MUSKEGON – Keyondre Banks-Craig has the talent to play football at a high professional level, and that’s a dream he may still pursue if an opportunity comes along again.

But in the meantime he’s thrilled to be back at home, playing with the West Michigan Ironmen.

Banks-Craig, 26, was called up to a higher league after two games with the Ironmen last season, due to his advanced skills as a receiver.

He played for teams in Louisville and Green Bay for the balance of the 2021 season, learned a lot along the way, considered his options as 2022 dawned, and finally decided that home is where his heart is.

Local fans will be excited to see Banks-Craig back in the lineup on Saturday night when the Ironmen host the Charlotte Thunder in the opening game of the new season.

Banks-Craig shares that feeling.

“Most definitely, I can’t wait,” he told MuskegonSports.com. “I don’t think I’ve really slept much at all this week yet, I’m so excited to get back out there.”

Local fans first got to know Banks-Craig as an All-Conference and All-Area receiver for the Muskegon Big Reds. He played on the 2012 squad that reached the state finals at Detroit’s Ford Field.

While he was very good with the Big Reds, he did not have a ton of opportunities to show off his receiving skills, because Muskegon is known for its successful veer option offense, where the rushing game is the main priority.

“In that offense the quarterback gets most of the yards,” Banks-Craig said. “It’s not designed for a receiver to get 1,000 yards.”

Banks-Craig graduated from Muskegon in 2013. played football at Northern Michigan University for three seasons and got the opportunity to showcase his pass-catching abilities. He started as a freshman and was third on the team in receiving yards. He redshirted his second year due to an injury, then returned as a starter in his third season and came close to reaching 1,000 receiving yards.

He decided he wanted to be closer to home for the rest of his collegiate career and transferred to Ferris State University, where he was excited to play for former Muskegon High School coach Tony Annese.

“As soon as he noticed that I wasn’t on the roster anymore (at Northern), Coach Annese called me,” Banks-Craig said. “Being able to play for him was a dream come true, after watching him coach at Muskegon while I was growing up, and watching my cousin play for him.”

Banks-Craig thrived at Ferris, playing on one team that reached the national quarterfinals, and one that reached the Division 2 national finals before losing to Valdosta State.

He started and earned All-Conference honors both seasons before graduating with a degree in construction management.

After college he was invited to a rookie camp with the San Francisco 49ers, did not make the team, and came home to consider his professional options.

He hooked on with the Ironmen in 2020, but the team only played a few games before the season was halted by COVID.

He returned last season and played two games for the Ironmen before a new opportunity came knocking.

“After one of the games I ran into a guy, we exchanged numbers, he asked me if I had dreams of playing at a higher level, and I said yes,” Banks-Craig said. “(Ironmen Coach) Nate Smith was so supportive of me going to the next level. I was torn between staying or going, and he kind of pushed me, to be honest.”

Smith said he hated to see Banks-Craig leave, but also wanted to encourage him to go as far in football as he could.

“On the one hand, you want to keep your guys, but ultimately you want to see those guys have success,” he said. “We always talk about being the best we can be, and we don’t want to hinder them from doing that.”

Banks-Craig was soon playing for the Louisville Xtreme in the Indoor Football League, but that experience didn’t last long. He played four games before the team announced it was suspending operations in the middle of the season due to financial issues.

“We had come back from a road game and we had a meeting with the owners, and they told us that everything was good,” he said. “They were talking about the future and their plans. Then the next week the coach told us all to come upstairs to a big conference room, and they told us that the season was over. We were literally getting ready to practice. It was devastating.”

The league had a dispersal draft for the Louisville players and Banks-Craig was picked up by Green Bay, where he finished the season.

He didn’t want to return to the Blizzard in 2022, and asked to be released. Instead he was traded to Iowa, but preferred to play for the Quad City franchise. That couldn’t be arranged, so he decided to stay home in 2022 and found a job as a construction supervisor with a remodeling company in Grand Rapids. He moved there and briefly considered skipping football this year, but the lure of he sport was too much to resist.

“I missed being on the field,” Banks-Craig said. “I went to an Ironmen tryout camp, just to see some of the guys, and I couldn’t resist playing again. I work in Grand Rapids, Muskegon is not far, I can drive there whenever for football, and still do what I went to school for.”

Needless to say, Coach Smith is thrilled to have him back.

“I love it,” he said. “He’s a great teammate, and what he can do in the field is pretty special. He’s tall and long, so he’s a mismatch for a lot of defensive backs. He’s also fast and can extend for the ball, which is huge in arena football

“He’s explosive, he knows how to run routes, and he just keeps getting better and better.”

Banks-Craig said he’s still curious to see how far he could go in the football and would consider more offers from higher leagues if they came along.

But at the same time, he’s very happy with his day job, and it would take a lot to tear him away from that and the Ironmen.

“I love the Ironmen, from the guys on the team to the fans and the community,” Banks-Craig said. “It’s different for me because I’m from Muskegon and I played for Muskegon High School, so to play for my hometown team is special.”