Ex-Arizona State wide receiver Elijhah Badger chooses Florida Gators in transfer portal
Former Arizona State wide receiver Elijhah Badger hit the open market and there were a lot of schools bidding for his services. It was the Florida Gators winning out as Badger announced on social media channels Friday.
After entering the transfer portal, he picked that school from a final three that also included Arizona and Washington.
Badger, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder, spent four years at ASU with a total of 142 catches for 1,640 yards and 10 touchdowns in the last three years. He was not academically eligible to play his first year at the school.
He was the Sun Devils' leading receiver in each of the last two seasons with a career-best 866 yards on 70 catches as a sophomore in 2022.
Despite all of ASU's injuries at quarterback and on the offensive line in 2023 he still managed 65 receptions for 713 yards in 11 games. His best outing last season came against Colorado when he registered 12 catches for 134 yards. He also had 12 catches for 116 yards in a win against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
Badger also was one of the top kick-return specialists in the country, averaging 28.9 yards per return on 20 attempts last season.
Badger was sidelined for the last game of the season with a back injury sustained the previous week against Oregon. That injury lingered to where he was not a full participant in ASU's early spring practices. He had just started ramping up his level of participation when he entered the transfer portal rather than finishing out spring ball.
All three final suitors proved interesting for different reasons. At Florida he likely will emerge as the marquee pass catching target. It is also a school where his former ASU teammate Ricky Pearsall spent the last two seasons, all of that leading to him being a first round draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers last month.
Badger has a former teammate at Washington in running back Daniyel Ngata. Not only was Ngata a teammate of Badger at ASU for three seasons, but they also were teammates at Folsom High School in Northern California before they arrived in Tempe. Washington now is coached by Jedd Fisch, who got a firsthand look at Badger when he was the head coach at Arizona.
Then there is Arizona, ASU's biggest rival. The Wildcats have had a resurgence in the last two years thanks to a quality quarterback returning in Noah Fifita. But Fifita's favorite target is receiver Tetairoa McMillan so it wouldn't seem likely that Badger would have the chance to be the top receiver there.
Despite Badger's departure, wide receiver is one position where the Sun Devils still have considerable depth, led by sophomore Jordyn Tyson, who was the star performer during spring practice. Troy Omeire was having a solid spring before being sidelined with a minor injury.
While many of ASU's players in the transfer portal have yet to find a landing spot, several found spots at notable schools. Among those is quarterback Jaden Rashada who ended up at Georgia.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former ASU wide receiver Elijhah Badger transfers to Florida Gators
