The Big Ten is one of the most sought-after conferences for players in the transfer portal, and teams have reaped the benefits this offseason. Let’s take a look at the most important transfer for each Big Ten team heading into the 2025 season:
The Michigan Wolverines attacked the transfer portal and received several commitments from players that will wind up playing key roles in 2025. However, they weren’t the only schools in the Big Ten to bring in talented players during the winter window.
Let’s take a look at the most important player each program added:
Illinois Fighting Illini: OL Ayden Knapik
It has been a meteoric rise for Knapik, a former walk-on at Idaho who ended the season as the starting right tackle. He started the last two seasons on the offensive line for a total of 33 starts in his career and was a three-time All-Big Sky honoree.
Indiana Hoosiers: QB Fernando Mendoza
Cal earned some early-season hype, and a huge reason for that was Mendoza’s play. The 6-foot-5 quarterback threw for more than 3,000 yards and 16 touchdowns, making him one of the best players in the transfer portal. He is the heavy favorite to start for Indiana in 2025.
Iowa Hawkeyes: QB Mark Gronowski
Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes had an exodus of quarterbacks from their roster in the last two offseasons, so adding Gronowski was a huge win for the program. A four-year starter at South Dakota State, he has thrown for more than 10,000 career yards and ran for another 1,750 for 130 total touchdowns while winning two FCS national championships.
Maryland Terrapins: OL Rahtrel Perry
Questions at quarterback remain for Mike Locksley and the Terps, but Maryland needs to be better in the trenches to find success. Adding Central Connecticut State transfer Rahtrel Perry was a step in the right direction. He was a top-10 offensive tackle in the portal per 247Sports and was a 2024 All-NEC First Team performer.
Michigan Wolverines: RB Justice Haynes
After losing Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards, and Kalel Mullings the last two offseasons, Michigan is about to look a whole lot different in the running back room. While Mikey Keene was certainly an option for this nomination, Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines’ offensive focus is in the ground game, and Haynes should help mightily. He has shown flashes in all facets of the game and was the top-ranked rusher in the portal.
Michigan State Spartans: WR Omari Kelly
Say what you will about Michigan State over the past few years, but it has done an excellent job developing wideouts. It felt like that’s part of what the Spartans were missing in 2024 for first-year starter Aidan Chiles, so they attacked the portal and got a really good receiver in Kelly, who put up 53 receptions for 869 yards and four touchdowns last year for Middle Tennessee State.
Minnesota Golden Gophers: WR Malachi Coleman
Coleman didn’t see much playing time the last two seasons at Nebraska, but he is an athletic receiver who has the potential to be something special. He has three years of eligibility remaining and is 6-foot-4, 190 pounds.
Nebraska Cornhuskers: WR Dane Key
Dylan Raiola didn’t completely live up to the hype in 2024, so to try and change that, the Cornhuskers are hoping that adding some experienced receivers will help. Key answered the call after playing the last three seasons at Kentucky. Last year was his best with 47 receptions for 715 yards and two scores. Overall, Key has 14 career touchdowns and 1,870 yards in 35 starts.
Northwestern Wildcats: QB Preston Stone
The Wildcats took a step back in 2024, going 4-8 after going bowling the year prior. Stone is the kind of player that can bring them back into relevance. As a start at SMU, he threw for 3,850 yards and 32 touchdowns.
Ohio State Buckeyes: RB C.J. Donaldson
A large reason Ohio State won the national championship is because of its running back duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. With both moving on to the NFL, the Buckeyes need guys to step up, and they found a good one in Donaldson. He has rushed for a career 2,058 yards and 30 touchdowns. At 6-foot-2, 238 pounds, he is going to be tough to bring down in the cold weather.
Oregon Ducks: S Dillon Thieneman
Thieneman was seen as one of the few bright spots on an awful Purdue Boilermakers team in 2024. Now, he’s joining the reigning Big Ten champions. Last season, he had 104 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks. He had six interceptions as a freshman, and he has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Penn State Nittany Lions: WR Devonte Ross
Drew Allar, Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton are all back, but the Nittany Lions are losing leading pass catcher Tyler Warren. Ross, a transfer from Troy, hopes to add to a receiving room that needs to take the next step for the team to win a national championship. The speed demon earned First Team All-Sun Belt honors last year with 76 receptions for more than 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Purdue Boilermakers: CB Tony Grimes
The Barry Odom era begins in West Lafayette and he’s bringing an excellent corner with him in Grimes. The former five-star prospect and No. 7 player in the 2020 class enters his sixth collegiate season and should be a veteran leader on a defense that is going to need some experience in 2025.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights: WR DT Sheffield
North Texas stumbled upon a star in Sheffield. The 5-foot-10 receiver caught 66 balls for 822 yards and 11 touchdowns. The leading receiver for Rutgers in 2024, Dymere Miller, was out of the transfer portal as well, so the Scarlet Knights will attempt to replicate that with Sheffield.
UCLA Bruins: QB Joey Aguilar
UCLA needs a new quarterback, and Aguilar appears to be the guy. He’ll have one year remaining to play for his home-state Bruins after throwing for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns the last two seasons. Aguilar broke just about every single-season passing record for App State in 2023 and now will have the opportunity to show his talents at the Power 4 level.
USC Trojans: OL J’Onre Reed
To compete in the Big Ten, the USC Trojans need to bolster their offensive line. Losing two starters from last year to the NFL Draft and the transfer portal was a rough start to the offseason, but they added a veteran center in Reed out of Syracuse. He formerly played JUCO football, then started all 13 games with the Orange in 2024, allowing just one sack.
Washington Huskies: CB Tacario Davis
It’s one year later, but Jedd Fisch has returned to the well to nab a former player from Arizona in Davis. The 2023 All-Pac 12 second-team corner was considered one of the best cover corners in the country. His 6-foot-4 frame made him a unique talent covering X receivers on the outside.
Wisconsin Badgers: QB Billy Edwards Jr.
As a first-year starter for Maryland, Edwards recorded 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions, completing 65 percent of his passes. Luke Fickell has done nothing but miss at quarterback since becoming the head coach in 2022, so he needs Edwards to be a hit for this team to win.