Jacksonville State running back Washaun Ealey owns Eastern.

Ealey, a transfer from Georgia, has played two games against Eastern since he became a Gamecock last year.

His stats in those two games: evidence why he was recruited to be a Georgia Bulldog. Saturday, Ealey ran for 149 yards and three touchdowns on 23 attempts. Last year, he ran for 155 yards without scoring a touchdown.

Ealey is just one in a long line of Division-I transfers to come to the Ohio Valley Conference level and perform at a high level.

Ealey, like some of the top tier players who transfer to OVC schools, has a history of troublemaking.

He was granted a release from Georgia in May 2011 after a couple suspensions — one involving a hit-and-run.

This season, Ealey was arrested on drug possession charges and suspended for one game, the Gamecocks’ home opener in September.

Even so, Ealey has performed well this season and Saturday’s game could be a breakout game for him. He rushed for 149 of his 327 total yards and scored three of his four touchdowns.

Ealey is one of the top 10 rushers in the OVC. Also on that list: Eastern Kentucky running back Matt Denham, who transferred from Kentucky.

Denham is the second-best rusher in the OVC with 874 yards and eight touchdowns this season.

Two of the OVC’s top wide receivers were also transfers to their schools. Tennessee-Martin receiver Quentin Sims transferred from Georgia Tech and is in the top five of the league with 691 receiving yards. He also leads the Skyhawks in that category.

Just below him on the list is Tennessee Tech receiver Da’Rick Rogers, who transferred from Tennessee this summer after multiple violations of the school’s substance-abuse policy for athletes.

Rogers is best known this year for his huge performance catching the ball early this season when he had 18 receptions for 303 yards and two touchdowns in one game.

The transfer train doesn’t stop with these players, though. There are plenty high profile names spread throughout the conference.

Murray State has nine players who’ve transferred into their program from higher profile schools like Ohio State, Arkansas, South Carolina and Ole Miss.

Eastern Kentucky has six transfers, including two from Virginia Tech.

It comes full circle with Jacksonville State, though. The Gamecocks are from Alabama, the closest OVC school to the Southeastern Conference, and have always seemed like an SEC factory for players coming down a level.

Former quarterback Ryan Perrilloux is a great example. He transferred from Louisiana State University in 2008 after some trouble and immediately became a force to be reckoned with as a Gamecock.

He passed for 236 yards and one touchdown against Eastern on Oct. 24, 2009, and ran for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Ealey is the new big name at Jacksonville State, finally gathering the stats that recruiters expected from him a few years ago.

But he’s not the only one. No matter how all the high profile players got to where they are today, they’re exciting to watch and can really bolster a program.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.