Fremont Native Shapes USF Football Success

D.J. Crowther, a Fremont-born running back who transferred from Dartmouth to South Florida in January, has become one of the most watched additions in the Bulls’ 2026 rebuild. (gousfbulls.com) South Florida lists Crowther as a 5-foot-11, 215-pound graduate transfer who played 31 games at Dartmouth and arrived after four seasons in the Ivy League. The Bulls’ roster bio says he rushed for 1,312 career yards and 13 touchdowns and caught 21 passes for 127 yards before enrolling in a master’s program in entrepreneurship. (gousfbulls.com) At Dartmouth in 2025, Crowther broke through as the Big Green’s lead back with 929 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 191 carries, numbers that ranked near the top of the Ivy League. Dartmouth also named him Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 22, 2025, after he ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns against New Hampshire. (dartmouthsports.com, dartmouthsports.com) Crowther told Tampa Free Press that South Florida was “hard to pass up” even though Eastern Washington, California-Davis and Cal Poly also recruited him, giving him options closer to Northern California. He said the move paired football with graduate school and a chance to play in a faster, more visible program. (tampafp.com) The transfer also shows how college football’s portal era now reaches deep into older pipelines, with Ivy League starters moving into scholarship programs for a final season. ESPN reported in February that the 2026 portal cycle had effectively closed after thousands of players entered and programs across the country filled roster needs through transfers. (espn.com) For Fremont, Crowther’s rise adds a Division I success story tied directly to the city. South Florida’s bio says he was born in Fremont on March 11, 2004, and Patch’s Fremont edition framed his transfer as a point of local pride for youth sports supporters watching Bay Area athletes reach bigger stages. (gousfbulls.com, msn.com) His path was not the usual one. South Florida says Crowther chose Dartmouth out of Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento over offers that included Army, Eastern Washington, New Mexico, Tennessee State, Idaho, Idaho State and Cal Poly. (gousfbulls.com) The University of San Francisco itself does not field an NCAA football team, despite its football history and its athletics department’s continued recognition of the school’s undefeated 1951 squad. The current story is about the University of South Florida Bulls in Tampa, whose athletics site uses the shorthand “USF.” (usfdons.com, gousfbulls.com) That distinction matters because Crowther is not reviving football in San Francisco; he is helping South Florida try to win now with an experienced back from Fremont and an Ivy League résumé. His next measurable test will come when the Bulls turn spring roster changes into the 2026 season. (gousfbulls.com, tampafp.com)