Arizona QB Jayden de Laura expected to participate in Manning Passing Academy again

For the second straight summer, Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura is expected to take part in the Manning Passing Academy, a renowned four-day camp that features high-level college football quarterbacks, with Peyton Manning and Eli Manning as coaches.

The Manning Passing Academy is from June 22-25 at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, the home state of the Manning family.

De Laura — who is entering his second season as Arizona’s starting quarterback after throwing for 3,685 yards, 25 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 2022 — is one of seven Pac-12 quarterbacks invited to the Manning Passing Academy, along with Michael Penix (Washington), Drew Pyne (Arizona State), Cameron Rising (Utah), Ty Thompson (Oregon), Shedeur Sanders (Colorado) and Cameron Ward (Washington State), who was de Laura’s successor at WSU.

Other notable quarterbacks expected at the camp include Drake Maye (North Carolina), Jayden Daniels (LSU), Arch Manning (Texas), Quinn Ewers (Texas) and Will Rogers (Mississippi State).

De Laura told the Star in the spring that his first experience at the Manning Passing Academy last summer “was really just more technical stuff.”

“I’d watch how they would help other guys and I would feed off the other guys, like (now-Indianapolis Colts quarterback) Anthony Richardson and how he ran play-action because I’ve never ran that, so it was a new learning experience for me and I took everything in,” he said.

Last month, de Laura was set to train with “3DQB,” a popular quarterback program in Huntington Beach, California.

De Laura has maintained a low profile lately and hasn’t appeared in Arizona’s promotional videos or social media posts since he recently settled a civil lawsuit for a 2018 sexual-assault case from his high school days in Honolulu.

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The civil suit says de Laura and a high school teammate, Wisconsin safety Kamo’i Latu, “eventually” pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault. A statement released to the Star by de Laura’s attorneys refuted that version of events, stating that “reports from certain media outlets involving Jayden de Laura are inaccurate and have inflicted unnecessary duress and reputational harm to numerous individuals and entities.”

“The allegations against Jayden stemmed from when he was a junior in high school, a minor, and were handled in the family court,” the statement continued. “Under Hawaii law, the records and files in juvenile cases are sealed, and all parties are prohibited by law from releasing them. ... What we can share is that reports that Jayden pled guilty and was convicted of sexual assault are not accurate.

“Further, when the civil lawsuit was brought well after the juvenile matter in family court concluded, Jayden chose to resolve it quickly, with no admissions of guilt, so he could focus on his academic and athletic career, and all parties could move forward with their lives without the stressors of a lengthy litigation process.”

UA officials said they knew of de Laura’s legal issues prior to the civil suit becoming public this spring.

“In the fall of 2022 after a civil complaint was filed against football student-athlete Jayden de Laura, the University of Arizona first became aware of a 2018 incident involving de Laura which occurred while he was in high school in Hawaii,” the university’s statement read. “After reviewing the matter, the determination was made to allow de Laura to continue as a student-athlete and his status remains unchanged.”

Arizona kicks off the 2023 season against Northern Arizona on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. in Tucson.

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