Big Ten Roundup: Northwestern Adds QB Transfer; Penn State Continues Roster Rebuild

In Wednesday's Big Ten Roundup, Northwestern landed transfer Ben Bryant from Cincinnati to address its quarterback needs. On the basketball side, Penn State coach Mike Rhoades continues to rebuild the Nittany Lions' roster heading into his first season, and Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg added hometown kid Josiah Allick, a transfer forward who's played for New Mexico and Kansas City.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald addressed Northwestern's quarterback needs on Wednesday, securing a commitment from veteran signal-caller Ben Bryant.

Bryant began his college career under coach Luke Fickell at Cincinnati, where he served as Desmond Ridder's backup for three seasons. Cincinnati grew into a perennial contender during this stretch, with Ridder leading the Bearcats to a 31-6 record and two bowl victories. 

The 6-foot-3 Bryant attempted 73 passes and appeared in 11 games at Cincinnati from 2018-2020 before deciding it was time to seek out a starting job. Bryant transferred to Eastern Michigan, where he started all 13 games in 2021. Passing for 3,121 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 68.4 completion percentage, Bryant and the Eagles went 7-6 with a loss to Liberty in the Lending Tree Bowl. 

Meanwhile, Ridder led Cincinnati to an undefeated regular season before losing to Alabama in the College Football Playoff. Following the 2021 season, Ridder was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL Draft, opening the starting job at Cincinnati.

Bryant transferred back to Cincinnati, where he started all 11 games in 2022. He passed for 2,732 yards with 21 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 61.2 completion percentage before suffering a season-ending foot injury. 

And now, with one year of remaining eligibility, Bryant announced Wednesday that he's transferring to Northwestern. The Wildcats' quarterback situation was a mess in 2022, with five players combining for 17 interceptions and just 10 touchdown passes as Northwestern went 1-11.

Rhoades continues Penn State's roster rebuild

When former coach Micah Shrewsberry left Penn State to take the Notre Dame job after a 23-14 season and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011, Penn State's roster took a major hit. With five players entering the transfer portal, plus NBA Draft decisions and graduation, just two players remained from the 2022-23 squad: Kanye Clary (3.7 ppg) and Demetrius Lilley (five games played). 

Penn State replaced Shrewsberry with VCU coach Mike Rhoades, who's had the difficult task of replenishing nearly an entire roster in one offseason after its entire 2023 recruiting class decommitted following the coaching change. Since taking over, Rhoades has added six transfers, including two players who followed him from VCU. Here's the list of incoming transfers.

• Leo O'Boyle: The 6-foot-7 forward played four seasons at Lafayette, where he averaged a career-high 11.6 points and 3.6 rebounds as a senior during the 2022-23 season. Starting 87 games, O'Boyle is a career 37.5 percent 3-point shooter.
• Qudus Wahab: Transferring for the third time, Wahab is a 6-foot-11 center with one year of remaining eligibility. He played two seasons at Georgetown, one season at Maryland, then transferred back to Georgetown for the 2022-23 season. In 119 career games and 88 starts, Wahab averages 8.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and one block per game with a 56.0 field goal percentage.
• Puff Johnson: The 6-foot-8 wing averaged 3.1 points and 1.9 rebounds across three seasons at North Carolina and scored 11 points in the 2022 National Championship loss to Kansas. Johnson played 16.0 minutes per game with two starts during his junior season in 2022-23. A career 24.7 3-point shooter on 81 attempts, Johnson has two years of remaining eligibility.
• Zach Hicks: In two seasons at Temple, Hicks averaged 8.3 points off the bench as a freshman, then started all 32 games in 2022-23 and contributed 9.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-7 forward is a career 36.3 percent 3-point shooter on 388 attempts.
• Nick Kern Jr.: The second player to follow coach Mike Rhoades from VCU to Penn State, Kern started 19 games in 2022-23 and averaged 5.3 points. The 6-foot-6 guard from Saint Louis, Mo. has two years of remaining eligibility.
• Ace Baldwin Jr.: On his way to earning 2022-23 Atlantic-10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors, Baldwin averaged 12.7 points, 5.8 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals. The 6-foot guard, originally from Baltimore, Md., is a career 34.7 percent 3-point shooter across 80 starts in three seasons at VCU.

Hoiberg lands hometown kid

Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg has been busy in the transfer portal this offseason, and that continued on Wednesday. 

After three seasons at Kansas City and one at New Mexico, Josiah Allick will use his final year of eligibility in his hometown of Lincoln, Neb. Allick played at Lincoln North Star High School, a quick drive from Pinnacle Bank Arena, where he'll call home for the 2023-24 season.

"I tried to not let the being home part of it affect my decision," Allick said in an interview with Mike Sautter. "I wanted to make sure if I did pick Nebraska, it was the right basketball fit, it wasn't just my heart pulling at strings. So I really felt with the way coach Hoiberg runs the team and just the unselfishness that he preaches and the way the team plays and with the guys coming back and coming in, that we have a chance to do really big things. I really see myself being a big part of that."

A 6-foot-8 forward, Allick averaged 8.4 and 7.3 rebounds last season at New Mexico, but he shot 15.8 percent from three. He averaged a career-high 15.0 points on 35.6 percent 3-point shooting as a sophomore at Kansas City in 2020-21.  

Along with Allick, Nebraska has landed transfers Ahron Ulis (6.1 ppg at Iowa), Brice Williams (13.8 ppg at Charlotte) and Rienk Mast (13.8 ppg at Bradley) this offseason. Hoiberg and the Cornhuskers ended the 2022-23 season strong, winning five of its last seven games, but still finished in 11th place in the Big Ten. 

This group of transfers, along with incoming freshmen Eli Rice from IMG Academy, will help replace leading scorer and All-Big Ten forward Derrick Walker, as well as third-leading scorer Sam Griesel.