes to Ball State with one year of eligibility remaining.
Jackson spent the last two seasons with the Rams, and in 2025, he appeared in three games. He had seven tackles in those opportunities. But he said he did not pick Ball State because of playing time or anything like that. He wanted to make a difference for the team.
“I’m looking for a great fit and great team morale,” he said. “I’m a team player first. I’m not here just for the individual stat. I’m here to help rebuild the program.”
Both Jackson and linebacker Jovan Clark — a redshirt-freshman transfer from Washington State — said defensive coordinator Jeff Knowles was active during recruitment conversations. This was something that Uremovich wanted his staff to keep in mind throughout the process.
But that idea goes beyond the transfer portal and into the Indiana high school football scene.
“It’s a priority for us to recruit the high school talent from Indiana, and it’s also a priority to recruit all players from Indiana,” Uremovich said. “The ones that do go to power four schools, the masses say half of them are gonna transfer, so we want to have relationships with all of those kids … When they do go in the portal, if they had a good experience, they’re gonna want to come here.”
That was the case with Texas State transfer Keldric Luster, as the redshirt junior quarterback said his first meeting with Uremovich was detailed. Very detailed.
“He was breaking down every single bit of [my] film with me, ranging from high school to when I took a knee at the end of the game against Pitt my redshirt-freshman year,” Luster said. “I don’t even know how he found out my nickname that my day ones have called me since I was a kid.
“It just felt like he was all in on me, and that allowed me to be all in on him. It made the decision easier for me.”
The quarterback room — like all positions — is one that Uremovich said will come down to who wants it. There is no Ball State QB1 as of this moment, but Luster said that is fine.
No matter what, he said he already has his goals for how to make a difference inside the program.
“We’re in the MAC, and we’re up north and it’s cold. Us south guys are not used to this,” Luster said. “I feel like I’m bringing that down-south swag with the way I carry myself. With the way I’m vocal and my playstyle, I think I’m a great addition, along with the other pieces that we have coming as well.”
But Luster is not the only player getting accustomed to the Midwest environment.
Jabari Smith Jr., a redshirt junior wide receiver from Florida Atlantic, said that this was the first time he had ever seen snow. After giving it an eight on a 10-point scale, he said that Ball State made a push in the portal right away.
“It was a no-brainer because you’ve got to want who wants you at the end of the day,” he said. “Getting to come here and play with these guys was going to be fun, and my skills fit here.”
In two seasons with the Owls, Smith had 32 catches for 462 yards. He averaged 14.4 yards per reception and had six touchdowns.
As Uremovich mentioned, Ball State’s coaching staff wanted experience, and they ran with that philosophy. But another thing the Cardinals wanted to recruit was speed. After one season coaching in the MAC, Uremovich said they had to be ‘faster’ at every position.
“Especially on offense, and defensively too, we need to get faster,” he said. “That’s always going to be important to us. They have to be physical. But if you have guys who can hit, then you want guys who can run. Defensively, there’s so much spread offense [in the MAC]. Then some of the defensive lines have really improved over the last couple of years, so we have to be more athletic.”
Outside of skill, Uremovich said the academic factor played a large role in who they targeted. The Cardinals have about a month before spring ball, and then they have even longer before summer practices and the actual season kicks off.
But he said this group has time to do other things at that time. Those include becoming affiliated with Muncie and Ball State, as well as improving every single day.
“Their job from now until the middle of March is to get bigger, faster and stronger. Personally, I have to see all of that,” Uremovich said. “We’re doing a lot of team-building activities and things like dinners and all that. We got to get to know each other, and it’s not that the coaches need to get to know them. They need to get to know each other to trust each other.
“There’s a big emphasis on building those relationships within the team for when it gets hard, ’cause it’s going to get hard.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
