Southern Miss beefed up its quarterback room with a high-profile recruit from the transfer portal.

The school announced Sunday that former Florida State quarterback Tate Rodemaker will join the program after playing in 23 games for the Seminoles over the past four seasons.

Rodemaker will be a redshirt senior with two years of eligibility remaining. The Valdosta, Georgia, native stepped in for injured starter Jordan Travis on Nov. 18 to guide Florida State to a win over North Alabama. A week later, he started in a 24-15 victory at Florida but suffered an injury that kept him out of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

Rodemaker completed 32 of 56 passes for 510 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions to help the Seminoles finish the regular season with a 13-0 record. They were passed over for a spot in the College Football Playoff, however.

Rodemaker participated in Florida State’s bowl practices in December, but was among nearly two dozen players who opted out of playing in the Orange Bowl against Georgia. Rodemaker announced in late December that he was entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Rodemaker played in nine games in 2023. He originally signed with Florida State in 2020 and completed 58 percent of his passes for 901 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions in 23 career games. He was also recruited by Southern Miss coming out of high school, and by its current head coach Will Hall when Hall was the offensive coordinator at Tulane.

The addition of Rodemaker brings to nine the number of quarterbacks on Southern Miss’ roster.

Billy Wiles started 10 games in 2023 and passed for 1,934 yards, with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Freshman Ethan Crawford started the last two games and played in four others. Crawford completed 19 of 38 passes for 246 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, and also ran for 96 yards and one TD.

The Golden Eagles also brought in Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s John White as part of its December signing class.

White was the MAIS Class 6A Player of the Year in 2023, when he passed for 3,557 yards and 42 touchdowns. The three-star recruit set the Mississippi high school record for career passing yards with 15,259, to go along with 177 total touchdowns and a 70.2 completion percentage.