BLOOMINGTON — IU football landed a verbal commitment from Wisconsin tight end Riley Nowakowski on Wednesday.
He made the announcement with a post on X.
Nowakowski, who will be a sixth-year senior next season, signed with Wisconsin coming out of Marquette University in 2020 as a walk-on. He was an unranked prospect in his signing class and was put on scholarship after coach Luke Fickell was hired in 2022.
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Why IU football signing TE Riley Nowakowski matters
The opposing coaches that turned on the tape of Indiana this season fell in love with Zach Horton.
They loved his physicality, attention to detail and selfless approach. Horton embraced the role of being primarily used as a blocking tight end and had no problems if the ball didn’t come his way even though he was a more than capable receiving threat.
With Horton out of eligibility, the Hoosiers are looking to replicate that success with Nowakowski. He will compete for playing time with James Bomba, Brody Foley and Sam West next season while IU’s staff looks to develop a trio of recent signees — Brody Kosin, who redshirted this season, and incoming freshmen Andrew Barker and Blake Thiry.
Inside the numbers for former Wisconsin TE Riley Nowakowski
Nowakowski wasn’t used much in the passing game, but he was pretty reliable whenever the ball was thrown his way. He had 11 catches on 13 targets for 74 yards in 2024 and showed some mobility with 34 yards after the catch.
He also got high marks from Pro Football Focus for his pass-blocking throughout his career.
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Why Wisconsin TE Riley Nowakowski was a good fit for Hoosiers
The bios of IU’s recent transfers signees continue to mirror each other. Nowakowski has played in 40 career games over five seasons (10 starts) and has experience playing every special teams group.
He’s a former walk-on like recent transfer signee Lee Bebee Jr., a UAB running back who signed with the Hoosiers last week. The Hoosiers like motivated players and that’s been a point of discussion throughout the week leading into their first-round CFP game against Notre Dame.
One other important trait Nowakowski possesses is that he can line up anywhere on the line of scrimmage
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU football transfer portal news Wisconsin TE Riley Nowakowski commits
