Tennessee sixth-year LB transfer Juwan Mitchell is reportedly set to join the Arizona State football team, giving the Sun Devils much-needed experience at the position.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The news was first reported by Rivals, as Mitchell, who has been in the portal since December, actually committed after his visit a few weeks ago and has now joined the team.
BREAKING: Tennessee linebacker transfer Juwan Mitchell has now officially joined the ASU team, committed to the Sun Devils last month. Here's an interview I did after his decisionhttps://t.co/Q5jPURPgSO
— DevilsDigest.com (@DevilsDigest) June 16, 2023
Mitchell will be the only ASU linebacker that has been a regular Power 5 starter after the Sun Devils lost well-know veterans Kyle Soelle and Merlin Robertson to eligibility, as well junior Connor Soelle, who transferred to Oregon.
Transfer portal has been great to ASU. Could be a team with half or more of its starters D1 transfers including Mitchell (WILL) and Travion Brown (MIKE) at LB.
National media will sleep on ASU after its historically bad 2022 season but this team will be significantly better IMO. https://t.co/J33RKs60Xl
— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) June 16, 2023
The 6-foot-1, 235-pound veteran played a significant role for the powerhouse Volunteer team last season, recording 43 tackles in ten games last season, his first non-redshirt season with Tennessee.
Still thinking about this hit 💥@Neikoslaughter with the hit, Juwan Mitchell with the pick.#GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/NINFHkpZ9d
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 30, 2022
After graduating from Mater Dei High School (New Jersey) in 2018, Mitchell started playing junior college for Butler Community College, where he became ESPN’s No. 1 JUCO linebacker prospect after just one season. He totaled 55 tackles, 7.5 for loss, as well as two sacks and an interception in his freshman year.
Mitchell then committed to play for Texas his sophomore season in 2019, seeing the field in 11 games (five starts) and logging 39 tackles, 27 solo stops, 3.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and four pass breakups his first season. The next season (2020), he led the team in tackles with 62, including 4.5 for loss, one quarterback hurry, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery.
He then transferred to Tennessee, but redshirted the following year after only playing in three games due to a shoulder injury that required surgery. He proved he was still a capable linebacker for the Volunteers last season, as he had a stretch of three consecutive games in which he was the leading tackler. He entered the portal on Jan. 9 as a grad transfer.
🚨BREAKING🚨 Tennessee LB Juwan Mitchell has entered the NCAA transfer portal, per @mzenitz.
More: https://t.co/nNL9pLuLEt pic.twitter.com/JqJvRyd0Rl
— On3 (@On3sports) January 9, 2023
Throughout his Power 5 career, Mitchell has totaled 150 total tackles, 8.5 tackles-for-loss, three sacks and an interception.
Three Arizona State players selected in 2023 XFL Rookie Draft
Mitchell can likely be expected to see several snaps at the linebacker position for ASU alongside Washington State transfer Travion Brown, who came over to the Sun Devils with defensive coordinator Brian Ward and linebacker coach AJ Cooper.
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Brendan Mau is a college sports insider and general assignment reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on Twitter via @Brendan_Mau
