Arizona adds Washington transfer linebacker Daniel Heimuli

Arizona's rebuilding of its linebacker unit has continued into the new year, and the latest piece to join the group is another transfer from within the Pac-12. The Wildcats already added Oregon transfer Justin Flowe earlier in the offseason, and Saturday Washington inside linebacker Daniel Heimuli announced his decision to play for Johnny Nansen and the UA defense through an Instagram post.

As a high school prospect in the 2019 class, Heimuli landed offers from several high-profile programs from around the country including Alabama, USC, Notre Dame, LSU, Texas, Illinois, Tennessee and many others. He was also ranked as the seventh-best inside linebacker in his class and the 159th-rated prospect overall.

In the end, the Bay Area native opted to stay closer to home and play for Chris Petersen in Seattle.

Heimuli, who has two seasons of remaining eligibility with the Wildcats, heads to Tucson having played in 18 games for the Huskies with two starts. He collected 25 tackles over that time as a reserve for the UW defense. The 6-foot, 225-pound linebacker from East Palo Alto also has two tackles for loss in his career.

Interestingly enough, the best performances of his career have come against the Wildcats. He had five tackles against Arizona in the 2020 matchup between UA and UW, and he followed that up by setting a new career high with eight tackles in the 2021 meeting.

Heimuli played in six games during the 2022 season and finished the year with five tackles. His season was cut short because of a suspension for a violation of UW rules stemming from an altercation at a local Seattle bar.

Freshman Jacob manu is the only Arizona linebacker returning with any significant starting experience after starting middle linebacker Jerry Roberts recently announced his plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Since the end of the season, the Wildcats have added Flowe, a former five-star recruit and Jedd Fisch's program also announced the signings of incoming freshmen Taye Brown and Kamuela Ka'aihue back in December.

Heimuli is the fifth transfer addition for the Wildcats this offseason joining Flow, Cal edge rusher Orin Patu, UCLA defensive lineman Tyler Manoa and Georgia defensive lineman Bill Norton. Each of the previous additions is already on campus in Tucson.

The NCAA transfer window closes next week after which players will not be allowed to enter the portal again until May 1.