The First Team All-MAC receiver has two years of eligibility remaining.
Kent State’s season officially concluded at 0-12 Tuesday night, and now the Golden Flashes turn to the future. For some, that future will be in Kent, OH. For others, it will be elswehere.
Perhaps the brightest spot in the winless season was wide receiver Chrishon McCray. However, McCray will look elsewhere to finish his collegiate career. On Friday morning, less than 72 hours after Kent State finished its 0-12 campaign in a 43-7 loss at Buffalo, McCray announced his entry into the transfer portal on Twitter.
The star wide receiver posted a team-high 705 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on 40 receptions in a standout sophomore season. McCray will likely receiving his second All-MAC bid for his effort — ranking second in the conference and 11th nationally in receiving touchdowns.
The highlight of McCray’s season was a spectacular two-game stretch to commence MAC play. In the conference opener against Ball State, the receiver totaled 188 receiving yards and two touchdowns on five receptions vs. Eastern Michigan. Next outing, he one-upped a career performance with 213 yards and three touchdowns in Kent State’s best outing of the season vs. Ball State. He concluded his Kent State tenure in Week 13 in the Wagon Wheel rivalry against Akron, totaling 93 yards and a touchdown before missing the season finale due to injury.
As the nickname “Big Play McCray” suggests, many of the Avon, IN native’s receptions are well beyond the line of scrimmage. Of his nine touchdowns, seven were from 20+ yards and four were from 55+ yards out.
Big Play McCray also starred in the Kent State offense in 2023 as the team’s premier breakout player. He was the lone Golden Flash to earn First Team All-MAC honors, totaling 610 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 41 receptions despite missing the final three games of the regular season due to a leg injury. McCray finished with two 100-yard showings as a redshirt freshman, including a 161-yard, 2-touchdown explosion in the 2023 Wagon Wheel game — the same night he suffered the season-ending injury.
The wide receiver retains two years of eligibility as he enters the transfer portal. McCray was recruited by other programs last offseason, but he turned them down to play one final season at the only FBS school that offered him coming out of Avon High School. His transfer destination for 2025 is currently unknown.