Treydan Stukes, Dalton Johnson Become Latest Arizona Players To Enter Transfer Portal

Two more Arizona players have hit the transfer portal with Treydan Stukes and Dalton Johnson becoming the latest to look for another opportunity.

Nov 25, 2023; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats cornerback Treydan Stukes (2) against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first half of the Territorial Cup at Mountain America Stadium / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The news continues to pile up about Arizona players entering their names into the transfer portal.

While this isn't anything new in this era of college football, the turnover the Wildcats could experience from this past campaign heading into the next could be severe, especially since so many of their star players aren't expected to be back in Tucson.

Already, Jonah Savaiinaea has declared for the NFL draft, starting tight end Keyan Burnett has put his name into the portal where he has been joined by Arizona's best defensive player Jacob Manu, star safety Gunner Maldonado, projected Day 2 draft pick Tacario Davis, and multiple others.

Now, add another defensive starter to that list.

Per Justin Spears of The Arizona Daily Star, Treydan Stukes is the latest Wildcat to join the previous group.

A native of Goodyear, he was a walk-on under previous head coach Kevlin Sumlin and stayed with the program under Jedd Fisch where he ultimately earned a scholarship. Not rated coming out of high school, he has turned into a very solid player at the collegiate level.

During his five seasons with Arizona, he wracked up 154 total tackles with 100 of them being solo. He also had 11 tackles for loss, three interceptions and 25 passes defended.

Stukes decided to return under Brent Brennan, and it was looking like he was on his way to putting together a career year, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury against Utah that ended his campaign just four games in.

The starting corner wasn't the only other player to enter his name into the portal, though.

Spears also reports that safety Dalton Johnson is looking for a different opportunity, becoming the 26th Wildcats player who is exploring other avenues.

Johnson still signed with Arizona as part of the 2021 recruiting class when Sumlin was fired, and similar to Stukes, he also came back to Tucson when Brennan was hired as the head coach.

He became an important part of their defense this season.

With so many injuries suffered across the board, Arizona used the safety as more of a linebacker type of player where he wracked up a team high 94 tackles.

This is a tough scene for the Wildcats right now.

They hope the players in the portal opt to come back once again, but after a tough result in 2024, it's a hard sell.