Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch left open the possibility of adding another quarterback if his staff found the right player in the right situation. Over the weekend the right player entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Washington State quarterback Jayden de Laura is making the move to Arizona. The second-year freshman entered the portal Friday and Monday night he announced his plans to continue his career with Fisch and the Wildcats.
De Laura finished the 2021 season second in the Pac-12 Conference with 2,796 yards passing to go with a league-high 23 passing touchdowns to nine interceptions. That earned him the 2021 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award.
The native of Hawaii has become one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the league through his first two seasons. He racked up 886 yards and five touchdowns in the shortened 2020 season.
Washington State went through a coaching change last season and recently brought in a new offensive coordinator. The Cougars also recently hosted Incarnate Word quarterback Cameron Ward, who committed to the school earlier Monday.
De Laura will join an crowded but unsettled quarterback room at Arizona that features former transfers Gunner Cruz (Washington State) and Jordan McCloud (South Florida) in addition to Will Plummer and freshman Noah Fifita, who just arrived to campus at Arizona over the weekend.
Cruz and McCloud suffered season-ending injuries while Plummer was inconsistent at times and had to deal with injuries of his own.
That left Fisch uncomfortable about the quarterback situation heading into the spring. He said during a press conference last month that he did not wan to end up in a situation once again where UA was left with just one healthy scholarship quarterback during the season.
Now de Laura will enter the 2022 season as the favorite to land the starting job.
The Wildcats have completely revamped the offensive side of the ball this offseason with several key additions at the skill positions. Five-star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan joined the 2022 recruiting class in December while UA just added a commitment from versatile playmaker Rayshon Luke this week as well.
That is in addition to receivers such as Kevin Green Jr., AJ Jones and four-star tight end Keyan Burnett. The biggest transfer addition prior to de Laura was UTEP receiver Jacob Cowing, who finished in the top 10 among all FBS receivers with over 1,300 yards receiving during the 2021 season.
De Laura is the fifth transfer UA has added since the end of the season in November. He will have three seasons of remaining eligibility with the Wildcats.
Talk about this big news for Arizona with other Wildcats fans on our premium message boards.
> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona fans as the Wildcats continue Building The Tradition
> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel
> FOLLOW us on Twitter (@goazcatscom, @MattGOAZCATS, @THutch1995, @AverieKlonowski)
> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)
> LIKE us on Facebook
> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)
