Ferris QB Carson Gulker was a good basketball player, too
Zeeland West’s Carson Gulker, right, posts up against Holland Christian’s Jalen Overway during a game in January of 2020. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. - Carson Gulker probably could have played college basketball. He was a power forward with strong legs and could score easily in the paint.
But the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Zeeland West High School grad chose football instead.
It turns out to be the right call.
Gulker, a redshirt freshman on the Ferris State University football team, has one more game to play this season: The Division II National Championship game this Saturday in Texas.
Does he still play basketball for fun?
“Yeah, I do,” Gulker said. “I still play pickup ball at school in the offseason a good amount.”
Gulker is a back-up quarterback, but not a traditional one. The Bulldogs usually put him in when they are in the Red Zone and let him take direct snaps and then run the ball. It’s worked out well.
He now holds the national record with 28 rushing touchdowns and counting. He set the Ferris record after scoring twice against Grand Valley State on Dec. 3.
“I had no idea I was even close to that record,” Gulker said after the game. “It’s an honor for sure.”
He then scored three more times last week in a win over West Florida to set the national record.
Earlier this week, Gulker was named GLIAC Freshman of the Year. He leads Ferris State with 178 rushing attempts for 864 yards. He’s third on the team with 701 passing yards and he’s thrown four touchdowns.
In Gulker’s senior basketball season at Zeeland West, he averaged 14 points per game was named to the Holland Sentinel All-Area team.
“Carson has been a huge part of what we have done the past three years,” coach David Klyn told the Sentinel in 2021. “We ran our offense through him and he was relied upon to the point that we couldn't take him off the floor.”
He was such a good athlete, that he went out for the baseball team his senior year after not having played in high school at all. He’d go on to set the school record for RBIs in a season.
Ferris State quarterback Carson Gulker warms up before a game against Grand Valley State on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
