South Dakota
College football QB transfer tracker: South Dakota State QB Mark Gronowski commits to Iowa
It’s both transfer season and bowl season in college football.
The poor timing of the sport’s calendar means that players need to enter the transfer portal immediately after the end of the season to enroll at a new school for the second semester. That means players across the country have to leave their current teams before a bowl game to find a new school. And that coaches have to both prepare their current players for a bowl game while also recruiting transfers for the 2025 season.
Here’s our tracker of notable QB transfers across college football ahead of the 2025 season.
SDSU’s Mark Gronowski commits to Iowa
Iowa has landed a top transfer quarterback.
Former South Dakota State QB Mark Gronowski told ESPN that he’s committing to the Hawkeyes for his final season of eligibility. Gronowski entered the transfer portal after coach Jimmy Rogers became the head coach at Washington State following SDSU’s FCS semifinal loss to national champion North Dakota State.
Gronowski has been one of the best players at the FCS level over the past three seasons. In 2024, he was 206-of-338 passing for 2,721 yards and threw 23 TDs with seven interceptions. He also rushed for 10 touchdowns. In his career, Gronowski has thrown for 93 TDs to just 20 interceptions and has also rushed for 37 scores.
Iowa has been looking for an upgrade at quarterback in recent seasons. The team added former Michigan QB Cade McNamara ahead of the 2023 season, but McNamara suffered a season-ending knee injury a season ago and also dealt with injuries during the 2024 season before entering the transfer portal again for a potential seventh season of college football.
Overall, Iowa quarterbacks McNamara, Brendan Sullivan and Jackson Stratton were 163-of-260 passing for 1,711 yards and 10 TDs with eight interceptions during the 2024 season. The Hawkeyes finished the season 8-5 after losing to Missouri in the Music City Bowl.
Malachi Nelson transferring to UTEP
Former five-star recruit Malachi Nelson is heading to UTEP.
Per ESPN, the former USC and Boise State quarterback will continue his college career with the Miners. Nelson was the No. 2 QB at Boise State this season after transferring from USC following his freshman season in 2023.
Through two seasons of college football, Nelson has played in four games. He threw three passes in one game at USC and was 12-of-17 for 128 yards and a pick in three games at Boise State. He’ll have three more years of eligibility remaining.
When he signed with USC, Nelson was the No. 4 pro style QB in the class of 2023 and the No. 14 player in the country.
Dequan Finn transferring to Miami (Ohio)
Dequan Finn is heading back to the MAC.
The former Toledo star is transferring to Miami (Ohio) after spending the 2024 season at Baylor. Finn was the 2023 MAC player of the year with the Rockets as he was 201-of-317 passing for 2,657 yards and 22 TDs along with 563 rushing yards and seven scores on the ground.
However, he played in just three games at Baylor in 2024 as Sawyer Robertson emerged as the team’s starting quarterback during the season. In limited playing time at Baylor, Finn was 23-of-43 passing for 307 yards and three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed 21 times for 66 yards and two scores.
Finn will be in his seventh season of college football in 2025. He has an extra season of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic and also played in just three games in 2019 and reportedly applied for a medical waiver for the 2025 season.
Beau Pribula to Missouri
After leaving Penn State ahead of the College Football Playoff, Beau Pribula has found his new home.
Pribula is set to transfer to Missouri, according to multiple reports on Sunday night. Pribula served as Drew Allar’s backup quarterback this season at Penn State, though Pribula announced that he was going to transfer away before the Nittany Lions’ blowout win over SMU in the first round of the playoffs. Allar announced he will return to Penn State next season, too.
Pribula will have two years of eligibility remaining at Missouri, where he’ll likely replace Brady Cook. Pribula, a former four-star recruit, went 26-of-35 for 275 yards with five touchdowns and an interception this season. He had 242 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 38 carries, too. Missouri also has Drew Pyne, who backed up Cook this past season, on its roster.
The Tigers went 9-3 this season, the fifth under coach Eli Drinkwitz. They will wrap up their season against Iowa in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Dec. 30.
Michigan adds Fresno State’s Mikey Keene
Michigan was looking for a veteran quarterback who might provide a one-year bridge to five-star recruit Bryce Underwood. The Wolverines found one with Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene, who has one more year of eligibility.
As a two-year starter for the Bulldogs, Keene threw for 5,868 yards and 42 touchdowns, completing 68.7% of his passes. He is also familiar with Michigan’s new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, whom he played under at UCF in 2022.
Michigan’s QB play has major room for improvement after the 2024 season. The Wolverines ranked near the worst in the nation in passing offense, averaging 133.6 yards per game and 5.5 yards per attempt.
Davis Warren threw for 1,126 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions in eight games, while Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle also started games last season. Orji has entered the transfer portal while Tuttle retired from football due to injury. Warren has a fifth year of eligibility remaining and could return. Redshirt freshman Jadyn Davis will also be in the QB mix with Underwood and Keene.
Fernando Mendoza to Indiana
After a huge season at Cal, Fernando Mendoza is headed to the Big Ten.
Mendoza committed to play at Indiana next season, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Mendoza, who was one of the top quarterbacks available in the portal this offseason, threw for 3,004 yards and 16 touchdowns at Cal. His younger brother is a freshman quarterback at Indiana, too.
The Hoosiers are coming off of their best season in school history. They won a program high 11 games and reached the College Football Playoff, though they fell to Notre Dame in the opening round. Kurtis Rourke led the Hoosiers in his final college season, and he racked up 3,042 yards with 29 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Maalik Murphy transferring to Oregon State
Former Texas and Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy is heading west.
Murphy committed to Oregon State on Thursday according to multiple reports. He joins the Beavers after one season in Durham following his transfer from Texas.
Murphy was 254-of-421 passing for 2,933 yards and 26 TDs with 12 interceptions in 2024. He spent the 2023 season as Texas’ No. 2 quarterback and started in Quinn Ewers’ absence when Ewers suffered a shoulder injury. However, due to the timing of the transfer portal, he left the Longhorns before the College Football Playoff.
Murphy will have two seasons of eligibility with the Beavers. Oregon State went 5-7 in 2024 as three different quarterbacks played in at least five games.
After Murphy entered the transfer portal at the end of the season, Duke moved quickly to secure a commitment from Tulane’s Darian Mensah.
Liberty’s Kaidon Salter heads to Colorado
One of the most productive QBs in college football during the 2023 season is heading to Colorado.
Liberty’s Kaidon Salter committed to Colorado on Wednesday for his final season of eligibility. Salter had 44 total touchdowns in 2023 as Liberty went undefeated and won Conference USA before losing to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. Salter returned to Liberty for the 2024 season after he briefly entered the portal following the Fiesta Bowl loss.
Billy Edwards commits to Wisconsin
Former Maryland QB Billy Edwards said Monday that he was heading to Wisconsin. Edwards was 273-of-420 passing for 2,881 yards and 15 TDs with nine interceptions over 11 games in 2024. He also rushed for 148 yards and five touchdowns. Edwards appeared in 15 games over his first two seasons at Maryland before becoming the team’s primary QB in 2024.
Wisconsin is undergoing an overhaul at the QB position as the team made a coordinator change at the end of the season. QBs Braedyn Locke and Tyler Van Dyke have entered the transfer portal already. Locke was the team’s starter for most of the season after Van Dyke suffered a torn ACL against Alabama.
Wazzu QB John Mateer enters portal
Washington State QB John Mateer was one of the most dynamic players in college football in 2024. He’ll be playing at a new school in 2025.
Mateer is entering the portal after leading college football with 44 total TDs. He threw for 29 scores and rushed for 15 others as he had at least one passing TD and one rushing TD in 10 of Washington State’s 12 games.
Penn State QB Beau Pribula leaves team before playoff
The Nittany Lions will have a new backup behind Drew Allar for the College Football Playoff.
No. 2 QB Beau Pribula announced Sunday that he was entering the transfer portal ahead of the postseason. Pribula lamented the timing of his announcement because of college football’s calendar, and his sentiments were backed up by coach James Franklin, who said he supported his QB’s decision to find a new school.
Pribula’s decision to transfer came a day before Allar announced he will return to Penn State for the 2025 season.
Pribula saw significant playing time in 2024 behind Allar. He was 26-of-35 passing for 275 yards and five TDs and rushed 38 times for 242 yards and four scores while appearing in all 13 of PSU’s games.
Miller Moss will spend final season at Louisville
The Louisville Cardinals will likely have a one-year transfer starting at quarterback for a second straight season.
Former USC QB Miller Moss committed to the Cardinals on Saturday. Moss was USC’s starter for much of the season in 2024 before he was replaced by Jayden Maiava. Moss was 233-of-362 passing for 2,555 yards with 18 TDs and nine interceptions across nine games.
The Cardinals and coach Jeff Brohm got an up-close look at what Moss can do in the Holiday Bowl at the end of the 2023 season. With Caleb Williams opting out for the NFL Draft, Moss started the game and was 23-of-33 for 372 yards and six TDs.
Tyler Shough spent the 2024 season as Louisville’s starter after stints at Oregon and Texas Tech. In his seventh season of college football, Shough has completed 63% of his passes and thrown for 23 TDs and just six interceptions.
Ex-Stanford QB Ashton Daniels joins Jackson Arnold at Auburn
Auburn added a second starting QB in less than a week on Monday when Stanford’s Ashton Daniels committed to the Tigers. In 11 games in 2024, Daniels was 170-of-271 passing for 1,700 yards and 10 TDs with 12 interceptions. He also was the Cardinal’s leading rusher with 148 carries for 669 yards and three TDs.
Daniels has appeared in 33 games over his Stanford career and is 366-of-602 passing for 3,986 yards. His commitment came days after former Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold committed to Auburn. The Tigers will have a new starter in 2025 after Payton Thorne is out of eligibility and Hank Brown transferred to Iowa.
Utah adds New Mexico QB Devon Dampier and OC
Dual-threat QB Devon Dampier is heading to Utah.
The Utes got a commitment from Dampier on Dec. 11 after the Utes hired former New Mexico offensive coordinator Jason Beck to call plays.
Dampier thrived under Beck in 2024 as one of the most underrated players in college football. Dampier was 226-of-390 passing for 2,768 yards and 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also rushed 155 times for 1,166 yards and 19 scores. He was the only player to rush for over 1,000 yards while throwing for over 2,500 yards this season.
Dampier is set to be the presumptive starter for the Utes as they attempt to rebound from a poor 2024. QB Isaac Wilson was the team’s primary starter after Cam Rising’s multiple injuries. Wilson was briefly in the transfer portal before recommitting to Utah.
Thomas Castellanos goes to Florida State
After an ignominious end to his Boston College career, Thomas Castellanos is heading to Florida State.
The former BC QB entered the transfer portal at the end of the season after he lost his starting job in November. Through eight games in 2024, Castellanos threw for 1,366 yards and 18 TDs.
But Castellanos’ season was effectively over after Grayson James replaced him in a win over Syracuse. Castellanos stepped away from the team after BC coach Bill O’Brien announced that James would remain the team’s primary QB and announced he was heading into the portal a short time later.
Texas A&M QB Conner Weigman heads to Houston
Conner Weigman decided to stay in Texas after transferring from Texas A&M.
The former Aggies starter committed to Houston after putting his name in the portal. Weigman was the team’s starting quarterback but lost his job to Marcel Reed during the Aggies’ comeback win over LSU.
A former four-star recruit, Weigman has dealt with injuries during each of the past two seasons. He missed time in 2024 because of a shoulder injury and played in just four games in 2023 before a foot injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Maalik Murphy transfers from Duke, Darian Mensah commits
Duke effectively made an early transfer portal QB trade once the 2024 season ended.
Starter Maalik Murphy entered the portal after one season with the Blue Devils. Just days after Murphy said he was transferring, Duke added former Tulane QB Darian Mensah.
Mensah was one of the top-rated QBs in the portal since he announced he was leaving Tulane two days after the AAC title game. He threw for over 2,723 yards and 22 TDs as a redshirt freshman in 2024.
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 6, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from July 6 drawing
17-44-63-66-67, Powerball: 04, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from July 6 drawing
12-16-19-21-23, Star Ball: 10, ASB: 03
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 6 drawing
02-08-32-54-56, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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The existing water treatment plant for the Minnehaha Community Water Corp. on June 9, 2026, south of Dell Rapids, S.D. (Photo: Bart Pfankuch / South Dakota News Watch)
DELL RAPIDS, S.D. – Scott Buss can only imagine what this town north of Sioux Falls might have looked like – and how many jobs and taxes would have been generated – if there wasn’t a local shortage of available water.
Buss, executive director of the Minnehaha Community Water Corp., sat in the conference room of the rural water system based in Dell Rapids recently and ticked off the industrial and agricultural projects turned away due to a lack of water.
After hitting its limit on how much water it can provide a few years ago, the rural system has had to turn away proposed projects valued at hundreds of millions of dollars that offered an untold number of new jobs, he said.
The rejected projects include the Agropur Cheese plant that eventually opened in Lake Norden. A few proposed hog farms and dairy expansions in northern Minnehaha County were also stalled, Buss said.
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Other proposals, most of which never came to fruition in South Dakota, included the $1.5 billion Gevo corn-based jet fuel plant, the $5oo million Wholestone Farms hog processing plant and a data center that at some point all eyed the Dell Rapids area for development.
“All the water rights are spoken for between Dell Rapids and Sioux Falls, so there was no more water to be had in Minnehaha County,” Buss told News Watch in an interview in June. “With all the (residential) development that was coming in, we realized that our well capacity and our treatment capacity was limiting our ability to take on new high water-use customers.”
Buss and the nonprofit corporation’s board of directors aren’t waiting around to potentially miss out on more opportunities.
In a unique arrangement, the corporation is partnering with the neighboring Big Sioux Community Water System to the north on a $170 million expansion project called Shared Resources. The expansion, started three years ago, will use new wells into the Big Sioux Aquifer to generate 8 million gallons of water more per day starting this fall.
“It’s going to be a huge and great benefit for Big Sioux and Minnehaha water,” said Jodi Johanson, director of the Big Sioux system based in Egan. “This project is going to make sure that down the road we have enough water for the future.”
2 systems get stronger together
The Minnehaha water corporation is still able to bring on new residential and retail customers who consume part of the 9.2 million gallons of treated water it can provide on a daily basis.
The system was formed by a group of farmers and landowners in the 1970s but sought a reliable way of providing more and cleaner water to residents of Minnehaha County outside of Sioux Falls who relied exclusively on individual wells. The system started with about 1,200 customers but has grown to more than 5,500 now in seven cities, mostly north of the Sioux Falls metro area.
Given the limits on water from the aquifer, and balancing the water needs of consistent housing and retail growth in northern Minnehaha County, the water system had to say no to developments that request 1 million or more gallons of water per day, Buss said. A million gallons per day is equivalent to the water consumption of about 4,300 homes, he said.
Billions needed to keep South Dakota taps flowing
South Dakota water systems will increasingly turn to the Missouri River to provide water for future population, agricultural and industrial growth. But plans will require billions of dollars and decades of construction to keep taps flowing freely.
As with other rural water systems in South Dakota, the aquifers the systems rely on for their water are either running low or are legally tapped out, or both.
In the case of Minnehaha water corporation, the Big Sioux River Aquifer has gotten drier, but state law is also preventing it from taking more water from the aquifer.
In 1996, the state Water Management Board allocated water rights, or withdrawal limits, to systems that take groundwater from the aquifer, Buss said.
Those limits have now been reached, meaning that Minnehaha water cannot take any more than the 7 million gallons per day it is drawing now.
The system also receives about 2 million gallons per day from the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System, making its daily maximum capacity of about 9.2 million gallons per day, which it sometimes reaches, especially during spring planting season or hot summer months.
Directly to the north, the Big Sioux Community Water System produces up to 2 million gallons per day for about 2,400 customers in Moody and Lake counties as well as some in Brookings County and in western Minnesota, Johanson said.
The system still has room within its water rights to draw more water, making it an attractive partner for Minnehaha water.
Though Big Sioux Community Water System has not turned away any large projects, it needs more water to serve a boom in residential growth in the region, Johanson said.
In the area around Lake Madison, near Madison, developers are considering projects that could someday bring 500 new homes and a new nine-hole golf course, she said.
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The system also serves a number of dairies that use significant water and provides water to the Dakota Ethanol plant in Wentworth, which is undergoing an expansion. Farmers in the region are also using greater quantities of water to deliver chemicals onto their land, Johanson said.
“This is our first expansion,” she said. “We’re looking forward and we’re trying to find the solution before we face a problem.”
Federal government and customers pay the way
The biggest Shared Resources ticket item is a new $80 million water treatment plant that is nearly completed on 240th Street a few miles north of Dell Rapids.
A 20-inch pipeline from the plant to the east will end at a 1.5 million gallon water tower, and a 24-inch pipeline to the west will terminate at a ground-level storage tank with a 4 million gallon capacity.
Six new wells will draw the water, and the storage tanks will provide both pressure and the ability to adapt to changing demands without service interruption, Buss said.
As with most modern water projects, the costs will be shared by government and end users. The systems are funding the project with $49 million in grants from the Biden-era American Rescue Plan Act and $121 million in low-interest loans from South Dakota’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
The two systems are sharing the cost of the project loans commensurate with how much water they will receive, meaning Minnehaha will pay 65% of the costs for its 5 million gallons per day while Big Sioux will kick in 35% for its 3 million gallons more per day.
Minnehaha water is assuming $87 million in new debt and Big Sioux will take on $42 million in new debt, Buss said.
The average residential consumer in both systems that uses about 7,000 gallons per month will see their bill rise to $135 a month, roughly double the cost in 2020.
“It’s a big project, and it’s a good example of how two systems can work together to have some economies of scale,” Buss said.
Ratepayers will see a significant increase in their monthly water bills. The average residential consumer in both systems that uses about 7,000 gallons per month will see their bill rise to $135 a month, roughly double the cost in 2020, Buss said.
A big project, but even more water needed
But both systems view the Shared Resources project as a temporary fix and both are looking toward proposed projects that will tap the Missouri River for more water in the future.
Buss said his system has applied for 10 million gallons more water per day from Lewis & Clark, which has two expansion efforts planned.
Minnehaha water has simultaneously applied to receive 10 million gallons per day from the proposed Dakota Mainstem Regional Water System, a potentially $10 billion project to carry Missouri River water to more than 50 communities and organizations across eastern South Dakota and parts of Minnesota and Iowa.
The dual application effort is to make sure Minnehaha water can rely on taking in more water from at least one of the two systems as they come online, Buss said.
Johanson said Big Sioux has also signed on to accept water from Dakota Mainstem, even if it takes 20 to 40 years for the water to begin flowing.
To ensure that steady supply of high-quality drinking water, four major projects are in progress to take more water from the Missouri River – including WEB Water in the northeast, Lewis & Clark and the proposed Dakota Mainstem in the southeast as well as the proposed Western Dakota Regional Water System in western South Dakota and the Black Hills.
The projects are part of a wide-scale increase in water service capacity now underway in South Dakota, where water managers of several systems are implementing plans to serve the state for the next 40 to 50 years.
Regional rural water systems such as Minnehaha and Big Sioux are critical components of those projects because they provide water to communities and individual customers at the end of the delivery system.
Alicia Deschepper, zoning administrator for Moody County, said the water system expansions should allow for more growth to occur in Moody and Minnehaha counties, which are seeing new single-family housing developed at a rapid rate.
“I think it will be a great thing for our county and hopefully enable us to bring in more bigger businesses as well as more homes,” Deschepper said.
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org. Contact content director Bart Pfankuch: 605-937-9398/bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.
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