Athan Kaliakmanis
 Kaliakmanis in August 2023 | |
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights – No. 16 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class | Senior |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | August 20, 2003 |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 213 lb (97 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | |
| High school | Antioch Community (IL) |
Athan Kaliakmanis (/ˈeɪθən ˌkæliəkˈmænɪs/ AY-thən KAL-ee-ək-MAN-iss) is an American football quarterback for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. He previously played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Early life
[edit]Kaliakmanis attended Antioch Community High School in Antioch, Illinois. In 2021, he was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Illinois after completing 77 of 132 passes for 1,158 yards, and 15 touchdowns to just one interception on the season. He also rushed 40 times for 245 yards and four touchdowns.[1][2] Kaliakmanis committed to play college football at the University of Minnesota over other schools like FAU and Tennessee.[3][4]
College career
[edit]Minnesota
[edit]Kaliakmanis redshirted as a freshman at Minnesota. In his sophomore season, he made his debut against New Mexico State and had his first touchdown against Western Illinois.[5] In Minnesota's seventh game of the season, Kaliakmanis got his first career start at Penn State after starting quarterback Tanner Morgan went down with a concussion. In his first start he struggled, completing 9 of 22 passes for 175 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in a 45–17 loss.[6] Kaliakmanis got his next chance in a week nine matchup against Nebraska after Morgan again went down with an injury in the third quarter. Kaliakmanis would go six for 12 on his pass attempts for 137 yards as he helped lead the Golden Gophers to a 20–13 win after being down 10–0 at halftime.[7] In the next week Kaliakmanis earned his first win as a starter after going seven of 13 for 64 passing yards in a 31–3 win over Northwestern.[8] Kaliakmanis got his third start against Iowa, going seven for 15 for 87 yards and an interception in a last-second loss as Iowa kicker Drew Stevens made a field goal to beat the Golden Gophers 13–10.[9] Kaliakmanis started the Golden Gophers' season finale against Wisconsin, in which he would have the best game of his career completing 19 of his 29 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns including the game-winning touchdown to La'Meke Brockington as the Golden Gophers won 23–16.[10] For his performance, he was named the Big Ten Conference co-freshman of the week.[11] Kaliakmanis started in the team's bowl game against Syracuse. He got off to a hot start completing seven of his nine passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, before he suffered a lower leg injury and missed the rest of the game.[12]
Kaliakmanis became the Golden Gophers starting quarterback in 2023.[13][14]
On November 28, 2023, Kaliakmanis announced that he would be entering the NCAA transfer portal.[15]
Rutgers
[edit]On January 2, 2024, Kaliakmanis announced that he would be transferring to Rutgers University to play for the Scarlet Knights.[16][17] He joined his brother, Dino, a wide receiver who had also transferred from Minnesota to Rutgers.[18]
College statistics
[edit]| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Comp | Att | Pct | Yards | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| Minnesota Golden Gophers | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Redshirt 
| |||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 11 | 5 | 3−2 | 60 | 111 | 54.1 | 946 | 8.5 | 3 | 4 | 127.4 | 34 | 140 | 4.1 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 12 | 12 | 5–7 | 156 | 294 | 53.1 | 1,838 | 6.3 | 14 | 9 | 115.2 | 74 | 94 | 1.3 | 2 | |
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 12 | 12 | 7–5 | 199 | 363 | 54.8 | 2,459 | 6.8 | 17 | 6 | 123.9 | 81 | 233 | 2.9 | 3 | |
| Career[19] | 35 | 29 | 15−14 | 415 | 768 | 54.0 | 5,243 | 6.8 | 34 | 19 | 121.0 | 189 | 467 | 2.5 | 6 | |
Personal life
[edit]Kaliakmanis is of Greek descent. He has a tattoo on his arm of the Greek word for family, οικογένεια. He was named after Athanasius of Alexandria,[18] also known in English as Athan.[20]
References
[edit]- ^ Greder, Andy (May 13, 2021). "Incoming Gophers QB Athan Kaliakmanis wins Gatorade Player of Year in Illinois". Pioneer Press. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Burns, Ryan. "Athan Kaliakmanis named Gatorade Illinois Football Player of the Year". 247Sports. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Aguliar, Joe (March 27, 2019). "Antioch's Kaliakmanis brothers commit to Minnesota". Daily Herald. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Pope, LaMond (March 31, 2019). "'We've always dreamed about it': Antioch's Athan and Dino Kaliakmanis verbally commit to Minnesota". Chicago-Tribune. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ "Athan Kaliakmanis". Minnesota Golden Gophers University Athletics. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ "Gophers, redshirt freshman QB no match for Penn State in 45-17 loss". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Johnson, Randy. "Redshirt freshman quarterback leads rally as Gophers top Nebraska 20-13". Star-Tribune. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Johnson, Randy (November 15, 2022). "Gophers QB Athan Kaliakmanis needs extra-thick skin as he grows into role". Star Tribune. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Johnson, Randy. "Iowa kicks late field goal to beat Gophers 13-10, claim Floyd of Rosedale for eighth straight time". Star-Tribune. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Nelson, Joe. "Athan Kaliakmanis comes alive as Gophers beat Badgers in Wisconsin". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Johnson, Randy. "Gophers QB Athan Kaliakmanis named Big Ten co-freshman of the week". Star-Tribune. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Stone, Ethan (December 29, 2022). "Athan Kaliakmanis helped off field at Pinstripe Bowl with injury". Saturday Tradition. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Simon, Jesse (June 23, 2023). "Minnesota QB Athan Kaliakmanis Is Primed to Throw for 3,000 Yards". Last Word on Sports. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Schad, Chris. "5 Gophers who could be breakout players in 2023". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
- ^ Harrison, Jonathan (November 28, 2023). "Gophers QB Athan Kaliakmanis announces he will enter transfer portal". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ Champion, Brandon (January 2, 2024). "Former 4-star QB transferring from Minnesota to Rutgers". mlive. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ Rittenberg, Adam (January 2, 2024). "Ex-Minnesota QB Kaliakmanis heading to Rutgers". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ a b Fonseca, Brian (August 23, 2024). "At Rutgers, Athan Kaliakmanis gets fresh start near family roots. Will he solve RU's QB conundrum?". NJ.com. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
- ^ "Athan Kaliakmanis College Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ^ Rouvelas, Marilyn (2002). A Guide to Greek Traditions And Customs in America (PDF) (Second ed.). Bethesda, Maryland: Nea Attiki Press. p. 87. ISBN 09638051-1-8. Retrieved November 13, 2024.