Embattled Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura to transfer after losing starting job

Jayden de Laura, the University of Arizona starter-turned-backup quarterback whose story as a Wildcat in 2023 became as much about his off-field past as his own play on the field, is leaving the UA.

A fourth-year junior originally from Honolulu, de Laura announced Christmas Day via social media his intent to enter college football’s transfer portal, but only after the Wildcats’ bowl game this week in San Antonio. De Laura said he’ll be with the team as No. 14 Arizona faces No. 12 Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl Thursday night.

Starting all 12 games at quarterback for the Wildcats under coach Jedd Fisch in 2022, de Laura was a key part of Arizona’s jump from a single win the year prior to five in his first season after transferring from Washington State. In 2022, he threw for 3,685 yards — that included a stretch of four mid-season games where he surpassed 400 yards passing three times — with 25 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

And he was unquestionably entrenched as Arizona’s starter for the early part of the program’s rise to national prominence this season under Fisch.

Yet, while Arizona is 9-3 heading into Thursday’s bowl game and a win could put the Wildcats inside the Top 10, de Laura has not seen significant action since leaving his final start back on Sept. 23 at Stanford with an injury. Arizona was 3-1 at the time, including that win over the Cardinal that saw redshirt freshman Noah Fifita play crucial minutes down the stretch as the Wildcats eked out a win.

Fisch has never officially said since that de Laura, who has 1,120 yards passing with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions this season, wasn’t his No. 1 quarterback; like it has all season, the team’s official depth chart for the Alamo Bowl released this week lists de Laura as the starter.

But since that Stanford win, Fifita has been Arizona’s signal caller without any debate, leading Arizona to a 6-2 record including wins over multiple ranked teams while becoming the Pac-12’s Freshman Offensive Player of the Year — an award de Laura himself won two seasons ago at Washington State, just prior to his departure for Tucson.

“I appreciate my time at the University of Arizona, but the opportunity to return as a starter my final year of college, while also getting my degree, is something I must explore,” de Laura said Monday morning in a post on X (Twitter). “I want to thank (coach) Fisch and Mrs. Fisch for (all) they had done for me these past two years. Thank you guys for helping me not grow as just a football player, but also as a student and a man.”

De Laura also thanked the UA’s assistant coaches and his teammates, adding “the growth and strides this program has made is a testimony to everyone’s hard work and dedication.”

As part of his decision to play elsewhere next season, he cited the NCAA’s clarification last week that it will be allowing multi-time undergraduate transfers in football and other sports to be eligible in 2024-25; de Laura, who will be transferring for a second time, can play immediately for another program in fall 2024, whether he graduates or not.

But de Laura’s 2023 campaign drew questions long before he and the Wildcats took the field for their early-September season opener.

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In May, it was first reported that de Laura and a former high school teammate, Wisconsin safety Kamo’i Latu, were among those trying to settle a civil case in Hawaii connected to an alleged incident that took place when both were star football players at Honolulu’s Saint Louis School. Court records say de Laura and Latu pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault in 2018 when they were both minors.

De Laura has only spoken publicly on the matter once — that came at the Pac-12’s football media day in August — calling the civil suit’s claims “misinformation that’s been reported that stated that I pled guilty or was convicted of sexual assault.”

Fisch has publicly stood by de Laura. A statement from the UA athletic department in May also stated that while the UA first learned of the civil complaint against de Laura in fall 2022, “after reviewing the matter, the determination was made to allow de Laura to continue as a student-athlete and his status remains unchanged.”

As Arizona’s season and de Laura’s career as a Wildcat wrap up this week, the legal proceedings aren’t over, however. A judge rejected the initial settlement, ruling Aug. 31 that the woman who is suing shouldn’t have accepted an amount deemed “too low” from de Laura, Latu and their parents. The reason given at that time was that the players’ incomes have grown substantially because they are allowed to earn money as college athletes from their individual name, image and likeness (NIL). It was reported that de Laura was also selling digital collectibles known as NFTs, the court was told.

The next stage of the civil suit is scheduled for next week. A new settlement conference, with, at a minimum, attorneys for de Laura, Latu, Saint Louis School and the plaintiff expected to be present, is scheduled for Jan. 5 in Honolulu.