Amid No. 1 Indiana football’s College Football Playoff semifinals preparation, the Hoosiers’ coaching staff has turned some of its attention toward compiling its third transfer portal class in Bloomington.
Indiana made its first acquisition Sunday, as safety Preston Zachman committed to the Hoosiers, according to On3 Sports’ Hayes Fawcett’s X post. Zachman is ranked the 56th-best safety in the portal, per 247Sports, and will have one season of eligibility remaining.
Zachman comes to Indiana after spending the past six seasons at Wisconsin. He was a three-star in the 2020 recruiting class. He played in just one game in 2020, taking a redshirt season. Then, in 2021, he missed the entire season with a sports hernia injury.
Zachman played six games in 2022 before he was sidelined for the rest of the campaign with another injury.
The 6-foot-1, 212-pound Zachman then played in each of the Badgers’ 13 games in 2023, making five starts. He accumulated 49 total tackles, two interceptions and three pass deflections.
Zachman turned in the best season of his collegiate career in 2024. The Elysburg, Pennsylvania, native started all 12 games and totaled 58 tackles, two interceptions and four pass deflections.
Zachman played in the Badgers’ first three 2025 contests and notched two interceptions. However, against the University of Alabama in Week 3, he suffered a season-ending leg injury.
Fawcett reported Dec. 30 that Zachman planned to enter the portal when it officially opened Jan. 2. Just two days later, Zachman committed to the Hoosiers. He marks the second former Badger to transfer to Indiana since Curt Cignetti took over as head coach, joining tight end Riley Nowakowski.
Indiana previously flipped 2026 three-star offensive lineman Benjamin Novak from Wisconsin on Nov. 19.
Zachman joins the Hoosiers’ safety group tasked with replacing Louis Moore and Devan Boykin, as both exhaust their eligibility at season’s end.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
