Four-star 2023 QB Jaden Rashada commits to ASU
Arizona State under first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham resoundingly ended its 2023 recruiting cycle landing one of the most coveted prospects of this class. Four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada a Sun Devil legacy player and the highest rated uncommitted quarterback in his class announced today that he has pledged to ASU. Rashada chose Arizona State over TCU, the two schools he unofficially visited in January after being released from his Letter of Intent with Florida.
The Sun Devils is a school that not only has been pursuing the Northern California signal caller for years now but also is a program very familiar to the Rashada family, as Jaden’s father, Harlen Rashada, is a former Arizona State safety who played for the school in the mid-90's.
Rashada’s calling card is a gifted dual-threat quarterback, yet that tends to over highlight his running skills while indirectly diminishing his passing prowess. In a previous interview with Devils Digest, he took exception with anyone who doesn’t believe that he’s still not a well-rounded signal caller.
“I’m huge on throwing the ball because I’m a quarterback and not nothing else other than that,” Rashada stated. “The quarterback does need to throw the ball well, so that’s definitely my priority. I don’t use my feet unless I have to. I definitely do like throwing the ball better than running it. I really improved a lot on both my arm strength and accuracy. I also improved my anticipation and timing, and I’m a whole different player than I was back then. It’s been a lot of learning for me, and I know I hit some of those (learning) curves, and I’m pretty glad I went through them.”
In his senior year at Pittsburg (Calif.) High School Rsahada completed 211 of 338 passes for 3,055 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.
Rashada was previously committed to Miami, but last November, did flip his pledge to Florida and signed with the Gators on December 21st.
Washington, Colorado, and Cal are the schools that reportedly were on the shortlist for the quarterback, yet he didn't visit them prior in the weeks leading up to today's decision. Rashada and his family are very familiar with ASU’s first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham, who recruited the quarterback while he was the Ducks’ offensive coordinator. At the time, it was believed that Miami did edge out Oregon in a tight recruiting race.
The 2023 quarterback was set to enroll in Florida for the spring semester before asking for his release. Therefore at ASU, Rashada is expected to enroll in the school's Session B, which begins in mid-March, and participate in spring practice which will begin later that month. He enters a quarterback room that is expected to have a two-man battle for the starting role between junior Trenton Bourguet, who started the latter half of the 2022 season for the Sun Devils, and Notre Dame transfer and sophomore Drew Pyne. The Sun Devils have also added BYU transfer and sophomore Jacob Conover and return sophomore Daylin McLemore and redshirt freshman Bennett Meredith.
Under Dillingham, ASU has already assembled an impressive list of newcomers both from the high school and junior college ranks, as well as the transfer portal, where it landed a nation-leading 25 players. Yet, securing the services of Rashada is undountley the feather in Dillingham's cap when it comes to assembling the list of newcomers on a revamped roster.
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
