Former Wisconsin wide receiver Will Pauling announced his transfer commitment to Notre Dame on Tuesday.
Pauling entered the portal earlier this month after two years with the Badgers. He is one of 24 Wisconsin scholarship players in the portal and the 10th to announce his commitment. The most notable destinations to date are Curt Neal and Leon Lowery to Illinois, Anelu Lafaele to Michigan State and Riley Nowakowski to Indiana.
Related: Wisconsin football 2024 transfer portal departure tracker
Pauling joins the Fighting Irish with 36 career games under his belt (13 at Cincinnati, 23 at Wisconsin). He’s recorded a total of 129 receptions, 1,372 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. His best season was in 2023 when he led the Badgers in every receiving category, totaling 74 catches, 837 yards and six touchdowns.
He joins a Notre Dame program that went 11-1 during the 2024 regular season and recently defeated Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff. It is set to face No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
Pauling reunites with former Wisconsin wide receivers coach Mike Brown at Notre Dame. Brown left the Badgers for the same position with the Fighting Irish after the 2023 season.
https://twitter.com/Will_Paul6/status/1871677651049721981
Wisconsin has lost two wide receivers to the transfer portal: Pauling and C.J. Williams. It has since bolstered the position, adding top transfer recruit Mark Hamper (Idaho) and former top high school prospect Jayden Ballard (Ohio State).
The Badgers are set to enter 2025 with a new-look wide receiving corps. The position is expected to be utilized differently in new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’ scheme — a departure from Phil Longo’s air raid approach. With Pauling gone, rising redshirt sophomore Trech Kekahuna is poised to start in the slot.
For more on where former Wisconsin transfers end up, bookmark our transfer departure tracker.
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