Batavia’s Jordan Buckley joins two other local football players entering transfer portal. ‘Find a better shot.’

Will he stay or will he go?

Jordan Buckley, a former defensive line standout at Batavia, weighed that question the past few weeks while he and his Western Michigan teammates prepared for the Myrtle Beach Bowl.

The question has become college football’s mantra at the end of each year. Players now have the option to enter the NCAA transfer portal during a short window in January.

It was a dilemma for Buckley, who just completed his redshirt freshman season for the Broncos but hadn’t seen game action yet.

“I love the coaching at Western Michigan and I love the program,” Buckley said. “But I feel with the depth there at my position, I could find a better shot somewhere else.”

Buckley is one of at least three players from the area who are known to have taken the leap into the portal and have until Jan. 16 to reach a decision on a new school and program.

Illinois backup quarterback Ethan Hampton, an Aurora Christian alum, announced on social media Monday that he was trying the portal for the second year in a row. So did NCAA Division II Bemidji State defensive end Tyler Sapit, another Batavia graduate and Buckley’s former teammate.

“The process is going well — it feels like high school again,” Buckley said of recruiting.

Buckley, an education major, has had talks with several schools and hopes to have a decision soon since he will have to move and complete arrangements to start classes at his new college.

“Most of them will be starting their new semester on Monday,” he said. “School has been going well here. This has been a family and I’ve had a great time.”

Complicating Buckley’s decision? His older brother Jalen, a redshirt junior running back, is a Western Michigan teammate who has been doing very well.

Jalen Buckley topped 1,000 yards rushing this season for the second time in his career and was named offensive player of the game with 19 carries for 193 yards and touchdown runs of 67 and 64 yards in the Broncos’ 23-13 over Miami of Ohio for the MAC championship.

Two weeks later, he bolted 65 yards for a TD on the the first play of the game and was named Myrtle Beach Bowl MVP in a 41-6 win over Conference USA champion Kennesaw State.

“He left the decision up to me,” Jordan Buckley said of transferring. “We’re usually talking football but he’s been a brother for me no matter what, encouraging me to work hard.”

The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Jordan Buckley has trained at both defensive tackle and defensive end in his two years in Kalamazoo. His first choice may be end, where he moved last spring, but he’s comfortable playing both.

“I’m confident I can play in a phone booth, which is how one of my coaches describes playing tackle,” he said.

Buckley played both in high school and remembers receiving help from Sapit — two years ahead of him — when he was promoted to varsity late in his sophomore season.

“Tyler was kind of like an assistant coach and I really learned a lot from him,” Buckley said.

Sapit, who redshirted as a true freshman in 2022 and used a medical redshirt due to a knee injury in 2023, was first team all-conference this past fall at Bemidji State and set a program single-game record with 26 yards in tackles for loss.

Reached at the airport for a flight to speak with a school that’s interested in him, Sapit wasn’t planning to transfer initially.

“I thought I’d be back but posted some film, just to see what would happen,” he said.

Receiving plenty of interest, he took the leap.

Hampton, who lead Northern Illinois to its upset of Notre Dame two years ago, saw limited action in four games for the Illini this past season and will have one year of eligibility left.

“Illinois is and always will be home,” Hampton said on the social platform X. “I couldn’t be more grateful for coach (Bret) Bielema for giving me the opportunity to play for a Big Ten school in my home state.”