Penn Athletics hopes to leave an imprint on each and every student-athlete, even those who don’t finish their careers at Penn.
While the vast majority of Quaker athletes spend their entire collegiate careers at Penn, some make the tough choice to explore opportunities at other schools.
After graduating from Penn in 2019, guard Tyler Hamilton transferred to William & Mary for his graduate season of eligibility. As a graduate student in a MBA program this past year, Hamilton made the academic honor roll.
At Penn, Hamilton missed his entire junior season due to injury, and his hopes were dashed yet again by injuries after only playing six games during his senior season.
However, finally getting a chance to perform again, Hamilton started 25 out of 32 games this season for the Griffins, where he also saw a significant boost in minutes, averaging 21.3 mpg. Hamilton was brought onto the team for his excellent defensive ability and performed as expected, ranking first in charges drawn (18) and near the top of his team in both steals and blocks.
Hamilton has been able to make more of an impact at William and Mary than he ever did at Penn, where although he was a consistent contributor, he only started one game.
Former Penn quarterback Michael Collins opted to transfer to TCU after Penn’s 2016 Ivy League Championship campaign after seeing little playing time behind Alex Torgerson.
In his first season at TCU after sitting out a year due to NCAA transfer rules, Collins started 4 out of the 9 games he appeared in. In his four starts, he completed 56.4% of his passes for 1,509 yards and had 6 TDs to 2 INTs. His debut start against Kansas included 351 yards passing and 3 total TDs (2 rushing).
After graduating from TCU in Dec. 2019, he entered the transfer portal as a graduate student and decided on Rice University. Collins hopes to secure a starting position for the Owls for the upcoming season.
Cornerback Mason Williams is yet another non-Quaker graduate who opted to finish his collegiate career at Duke University after two stellar seasons for the Red and Blue. In his sophomore year at Penn in 2016, Williams made all-Ivy first-team, in addition to leading the Ancient Eight with six interceptions.
After not seeing any action as a junior, Williams played in eight games during his senior season at Duke, mainly on special teams. After graduating, he went on to a short stint playing for the Duquesne Dukes as a graduate student. In his nine games there, Williams recorded 28 total tackles and an interception.
Rising junior Isabel Hebner transferred to Texas for track & field after a single season as a Quaker. Hebner ran in five races while a freshman at Penn, scoring in four of them.
Though the 2020 season for outdoor track was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hebner got the chance to participate in cross country in the fall, running seven times in her first season as a Longhorn. In her debut, Hebner placed 5th at the Bear Twilight and later placed 4th in the Texas Invitational.
It will be interesting to see how Hebner and Collins do in their upcoming seasons.
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