Junior linebacker Connor Soelle who started the majority of ASU's games last year in the WILL role, announced Monday evening that he is entering the transfer portal as a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining.

The junior collected 30 tackles in the 2022 season and throughout his career in Tempe, was also an instrumental special teams player in the Sun Devils’ kickoff units.

During his Arizona State four-year tenure, he posted 52 tackles, with a significant share of them coming on special teams. This past season Soelle started in the linebacker unit alongside his older brother Kyle who has exhausted his eligibility following the last campaign. Both brothers prepped locally at Scottsdale Saguaro High School under head coach Jason Mohns, who joined the ASU staff last month as a tight ends coach.

The ASU linebacker unit returns just two players, juniors Will Shaffer and Caleb McCullough, but added four transfers junior Travion Brown (Washington State), sophomore Prince Dorbah (an Edge player from Texas who can also line up at defensive end), sophomore Krew Jackson (Kansas State), and redshirt freshman Tate Romney (BYU). In a signing day surprise, the Sun Devils also secured the services of four-star prospect Ashley Williams, a former Auburn pledge. Therefore, it is conceivable that the same volume of playing time, let alone maintaining his starter status, could have been in question for Soelle.

Arizona State is expected now to add at least a couple of linebackers in the current transfer portal window that ends January 18, as well as a spring portal window that runs May 1-15.

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