Sources: Kaliakmanis named Rutgers’ new QB1

Pete Thamel, ESPNMay 1, 2024, 01:23 PM ET

There’s a changing of the guard at quarterback at Rutgers, as transfer Athan Kaliakmanis has been named the starter after his performance this spring, sources told ESPN.

Gavin Wimsatt, who has started 18 games for the Scarlet Knights the past two years, has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal, sources told ESPN. He’ll have two years of eligibility remaining.

That will leave Kaliakmanis leading a Rutgers team next season that returns 15 starters and has stirred some quiet optimism in the Big Ten coming off a 7-6 season.

Kaliakmanis comes to Rutgers with 17 career starts the past two years at Minnesota, logging an 8-9 record. He has extensive experience and offers an expected upgrade to a passing game that ranked last in the Big Ten last season at a 48.3% completion rate.

Kaliakmanis, who has two years of eligibility remaining, has thrown for 2,784 yards and 17 touchdowns. He has extensive experience with Rutgers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who both recruited him to Minnesota as a high school prospect and coached him there in 2022.

Wimsatt played a large role in Rutgers’ climb back to respectability under Greg Schiano. That includes being the starter on last season’s team, which beat Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl.

That marked the program’s first winning record and bowl win since 2014. Wimsatt rushed for 11 touchdowns last season and ran for 497 yards. He came to Rutgers as the school’s highest-rated quarterback recruit in program history.