Gavin Wimsatt officially enters transfer portal

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Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt has officially entered the transfer portal this afternoon. The news comes as Rutgers named Athan Kaliakmanis as the team's starting quarterback for the 2024 season after spring practice concluded with the Scarlet-White spring game last Saturday. Wimsatt had been competing with Kaliakmanis for the starting job through spring camp after Kaliakmanis arrived as a transfer from Minnesota in January.

"Me and Athan do a good job, as well, not getting too caught up in [the competition]," Wimsatt said after the spring game last Saturday. "We're competing, but we pick each other's brains and don't let it affect us off the field. He's a great guy. He's lifted up our room a great amount with his experience."

Wimsatt was the Scarlet Knights' full-time starter in 2023, as he completed 48 percent of his passes for 1,735 yards and nine touchdowns to eight interceptions to help Rutgers to a winning record for the first time since 2014. Wimsatt was named the 2023 starter in late July after competing with Evan Simon during the 2023 spring camp.

As a redshirt freshman, Wimsatt started in six of eight games in 2022 and completed 45 percent of his passes for 757 yards and five touchdowns to seven interceptions as the Scarlet Knights finished the year at 4-8.

Wimsatt initially committed to the Scarlet Knights as a four-star recruit out of Owensboro (Ky.) on April 9, 2021. Wimsatt went on to reclassify that fall and join the Scarlet Knights as an early enrollee during the 2021 season. Wimsatt preserved his redshirt in 2021, playing in four games and completing nine of 21 passes for 54 yards and two interceptions.

"He's grown his understanding of the game. He's grown in his ability to use his mobility to his advantage," head coach Greg Schiano said in an interview with Big Ten Network on Tuesday. "I think [offensive coordinator Kirk] Ciarrocca has done some good things that have allowed him to do that, so he's been a weapon both with his legs and his arm - but most importantly, the growth he's made as a quarterback is what excites me the most."

With the transfer, Rutgers currently has three scholarship quarterbacks ahead of the 2024 season. Kaliakmanis is the only quarterback on the roster with college starting experience with redshirt freshman Ajani Sheppard and true freshman AJ Surace behind him. Sheppard played in one game off the bench against Wagner last season, completing both of his passes for 23 yards with a 10 yard carry in the fourth quarter of a 52-3 win last September.

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