BOWLING GREEN — Former University of Michigan wide receiver Je’Ron Stokes has transferred to Bowling Green and is enrolled in classes at the university.

Stokes will sit out this season, per NCAA rules, and will have two years of eligibility starting next fall.

“We’re excited to get him,” Falcons coach Dave Clawson said. “Wide receiver is the one position where we’re going to lose a lot of seniors.

“That’s a position where we felt we would need to bring in an ‘older’ player [in recruiting], and he fits that need.”

Stokes originally signed with Michigan under then-coach Rich Rodriguez and saw action in each of the past two seasons. As a freshman in 2009 he played in six games and caught two passes for 16 yards, both versus Delaware.

Last year Stokes played in 11 games and caught one pass for 11 yards against Iowa.

Stokes decided to transfer this past August, and has since enrolled at BG in part because he and Clawson had developed a relationship in 2008, while Clawson was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee and Stokes committed to the Volunteers before coach Phillip Fulmer was fired.

“I felt in my heart that I needed to make a change,” Stokes said. “It was tough, because I needed to get into school quickly, or I would be ineligible for two years.

“There were a lot of schools I could have gone to, but I knew coach Clawson was a good coach and a good guy, so I knew he would have my best interests at heart, so that made the decision easier.

“Plus my brother, Malik Stokes, is a quarterback here. So I felt it would be a smooth transition [to come here].”

First Published September 7, 2011, 6:28 p.m.