Former Wyoming, Arizona CB Azizi Hearn Transfers to UCLA Football
The Bruins have made a big addition to their defensive backfield via the transfer portal.
Wyoming cornerback Azizi Hearn committed to UCLA football on Sunday night, several weeks after announcing his intensions to transfer away from the Cowboys. Hearn took an official visit to Westwood over the weekend, committing to the Bruins after getting an up-close look at the operation.
Hearn has one year of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-1, 202-pound corner started his collegiate career at Arizona, where he was a preferred walk-on and eventually earned time as a starter his redshirt freshman year. After that, Hearn transferred to Wyoming, where he started for three seasons and racked up 80 tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss and 13 pass breakups across 29 games.
Among all Pac-12 and Mountain West cornerbacks, Hearn had the fifth-best PFF rating in 2021 at 82.2. Hearn had four tackles and a pass defended in Wyoming's Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory over Kent State in December.
Hearn does not have an interception to his name at the college level, but he had a scoop-and-score following his teammate's interception against Cal back when he was at Arizona in 2018.
Coming out of high school, Hearn was an unrated and largely underrecruited prospect out of Oceanside (CA).
UCLA may have got Jay Shaw to return for his super senior year, but Obi Eboh and Cameron Johnson both ran out of eligibility and are leaving the program this offseason. Mo Osling III, who moved from corner to safety by the end of the year, has yet to officially announce his intensions for next season, although it is believed he will be back for 2022.
Rising sophomore Devin Kirkwood will be one of the other corners in the starting rotation that also includes Shaw, Azizi and possibly Osling as well.
Hearn won't be the first double-transfer to find his way to Westwood – in fact, he isn't even the only defensive back to follow that path in the last few years.
Striker Qwuantrezz Knight started his college career at Maryland before going to Kent State, graduating, then arriving at UCLA in 2020. Knight made the most of his two years as a Bruin, leading the team with 104 tackles and 13.0 tackles for loss in the 19 games since the start of the 2020 campaign.
Hearn will surely slide in at corner than he would the nickel role Knight filled, although UCLA will certainly be looking to convert someone to that position this offseason. Former running back Martell Irby is the only one who got significant time at striker in 2021, and he's only played one season on the defensive side of the ball, so incoming transfers, recruits or holdover bench players could all have a shot to try out the hybrid spot.
The Bruins have now added five via the transfer portal, as Hearn joins receiver Jake Bobo, edge rusher Laiatu Latu, linebacker Darius Muasau and receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala. The program has 12 transfers leaving, however, including cornerback Shamar Martin.
Catch up on all the transfer market news related to UCLA at All Bruins' transfer portal tracker.
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