NEWS: ECU QB Katin Houser to transfer to Illinois Football

NEWS: The Illinois Football staff has quickly found its offensive leader entering 2026. On Sunday (1/4), East Carolina quarterback Katin Houser announced his commitment to the Fighting Illini with one final season of eligibility remaining.

The senior is one of the top quarterbacks available in the transfer portal and chose Illinois over reported strong interest from Arkansas, among others. In 2025, Houser threw for 3,300 yards and 19 touchdowns — to only 6 interceptions — leading the Pirates to a 9-4 record, including a recent 23-17 win over Pitt in the Military Bowl.

With 3-year starter Luke Altmyer headed to the NFL, Katin serves as a perfect one-year bridge to develop an exciting young quarterback room, including talented freshman Carson Boyd and 2026 incomer Michael Clayton II. The Anaheim, CA native certainly has big shoes to fill following Altmyer’s legacy career in Champaign. That said, the seasoned veteran has proven himself as an efficient, confident offensive leader. Plus, with 9 rushing touchdowns in 2026, Houser has showcased the dual-threat ability needed to be dangerous in a Barry Lunney Jr. offense that thrives with a pocket-first passer who possesses the ability to hurt you on the scramble, or in the run game.

Katin Houser’s Career Prior to Illinois

Notably, this isn’t Houser’s first rodeo in the Big Ten. The former four-star prospect started his collegiate career at Michigan State in 2022. In 2023, Houser was forced into the starting role as a redshirt freshman, where he threw for 1130  yards, 6 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. Following Mel Tucker’s firing in 2023, Houser transferred to East Carolina, where he developed into a very good quarterback.

The Illini have had great success in the transfer portal quarterbacks during Bret Bielema’s tenure — namely Tommy DeVito and Luke Altmyer. Because of DeVito and Altmyer’s success, Illinois has become one of the better Big Ten teams in the past 4 years, and a nationally rising program.  They will look to have similar success with Katin Houser.

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