After scoring against UND two years in a row, South Dakota wide receiver elects to transfer to Fighting Hawks
Dec. 20—GRAND FORKS — An inter-conference transfer has worked well for UND football lately, and the Fighting Hawks hope they just picked up another key weapon from the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
UND, which utilized former Northern Iowa running back Tyler Hoosman and former North Dakota State offensive lineman Seth Anderson to reach the FCS playoffs in 2022, landed a South Dakota transfer on Tuesday.
Wesley Eliodor, who led the Coyotes in catches (30) and receiving yards (482) in 2022, announced his verbal commitment to UND on Twitter.
UND is familiar with Eliodor's strengths. The graduate transfer had four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown in Grand Forks in 2022 and two catches for 30 yards and a touchdown against UND in Vermillion in 2021.
Eliodor, who announced his decision to transfer Nov. 28, received offers from UND, Illinois State, Austin Peay, UT-Martin, McNeese State and Northern Arizona.
Eliodor, who's 6-foot and 200 pounds from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., averaged 26.0 yards per kick return last season, finishing 15th in the country in the category.
In 2023, UND loses fifth-year wide receiver Garett Maag but returns all-MVFC wide receiver Bo Belquist.
Over the past few seasons, UND has been searching for a deep threat to accompany Belquist's strengths in the short passing game.
The Hawks, who scored more than 30 points per game in 2022, return nearly their entire offense.
Veteran starter Tommy Schuster is expected back, along with the entire offensive line. The Hawks will have to replace the production of Hoosman in the run game, although backs Isaiah Smith and Luke Skokna are still in the program.
Eliodor's announcement comes just one day before the NCAA early signing period.
