Former Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire will join the Florida Gators as a graduate transfer this fall. Zaire also considered Wisconsin, Texas, and North Carolina.
Zaire, who lost his job as the starting quarterback to DeShone Kizer in 2016 after breaking his ankle, tossed six touchdowns on 98 attempts across 15 games with the Fighting Irish.
Zaire was forced to delay his decision to head to Florida due to an SEC rule which prohibited Florida from bringing in 22-year-old. Florida has prior had issues with graduate transfers keeping up with their academic requirements, so the SEC previously ruled that the Gators could not accept a grad transfer for three years.
This uncertainty kept the Badgers in the running for Zaire's talents, even though it was clear Florida was his preferred school.
However, the SEC softened their stance on that rule this past weekend at the league's annual meetings, which allowed Zaire to don the orange and blue.
As for Wisconsin, this now leaves redshirt sophomore Alex Hornibrook as the likely starting quarterback for 2017. Hornibrook split time with Bart Houston last season, and threw nine touchdowns and seven interceptions over 12 games. Houston has since graduated.
