Arizona lands Indiana transfer DB Jordan Shaw, former UC Davis DT Chubba Maae

Arizona’s first additions in the transfer portal are defensive players.

Former Indiana cornerback Jordan Shaw and UC Davis defensive tackle Chubba Maae committed to the Wildcats Monday after taking an official visit over the weekend.

Shaw and Maae were two of several transfers visiting the UA last week, along with former Oregon State linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold and Utah wide receiver Mikey Matthews.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Shaw, who is a Downey, California native and St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy standout, had 12 tackles and a pass breakup in one season with the Hoosiers. The former three-star prospect signed with IU over USC, Oregon, Arizona, USC, Colorado, Arizona State, Washington and BYU, among others, in 2023.

Shaw played in the 2023 All-American Bowl at the Alamodome in San Antonio, the same venue hosting Arizona for the Valero Alamo Bowl. Before committing to Indiana, Shaw pledged to Colorado, which had current UA assistant director of recruiting Armond Hawkins on staff.

Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch said earlier this month, “When you look at the portal, the first thing you have to do is — if someone is bringing them to me, it’s (because) they have a prior relationship.”

“If we don’t know anything about them, I’m not interested,” Fisch said. “We just can’t do it. So now it’s a matter of, ‘Alright, well, let’s turn on his film, let’s look at his production, let’s find out the background of how many years he has left. Is he coming in as a (graduate) transfer or is he coming in as a one-time transfer, undergrad transfer? Are there any things that we need to know?’

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“Then we turn the film on, watch the film and we see, ‘Where does this person fit in?’ And then I ask our position coaches and our recruiting department to inform me on, ‘Where do you see this player playing on our team? Are we bringing him in to add depth or are we bringing him in here to start?’ To pass the start test with me is a very hard test. It’s one thing to say, ‘Hey we’re bringing in Jayden de Laura to start.’ I get that,” Fisch said. “And then, ‘We’re bringing in Jacob Manu to compete.’ He became a starter. ... We don’t really have a lot of starting spots open, and that’ll be a very tough one to crack.”

Shaw joins an Arizona secondary that’s expected to return every starter from this season, including cornerbacks Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis, safeties Gunner Maldonado and Dalton Johnson, and nickelback Treydan Stukes. The Wildcats will lose graduate transfer Dylan Wyatt after this season.

Arizona’s cornerback room in 2024 will consist of Prysock, Davis, Stukes, Shaw, redshirt freshman Jai-Ayviauynn Celestine, freshman Emmanuel Karnley and incoming three-star 2024 prospect Rahim Wright.

Maae (pronounced muh-eye), a 6-2, 347-pound Long Beach, California native, played four seasons at UC Davis and was an All-Big Sky Second Team selection this season, after starring at Long Beach Polytechnic High School under former Wildcat Antonio Pierce, who’s now the interim head coach of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

Maae recorded 59 tackles, eight stops for loss and two sacks over his career with the Aggies. He’ll join an interior defensive line rotation that is losing starter Tyler Manoa and graduate transfer Sio Nofoagatoto’a, whom are both out of eligibility after this season. Arizona starting nose tackle and senior Bill Norton could potentially return for next season.

No. 14 Arizona will face No. 12 Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN.