Arizona State wide receiver Elijhah Badger enters NCAA Transfer Portal
Arizona State wide receiver Elijhah Badger officially entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Friday evening, On3’s Pete Nakos has learned. This year for the Sun Devils, he hauled in 65 catches for 713 yards and three touchdowns. His best game came in a 27-24 loss to Colorado, hauling in 12 catches for 134 yards.
In 2022, Badger had an even better season, hauling in 70 catches for 866 yards, while reeling in seven touchdown catches. Once again, he torched the Colorado secondary, hauling in eight catches for 137 yards. He had his season-high in receiving yards both in 2023 and 2022 against the Buffaloes.
Badger’s metrics in the past few years proved that he’s among the nation’s best at his position and he figures to be one of the most coveted receiver prospects in the portal. He was responsible for 41 of Arizona State’s 145 passing first downs in 2022 (28.3 percent), giving him the 33rd most first downs among all receivers during the regular season. Badger also forced 25 missed tackles, putting him first among all Pac-12 receivers and second amongst all receivers in the nation.
The gifted wideout hauled in 24 explosive catches (15-plus yards) on the season, which was good enough to rank him 23rd among all receivers in the country and third in the Pac-12 Conference.
Badger was a dominant force during his high school football career with Folsom (Sacramento, California), ranking him as one of the best players in school history. Once he hung up his cleats there, he had hauled in 3,398 receiving yards on 183 catches and 52 receiving touchdowns.
His senior season, he saved the best for last, hauling in 1,386 receiving yards (19th in the state of California) with 20 touchdowns on 79 catches. Badger also helped guide Folsom to the California State Championship in the Division I-AA bracket. According to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2020 cycle, he was rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 120 overall player in America.
Arizona State had a rough season last year, finishing 3-9 overall. The Sun Devils also finished 2-7 in the Pac-12 Conference. Two of their losses came by three points (24-21 loss to California) and (27-24 loss to Colorado). This year was their last season in the Pac-12, as they’ll be moving onto the Big 12.
Former Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards recently received a three-year show case penalty for his role in recruiting violations within the program. The violations arose from meetings with more than 30 high school recruits during the COVID-19 “dead” period.