Three more University of Maine football players have joined junior cornerback Kahzir “Buggs” Brown and put their names into the NCAA transfer portal.
Sophomore tight end Rohan Jones, junior linebacker Vince Thomas and back-up quarterback Ayden Pereira are looking for new schools for the second semester.
The fall transfer portal officially opens on Monday and lasts through Jan. 2.
The additional transfer hopes are a blow to the UMaine football team, which ended this past season with a 9-2 overall record. Jones is the only member of the team to earn a spot on one of the three All-Coastal Athletic Association teams, as he was chosen to the third team.
Jones, a 6-foot-2, 235-pound native of Montreal, caught 22 passes for 240 yards and five touchdowns. He was tied for second on the team with Joe Gillete in TD receptions behind Jamie Lamson, who had six touchdown catches.
He had nine of his receptions for 97 yards in his last two games against Hampton and New Hampshire. He caught three TD passes against Hampton.
Jones had nine catches for 123 yards and two TDs a year ago.
He shared the tight end position with Cooper Heisey, who also had 22 receptions. He picked up 187 yards on his catches and hauled in three TD passes.
Heisey will return.
The 5-10, 207-pound Thomas, who is from Raleigh, North Carolina, was tied for seventh on the team in tackles with 37 in 11 games. Three of those tackles were for lost yards and he was credited with 1.5 sacks. He also had two pass breakups.
He had 16 tackles in 10 games in 2022, six in 10 games in 2021 and four tackles in the abbreviated four-game schedule in the spring of 2021.
Thomas was one of the Black Bear captains and became the second captain to transfer in six months. All-CAA tight end Shawn Bowman transferred in June to Football Bowl Subdivision school Rutgers, where he caught four passes for 24 yards in 12 games.
UMaine is in the Football Championship Subdivision, which has 22 fewer scholarships and fewer resources.
Pereira, a redshirt freshman from Auburn, New Hampshire, appeared in one game this season and completed the only pass he threw for 13 yards. He also ran the ball twice for 8 yards.
All three went on social media to announce their intentions and thank UMaine and the football coaching staff for the opportunity to play for the Black Bears.
“I will always be grateful for the opportunity to further my academic and athletic career. Everything I’ve learned at this university will guide me to success in the future,” Thomas said. “My teammates were the brothers I needed to grow into the man I am today. As a captain and a teammate, I hope I inspired my brothers to believe in themselves and their abilities through any obstacles they face.”
Jones thanked the university for an amazing two years.
“[Head coach Jordan Stevens] along with the rest of the staff believed in me and allowed me to come to America and play the game I love; an opportunity for which I am truly grateful. I have countless relationships and memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” Jones said.
Pereira thanked the coaching staff for everything and said “I will be forever grateful for the relationships and memories I have built throughout my time here.”
