Portal additions are coming for Arizona, but WR Dorian Singer is a big loss

The new 45-day window for undergraduates to enter the NCAA transfer portal opened Monday, and hundreds of football players jumped through it.

Jedd Fisch and the Arizona Wildcats are expected to benefit from the portal in the coming weeks. They took some significant hits as the window opened.

Between Sunday evening and Monday afternoon, three UA starters announced they’d be entering the portal — including star sophomore wide receiver Dorian Singer, who led the Pac-12 in receiving yards this season. He joined defensive linemen Kyon Barrs and Paris Shand as the Wildcats’ latest entrants. More are expected this week — though none as significant as Singer.

Singer posted on Twitter Monday morning his decision to leave Arizona. Minutes after announcing his departure, Singer landed official offers from Utah, the Pac-12’s back-to-back champion, and Arizona State.

“I appreciate my teammates for always keeping my confidence high and holding me to a high ceiling on and off the field,” Singer wrote. “Thank you to the city of Tucson for the support and appreciation.”

Singer, who grew up in Minnesota before spending his senior year of high school at Phoenix Pinnacle, joined the Wildcats as a walk-on in 2021. He emerged as one of the program’s top pass catchers in the final stretch of Fisch’s first season. Singer was awarded a scholarship in January.

As one-third of Arizona’s starting receiver corps alongside star freshman Tetairoa McMillan and highly touted transfer Jacob Cowing, Singer caught 66 passes for a conference-leading 1,105 yards and six touchdowns.

Singer had four games this past season with over 100 receiving yards, including a nine-catch, 176-yard, one-touchdown performance against Washington State. Singer also had seven catches for 141 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-37 loss to 10th-ranked USC.

During the WSU game, Singer and quarterback Jayden de Laura exchanged words and shoves on the sideline. Fisch and de Laura later said the players were frustrated in the moment and quickly made up. Singer also was ejected from the 2021 finale vs. ASU for unsportsmanlike conduct, an incident he has declined to discuss.

It’s unclear whether the sideline spat between Singer and de Laura had anything to do with the former’s decision to leave. More likely, Singer is seeking to take advantage of NIL opportunities elsewhere after a breakout season.

Arizona conceivably could lose both Singer and Cowing — the Pac-12’s leading receiver — who is weighing whether to enter the NFL draft. Besides McMillan, Arizona returns promising freshmen Kevin Green Jr. and AJ Jones, as well as sophomore Anthony Simpson.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Barrs earned All-Pac-12 second-team honors in 2021. He rebounded from offseason foot surgery to have another productive season in ’22.

After recording a team-high five sacks in ’21, Barrs didn’t have a sack this season under new coordinator Johnny Nansen. Barrs did have a career-high 39 tackles, including 4.5 for losses.

“After a lot of prayer, and with the support of my family, my time at Arizona has come to an end,” Barrs tweeted. “I am appreciative of the time I have spent here. ... I have grown in ways I couldn’t imagine and will be forever grateful for the experiences Arizona has given me.”

Barrs appeared in 38 games at Arizona, including 23 starts. He recorded 102 tackles, including 12.5 TFLs

Barrs will be a fifth-year senior in 2023. He’s entering the portal as a graduate transfer.

Shand, another defensive regular, also put his name in the portal late Sunday.

Shand, a former basketball player from Canada, appeared in nine games this season, including seven starts. He had a career-high 23 tackles, including 2.5 for losses, plus two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Shand appeared in 23 games overall at Arizona, compiling 41 tackles and 5.5 TFLs (including five sacks).

Another defensive tackle, Dion Wilson Jr., implied on Twitter via a series of emojis that he’s also entering the portal. Wilson has appeared in 20 games across three seasons, totaling 31 tackles.

Earlier Sunday, starting free safety Jaxen Turner announced he’d be entering the portal. Turner had the highest Pro Football Focus grade of any UA defensive player this season.

After adding 51 new players last offseason, Arizona is expected to add around 40 this offseason. How many will be on scholarship remains to be seen. But the NCAA has removed the 25-player limit on “initial counters” for the next two years — a change that is expected to become permanent — so the only threshold that can’t be broken is the overall roster cap of 85 scholarship players.