Tag: walk on

Michigan State football brings in-state walk-on QB to the roster

An in-state walk-on QB has been added to the roster:

Michigan State has added to their roster as the summer continues and the team prepares to open fall camp within the next month.

Ypsilanti Community High School quarterback Atticus Carridine has been added to the roster as a walk-on. He hopes to follow in head coach Jonathan Smith’s footsteps, a former walk-on in his own regard.

Carridine is a 6-foot-2, 175 pound QB from Ypsilanti.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on Twitter @Cory_Linsner

Wisconsin basketball adds in-state guard to its class of 2024

Wisconsin basketball adds in-state guard to its class of 2024

Wisconsin basketball added in-state walk-on guard Aidan Konop to its class of 2024 on Saturday.

The 6-foot, 2-inch shooting guard will join the Badgers after averaging 20 points and 6.1 rebounds for Hamilton High School in Sussex, Wisconsin, last season.

Related: Big Ten basketball teams ranked by returning production entering 2024-25 season

He joins a Wisconsin class of 2024 that finished ranked 62nd in the nation by 247Sports. The class is headlined by point guard Daniel Freitag, who figures to play a large role immediately as Wisconsin works to replace the production of star point guard Chucky Hepburn. The class also includes three-star shooting guard Jack Robison.

Konop joins a new-look Wisconsin roster that includes transfer additions Camren Hunter and John Tonje; freshmen Xavier Amos, Freitag and Robison; and recent international signee Andrija Vukovic. Konop will join the walk-on group that consists of Isaac Gard and Jack Janicki.

Wisconsin is still in preparation mode with the 2024-25 season five months from tipping off. The program will open the season with challenging out of conference games against Arizona, Marquette and Butler before the Big Ten slate.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

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WATCH: Pat McAfee sounds off on the potential elimination of walk-ons in college football

WATCH: Pat McAfee sounds off on the potential elimination of walk-ons in college football

Pat McAfee’s latest viral rant has a tangential connection to the Wisconsin Badgers.

The rant was in support of walk-ons — a key pillar to the foundation of the Wisconsin football program.

Related: Big Ten football offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator rankings for 2024 season

The timing is relevant because recent court proceedings and industry chatter point toward college football moving to a revenue-sharing model with its athletes. That, in essence, would create a pseudo-professional sporting entity with every player under contract.

One side effect of that inevitable change is the elimination of the concept of a university student joining the football team in a walk-on capacity. For Wisconsin, that would mean the career paths of program legends including Jim Leonhard and Jared Abbrederis would no longer be possible.

It must be acknowledged that changes are necessary in the sport. The current model is unsustainable, especially with booster organizations still funding the teams. But any future model will come with side effects. The elimination of walk-ons appears to be an inevitable one.

The sport will go on and succeed without a hitch once revenue-sharing is introduced. But anybody in or around a program like Wisconsin understands the impact of a strong walk-on culture, and what those players can sometimes bring to the team.

That was the basis of McAfee’s extensive rant on Friday.

“The fact that there’s a thought that we need to eliminate walk-ons from big-time college football is so stupid,” McAfee said. “And it also makes me believe that a lot of the people making these decisions don’t know ball.”

Here are his full thoughts, which I’m sure Wisconsin fans will mostly agree with:

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

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Wisconsin women’s basketball adds in-state high school star as walk-on

Wisconsin women’s basketball adds in-state high school star as walk-on

The Wisconsin women’s basketball program announced the addition of walk-on Reese Jaramillo to its 2024-25 roster via social media on Wednesday.

Jaramillo becomes the latest addition to UW’s 2024-25 platoon after the additions of former Northern Kentucky center Carter McCray and Duquesne guard Tess Myers via the transfer portal.

A native of Wisconsin, Jaramillo captured a conference, regional, and sectional championship at the Prairie School in Wind Point, Wisconsin. The newcomer also earned Metro Classic All-Conference First-Team and Racine All-County honors following her senior year.

The future Badger finished her high school career ranked third on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,292 points.

Like Greg Gard’s program, Marisa Moseley’s group has experienced a sizable shift in both coaching and player personnel following the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign. Five former Badgers — Ana Guillen, Sania Copeland, Tessa Towers, Imbie Jones and Sacia Vanderpool — elected to transfer elsewhere this spring.

Over the past month, UW also hired former D-I Cleveland State assistant Frozena Jerro to an assistant role and promoted former D-I Boston University head coach Margaret McKeon to associate head coach.

Jaramillo will look to provide an immediate scoring impact for Wisconsin during her freshman season.

2020 Florida Gators Football Profile Card: Zack Sessa

This is a player profile for kicker Zack Sessa, a freshman transfer from Georgia Southern who looks to join the Gators in 2020 as a walk-on.

Name: Zack Sessa

Number: 36

Position: Kicker

Class: Freshman

Height: 6’0″

Weight: 170 lbs

Hometown: Venice, Fla.

High School: Venice High School

Twitter: @ZackSessa

2019 statistics:

Signed with Georgia Southern but never enrolled.

Overview:

A graduate of Venice High School, Sessa played wide receiver and defensive back, in addition to handling kicking duties, during his time with the Indians.

Making 22-of-34 (65-percent) of his prep field goal attempts, including a 50-yarder as a freshman in 2015, he was rated as a two-star prospect, the No. 28 kicker in the 2019 class, and a top-375 player in the state, per the 247Sports Composite.

Sessa committed to the Sun Belt Conference’s Georgia Southern Eagles on February 6, 2019, the same day he signed his National Letter of Intent (LOI), but never enrolled at the school and was granted his release.

“Zack asked for a release from his LOI due to personal reasons and we granted his release,” Eagles head coach Chad Lunsford told the Savannah Morning News on June 23, 2019.

“He will not be attending Georgia Southern and we wish him the best.”

Joining Dan Mullen’s program as a preferred walk-on in June, Sessa has been competing with redshirt junior Chris Howard for the backup job behind junior Evan McPherson, who connected on 17-of-19 (89-percent) field goal attempts in 2019.

Video

Notre Dame Football: Kiser woken up to news of Saturday start

I can’t imagine a Saturday getting off to a much better start than Jack Kiser’s did before Notre Dame played South Florida.

How did your Saturday morning go?

I’ll start.

At roughly 5:25 a.m. CT my 10 month old daughter, who has been a rock star with sleeping through the night of late, woke me and my wife up as she was screaming endlessly down the hall.

A little time with mom and dad made the tears go away though and she was back asleep within 15 or so minutes and I got to sleep in until almost seven as a result.

Although lively, my morning wasn’t nearly as intense as Notre Dame sophomore Jack Kiser’s had to have been.

Kiser, Indiana High School’s Mr. Football in 2018, went to bed Friday night without any intention of starting against South Florida but those plans changed shortly after he woke up Saturday morning.

According to Brian Kelly, Kiser practiced with Notre Dame’s scout defense on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  Because both Shayne Simon and Marist Liufau were made unavailable, Kiser suddenly found himself on top of the depth chart.

And Kiser didn’t just fill a hole on Saturday, he starred as he led Notre Dame with eight total tackles that included a pair of stops behind the line of scrimmage.

In what wound up a 52-0 drubbing of South Florida plenty of players had moments and made plays but Kiser was chosen by Brian Kelly as the winner of Saturday’s game ball.

Kiser, who grew up in Royal Center, Indiana, located about 75 miles south of Notre Dame’s campus.  It’s safe to say making his first career start and getting the game ball on the same afternoon meant for an all-time day.

“Notre Dame is the peak of the mountain,” Kiser said “I’m wearing a golden helmet just to be on the team.”

“So to put the helmet on, walk down that stair case and to actually take live snaps and contribute to win? To get the game ball? You just don’t think those things will happen!”

I don’t know what will happen with the Buck linebacker position next week at Wake Forest but I do know based off his performance on Saturday that Jack Kiser isn’t going to be just a flash in the pan.

Related:  FIW Selects Game Ball Winners for South Florida Game

Notre Dame Adds Preferred Walk-On to 2020 Recruiting Class

Brennan Wicks of Maryland has announced his decision to walk on at Notre Dame. Find out more about the newest member of NDFB right here.

Late news came Wednesday night for Notre Dame as preferred walk-on for the 2020 recruiting class, Brennan Wicks is headed to South Bend.

Wicks is an offensive lineman from Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland and is listed at 6-5, 280 pounds.

Wicks played offensive tackle his senior year but also lists guard as a potential position.  You can see his senior year highlights here.

Former Notre Dame Captain Signs with NFC Champion 49ers

Chris Finke walked on at Notre Dame. Now the wide receiver will essentially try to walk on with the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers.

Chris Finke has beaten the odds before.  He walked onto the Notre Dame football team before eventually earning a scholarship and ultimately becoming a captain this past season.  Now he’ll get to try and essentially walk-on in the NFL as he’s signed with the defending NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent.

Finke was a vital part of the 2018 team that went unbeaten in the regular and had a huge game against USC in the regular season finale.  After struggling most of the first half Finke had a couple huge catches before capping the first Notre Dame scoring drive of the night just before halftime.

Finke finishes his Notre Dame career with 1251 career receiving yards and eight touchdown receptions.  His best game his senior year came against Duke in early November as he found the end zone twice and was given game ball honors by his head coach.

The 5-9 Finke is a product of Dayton Archbishop Alter High School in Ohio and at Notre Dame majored in finance with a minor in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Notre Dame Adds 2020 Walk-On Quarterback

New Prairie High School’s Chase Ketterer announced Thursday night that he’ll attend college at Notre Dame as a walk-on prospect in the 2020 class.

Local kid chooses local school.  No matter how many times you rinse and repeat, that story never gets old and always feels good.  Now we get to hear it in regards to Notre Dame’s latest 2020 commitment, a local quarterback who is chasing big dreams with the Fighting Irish.

New Prairie High School’s Chase Ketterer announced Thursday night that he’ll attend college at Notre Dame as a walk-on prospect in the 2020 class.

The most interesting piece of conversation in this story isn’t so much a walk-on taking a chance at a big time school, but one doing so instead of taking Valparaiso up on their scholarship offer.

As a prospect Ketterer isn’t some incredible get.  He’s a run first quarterback, going for 5464 rush yards over the last three seasons and scoring 98 touchdowns.  He added 1494 pass yards and 17 passing touchdowns in that time.

Ketterer was a 2019 Indiana High School Athletic Association, Northern Indiana Conference (North) MVP and named a member of the Indiana class 4A All-State team this past fall.