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Luke Fickell's top RB unexpectedly leaving Wisconsin to enter transfer portal

Add this to the list of offseason surprises.
Braulio Perez
Braulio Perez

Badger of Honor

Minnesota v Wisconsin / John Fisher/GettyImages

Add this to the list of offseason surprises for the Wisconsin Badgers football team. Originally, standout running back Tawee Walker was not expected to be back in Madison next campaign, as he was all out of eligibility.

However, due to the new JUCO rules for college football players, Walker has one more year left on his clock. He could have returned to the Badgers in 2025 and tried to post another strong season for head man Luke Fickell and his coaching staff.

That's not going to happen, though, as Walker has decided to once again enter the transfer portal. Walker joined Wisconsin after suiting up for the Oklahoma Sooners. He was a stud in 2024, but now he'll be looking for a new place to call home.

Wisconsin RB Tawee Walker has unexpectedly entered the transfer portal

This past fall for the Badgers, Walker led the way for the ground game with his 864 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. The main knock on Walker, though, was that the bulk of his yards and touchdowns came against inferior opponents - he couldn't quite have the same success against winning sides.

With Walker on his way out of town, all eyes now turn to Darrion Dupree, who was Wisconsin's No. 2 back this campaign. This season, Dupree rushed for 317 yards and a touchdown. He'll now be the featured RB for Fickell and new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.

As we mentioned above, Walker will have one more year of eligibility left. With the portal open until Dec. 28, look for him to act fast in finding the next program he'll suit up for.

Braulio Perez

Braulio Perez

Braulio Perez is an NCAA Content Director for FanSided, joining Minute Media in 2017 after 2.5 years at the Newark Star-Ledger as a high school sports reporter and 2.5 years at the Lynden Tribune as sports editor. While with the Lynden Tribune, Perez was named the Sports Writer of the Year in 2012 for his division by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. At the Star-Ledger, he also assisted in coverage of college football recruiting. Perez's focus has been on college football recruiting, high school sports, the NFL, NCAA and English Premier League. He is also a regular contributor for 247Sports' Cougfan.com.