Arizona cornerback Isaiah Rutherford enters NCAA transfer portal

The NCAA transfer portal officially closed to most college football players a few weeks ago, but graduate transfers can still enter at any time. And one of Arizona’s veterans is taking advantage of this loophole to find a third program.

Cornerback Isaiah Rutherford, who spent the past two seasons with the Wildcats after beginning his career at Notre Dame, is back in the portal.

Rutherford played in 12 games for the UA in 2021-23, starting nine times. He started the first two games this past season, playing in three more after that, and finished with seven tackles and two passes defended.

A 4-star prospect in the 2019 recruiting class, Rutherford chose Notre Dame over Cal, LSU, Oklahoma and Oregon. He transferred to Arizona in January 2021, one of the first portal pickups of the Jedd Fisch era.

Arizona has added several cornerbacks in the offeseason, including transfers from UCLA (Martell Irby) and Cal Poly (Devin Wyatt) as well as junior college product Charles Yates Jr.

Rutherford is the 30th player from Arizona’s 2022 roster to enter the transfer portal, fourth since spring practice ended in mid-April. The Wildcats have added 11 Division I transfers, mostly on defense.