— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — After losing kicker Rece Verhoff to North Carolina, Marshall looks to have potentially discovered a replacement.
Lorcan Quinn of Donaghmore, Ireland has joined the Marshall program after some impressive camp performances this spring. Quinn was ranked as the No. 1 kicker through Kohl’s Kicking Academy for 2025.
He saved his most impressive performance for a recent kicking camp at IMG Academy in Florida where Quinn went 8-for-8 on field goal attempts with successful attempts from 68 and 69 yards.
Before playing American football, Quinn played Gaelic football for five years.
Marshall’s running back room has also grown with the addition of former Cal tailback Justin Williams-Thomas from Dallas, Georgia. Williams-Thomas spent the last two seasons with the Golden Bears after beginning his career at Tennessee. He’d originally committed to play at Stanford before moving on to California. Williams-Thomas has rushed for 128 yards on 32 carries in limited action over three seasons.
Out of high school, Williams-Thomas held more than 30 scholarship offers, including a number from major conference programs.
The Herd’s wide receiver room is getting a boost from the arrival of former Western Carolina player De’Andre Tamarez, who played at Miami high school football power Carol City.
The Overtown, Florida played in all 11 games in 2024 for WCU and caught 33 passes for 576 yards and six touchdowns for the Catamounts. The top game for Tamarez in 2024 came against Montana when he caught eight passes for 229 yards with a touchdown.
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In the quest to continue adding, Marshall men’s basketball coach Cornelius Jackson has gone north of the border.
Jackson and the Thundering Herd now have a second Canadian transfer pickup in 6-foot-2 senior guard Noah Otshudi of Hamilton, Ontario. Otshudi comes from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.
Otshudi hails from the same city as that of former Herd guard Dezayne Mingo, who recently announced he was transferring to Charlotte.
Marshall previously received a commitment from guard Wilson Dubinsky, a native of Mono, Ontario, who played last season at South Carolina State.
Otshudi announced his move to Marshall on social media while sharing story of overcoming a torn achilles four years ago
“It was the toughest thing I’ve had to go through,” Otshudi said. “I had to rebuild myself from the ground up, but little did I know the plans that God had for me. I’m a living testimony.”
Otshudi had a productive 2024-25 for a Western Ontario Mustangs, which went 14-8 in Ontario Universities Athletics Association play. He started 21 games and averaged 17.4 points, while shooting 46 percent from the field, 35.1 percent from the three-point line and 74.6 percent on free throws. Otshudi averaged four assists and three rebounds while picking up 38 steals.
In three seasons at Western Ontario, Otshudi averaged more than 13 points over 64 contests.
He credited Jackson and assistant coach Rob Fulford for helping him land in Huntington.
“Thank you Coach Jackson and Coach Rob for giving me this opportunity,” Otshudi said. “It means the world to me.”