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Paolo Uggetti, ESPN
Former Appalachian State quarterback Joey Aguilar announced his commitment to UCLA on Saturday night, bringing the native of Antioch, California, back to his home state.
“Playing back at home is going to be amazing,” Aguilar told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “Especially for my family, lot closer commute and more of them can come.”
Aguilar threw for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns in his last two years with the Mountaineers. He previously spent two seasons at Diablo Valley Community College in Northern California.
The senior entered the transfer portal Dec. 24, three weeks after App State fired coach Shawn Clark following a disappointing 5-6 season.
Aguilar is a beneficiary of the NCAA’s decision to grant a waiver to players who competed at junior colleges before transferring to a four-year program, awarding them one more year of eligibility.
According to an NCAA memo, the waiver extends an extra year of eligibility in 2025-26 to athletes who previously “competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years” and otherwise would have exhausted their NCAA eligibility following the 2024-25 season.
Once the waiver was granted last week, Aguilar quickly entered the portal and now will spend his final year of eligibility in Westwood. He said he was “truly blessed” by the NCAA’s decision.
“I picked UCLA because of Coach Tino (Sunseri, offensive coordinator) and Coach (DeShaun) Foster. Both guys I feel like can develop me as a player and get me to the next step,” Aguilar told ESPN. “Coach Tino saw me play when he was at JMU. Both coaches are competitors and I love what they are doing with the program.”
The Bruins finished 5-7 this past season in Foster’s first year as coach following the departure of Chip Kelly. Senior Ethan Garbers was the team’s starting quarterback after five-star quarterback recruit Dante Moore transferred to Oregon last offseason.
Garbers threw for 2,727 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while UCLA’s offense ranked in the bottom half of the Big Ten in yards and points per game.