The Arizona Wildcats are about a month away from beginning preseason training camp, and they’ll be doing so with one less player at an already thin position.
Freshman linebacker Derick ‘DJ’ Mourning has entered the NCAA transfer portal, a move that comes a few days after the July 1 deadline in order for players to be eligible to play in the upcoming season.
The 6-foot-3, 234-pound Mourning appeared in all five games in 2020, making a start against Colorado. He registered 10 tackles, including three each against Colorado and ASU.
Mourning was a member of Arizona’s 2020 recruiting class, a 3-star prospect from Katy, Texas ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1,180 player in the country that year. He picked Arizona over offers from Louisiana-Monroe, Sam Houston State and Tulsa.
His departure leaves Arizona with only two scholarship linebackers who participated in spring practice, senior Anthony Pandy and redshirt sophomore Issaiah Johnson. The Wildcats are set to have six more linebackers join this summer, including graduate transfers Jerry Roberts from Bowling Green and Kenny Hebert from Vanderbilt as well as Wisconsin transfer Malik Reed and incoming freshmen Jackson Bailey, DJ Fryar and Mojo Weerts.
Arizona also has freshman Jabar Triplett, who is recovering from knee surgery in January after missing the 2020 season following a torn Achilles, as well as several walk-ons including 2020 starter Rourke Freeburg.