The starting middle linebacker from a defense that was 40th in scoring defense in the country has transferred to Western. Keith Brown a 6-foot-1, 237-pound Miami native will be eligible immediately for his final season as a graduate transfer. Brown was a starter for UofL as a redshirt junior in 2015 and recorded 33 tackles in 13 games, including two tackles for loss.

Brown appeared in every game as a reserve in 2014 and was a key contributor on special teams, tallying 20 tackles. He missed most of the 2013 season with a knee injury.

He appeared in 11 games with five starts as a freshman in 2012 and was named a freshman All-American by Fox Sports.

Brown was a four-star recruit out of Miami Norland High School and was selected as a U.S. Army All-American.

WKU could add another Louisville linebacker as well.

Nick Dawson-Brents, another graduate transfer LB from the Cards, visited Bowling Green with Brown last weekend, Brown said. Dawson-Brents has not made a final decision yet, and Brown said he believes his former teammate still has other visits to take.

Dawson-Brents is also a former Army All-American. The 6-3, 257-pound linebacker from Charlotte, N.C., was mostly a reserve for the Cardinals and notched four tackles in 13 games in 2015.

Would have been good to get that kind of help at linebacker for USM. If WKU gets all three that would be impressive help depth wise with the linebacking positions.

Very nice! We need experienced help, it proved great with the UAB transfers

That kind of stuff doesn't excite me. You have to take two less freshmen to get two one and done players who seriously underperformed their hype coming out of HS. If the one guy was really a starter, NCAA stats show he only started 5 of 13 games, and only had 33 tackles as a LBer, that's not too impressive. He did play in all 13 games, so that's less than 3 tackles per game and he only had 10 total tackles in the last 7 games and 8 of those 10 were in one game.

(01-19-2016 11:15 PM)banker Wrote:  That kind of stuff doesn't excite me. You have to take two less freshmen to get two one and done players who seriously underperformed their hype coming out of HS. If the one guy was really a starter, NCAA stats show he only started 5 of 13 games, and only had 33 tackles as a LBer, that's not too impressive. He did play in all 13 games, so that's less than 3 tackles per game and he only had 10 total tackles in the last 7 games and 8 of those 10 were in one game.

Maybe they will strive under a different situation? I've seen players bomb at one place then explode at the next under a different system.

(01-20-2016 12:08 AM)wkuhilltopperfan Wrote:  

(01-19-2016 11:15 PM)banker Wrote:  That kind of stuff doesn't excite me. You have to take two less freshmen to get two one and done players who seriously underperformed their hype coming out of HS. If the one guy was really a starter, NCAA stats show he only started 5 of 13 games, and only had 33 tackles as a LBer, that's not too impressive. He did play in all 13 games, so that's less than 3 tackles per game and he only had 10 total tackles in the last 7 games and 8 of those 10 were in one game.

Maybe they will strive under a different situation? I've seen players bomb at one place then explode at the next under a different system.

Like Kelly on our basketball team. So-so at Miami, 30 points a game several times here. Don't know why some people can't just say kudos and have to tear it down. Obviously anywhere WKU can shore up it's defense is only gonna help them stay in games long enough to pull out a win, while breaking in a new offense next year. Without our defense being stout, we would have really tanked with a young QB and so many injury issues this year.

(01-20-2016 06:12 AM)MUther Wrote:  

(01-20-2016 12:08 AM)wkuhilltopperfan Wrote:  

(01-19-2016 11:15 PM)banker Wrote:  That kind of stuff doesn't excite me. You have to take two less freshmen to get two one and done players who seriously underperformed their hype coming out of HS. If the one guy was really a starter, NCAA stats show he only started 5 of 13 games, and only had 33 tackles as a LBer, that's not too impressive. He did play in all 13 games, so that's less than 3 tackles per game and he only had 10 total tackles in the last 7 games and 8 of those 10 were in one game.

Maybe they will strive under a different situation? I've seen players bomb at one place then explode at the next under a different system.

Like Kelly on our basketball team. So-so at Miami, 30 points a game several times here. Don't know why some people can't just say kudos and have to tear it down. Obviously anywhere WKU can shore up it's defense is only gonna help them stay in games long enough to pull out a win, while breaking in a new offense next year. Without our defense being stout, we would have really tanked with a young QB and so many injury issues this year.

Kelly is a stud for sure! Great find with him!

I'm not tearing anything down, just giving an opinion based on what I have seen in similar situations at Marshall. It's like when we got the former 4 star WRs from Penn State, all kinds of hype, not much production on the field. In hindsight it would have been better to use the scholarships somewhere else. It's different if they have multiple years left and transfer in where they sit a year, learn the program and playbook and then can hit the ground running.

(01-20-2016 03:10 PM)banker Wrote:  I'm not tearing anything down, just giving an opinion based on what I have seen in similar situations at Marshall. It's like when we got the former 4 star WRs from Penn State, all kinds of hype, not much production on the field. In hindsight it would have been better to use the scholarships somewhere else. It's different if they have multiple years left and transfer in where they sit a year, learn the program and playbook and then can hit the ground running.

Devon Smith wasn't much production??? That guy was good for a 40 yard reception down the sideline every game, at least, once Cato figured out he was always there and always open. He absolutely helped us advance the ball down the field.

Here's some of his lack of production: https://youtu.be/Sh63Hg1jyro

WKU gets 2nd Louisville 5th year transfer in as many days.

HILLTOPPER FOCUS: Source: Louisville grad transfer LB Nick Dawson-Brents transferring to WKU bgdailynews.com/blogs/hilltopp…

Thanks for the assist UL....

Very well done by our staff. I'll take guys like these while our youngsters like Iggy and company get up to speed. TJ is a proven stud.

These graduated players have changed the recruiting game in both football and hoops. Just another avenue. I'll take what we can especially if Coach Brohm and his staff think they're worth a shot. He certainly didn't miss on TJ and Jontavious.

Brown started for Louisville as a freshman but was injured before his Soph year and really didn’t recover until last year. He’s always been in the shadow of all the NFL draft choices on defense. This move makes sense in that he’s going to get a lot more snaps. Both are nice pick ups

Nice additions for sure.