Former Wisconsin quarterback transfer commits to Utah Tech

Former Wisconsin quarterback Deacon Hill committed to Utah Tech on Saturday.

Hill re-entered the transfer portal on April 23 after spending the 2023 season with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The Santa Barbara, California native originally joined the Badgers as a three-star recruit in the class of 2021. He was ranked as the No. 493 player in the class, No. 39 quarterback and No. 40 recruit from the state of California.

Hill spent 2021 and a portion of 2022 on Wisconsin’s bench behind starter Graham Mertz. He and many others entered the transfer portal in October 2022 after the Badgers fired head coach Paul Chryst.

The quarterback then committed to Iowa, where an injury to starter Cade McNamara thrust him into the starting role for a large chunk of last season. He led the Hawkeyes to a 6-1 record in his first seven games as starter, including a win over Wisconsin, and clinched a trip to the Big Ten Championship. Luck did run out in December, however, as the Hawkeyes lost both the conference title to Michigan and its bowl game to Tennessee.

The veteran quarterback now joins a Utah Tech program that competes at the FCS level in the United Athletic Conference. The program presents an opportunity for Hill to see the field with Iowa welcoming back McNamara and transfer QB Brendan Sullivan.

Hill hasn’t been with the Badgers since 2022. But his move is part of 10 of the 21 players in Wisconsin’s record-breaking class of 2021 that have entered the transfer portal or left the sport entirely. The only members of the class still in Wisconsin’s starting lineup are OT Riley Mahlman, S Hunter Wohler, LB Darryl Peterson, CB Ricardo Hallman and LB Jake Chaney.

The group’s struggles are somewhat correlated to the end of the Paul Chryst era at Wisconsin — making the class interesting to track as each recruit finishes their college career.

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