Morgantown, West Virginia – Last month, Martinsburg, West Virginia native Tyson Bagent won the 2021 Harlon Hill Trophy, awarded to the top Division II Player of the Year.
Bagent, a 6’3 quarterback for the Shepherd University Rams, passed for 12,454 yards, 118 touchdowns and only 40 interceptions, averaging 327.7 yards per game in his three full seasons with the Rams.
Bagent’s most impressive game of the 2021 season came against East Stroudsburg, where he went 27/45 for 437 yards, 6 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, and Shepherd is 30-8 with Bagent as the starting quarterback.
In addition to winning the Harlon Hill Trophy, Bagent was also named the Division II Offensive Player of the Year, was named to the Division II Elite 100 First Team and was a member of the Associated Press Division II All-American First Team.
At Martinsburg High School, Bagent led the Bulldogs to two state championships, passing for 7,800 yards and 112 touchdowns. Despite this, he was unfortunately overlooked by the head coach of the Mountaineers at the time, Dana Holgorsen, who did not make recruiting in-state players a real priority.
In fact, despite racking up honors and leading his team to state championships in his junior and senior year, Bagent did not receive any Power 5 offers out of high school. However, playing in nearby Shepherdstown (approximately 15 minutes from his hometown of Martnsburg), Bagent has been able to play near family and friends.
Although Bagent is happy playing for Shepherd, his dream growing up was to play for a Power 5 Conference school. The West Virginia Mountaineers, who are in a transition year with their quarterback situation, could certainly use a player of Bagent’s ability and with his level of experience.
Now that Bagent has accomplished being named the Division II Player of the Year, perhaps he will consider making his dream of playing at a Power 5 school come true. If he does, Neal Brown and his coaching staff should swoop up the most talented, accomplished quarterback in the state of West Virginia.
