Official: DJ Uiagalelei enters the portal as a graduate transfer

Clemson Sports Talk has officially confirmed that quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei‍ is now in the transfer portal. He was a two-year starter for the Tigers and a consensus five-star recruit coming out of high school.

Uiagalelei started his Clemson career in 2020 and became the successor to Trevor Lawrence‍. In 2021, his performance as a first-year starter was lackluster. He finished the season with 2246 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and ten interceptions.

This fall, Uiagalelei threw for 2521 yards alongside 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for 545 yards and seven touchdowns and was the team's second-leading rusher. He led the program to ten wins before being benched in favor of true freshman Cade Klubnik‍ Saturday in the ACC Championship game.

Uiagalelei will be remembered as a great teammate and leader at Clemson. After the ACC Championship win, head coach Dabo Swinney said, “Nobody’s ever worked harder. Nobody’s been more respected in our program. These guys love DJ, and I do, too.”

The former five-star recruit has two years of eligibility remaining and is a Clemson graduate.

Notes on Uiagalelei from clemsontigers.com:

2022: Completed 19-of-32 passes for 210 yards, a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown and no interceptions at Georgia Tech … shared offensive player of the game honors after he completed 21-of-27 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns vs. Furman, setting new career highs for passer rating (166.7) and completion percentage (77.8) while leading Clemson to touchdowns on each of his first five drives … completed 17-of-29 passes for 221 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and also rushed nine times for 62 rushing yards vs. Louisiana Tech … named ACC Quarterback of the Week and team offensive player of the game after completing 26-of-41 passes for a 371 passing yards with a career-high five passing touchdowns at No. 21 Wake Forest, becoming the first Clemson quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in a game since Trevor Lawrence at Georgia Tech in 2020 and becoming the first Clemson player with at least 370 passing yards, at least five touchdowns and no interceptions since Deshaun Watson at NC State in 2015 … completed 21-of-30 passes for 209 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions and rushed for a career-high 73 yards on 14 carries and two rushing touchdowns vs. No. 10 NC State … completed 18-of-32 passes for 220 yards with three touchdowns and one interception while also rushing for 69 yards on 12 carries at Boston College, becoming the first Clemson quarterback with at least 50 rushing yards in four straight games since Deshaun Watson’s nine-game streak to end the 2015 season … completed 15-of-23 passes for 203 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions as well as a five-yard touchdown run at Florida State … completed 13-of-21 passes for 138 yards and rushed eight times for 13 yards vs. No. 14 Syracuse … completed 27-of-39 passes for 191 yards with one touchdown and rushed nine times for 23 yards at Notre Dame … completed 19-of-27 passes for 185 yards with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown vs. Louisville, also catching a six-yard pass from Antonio Williams in the contest … became the 10th Clemson quarterback since World War II to record at least 20 wins as a starter with that victory against Louisville … completed 23-of-35 passes for 233 yards with two passing touchdowns and also recorded career highs in rushing attempts (17) and rushing yards (89) with a rushing touchdown vs. Miami (Fla.), sharing team offensive player of the game honors … had 150 yards of total offense, including 99 passing yards and 51 rushing yards, with a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown vs. South Carolina.

2021: Completed 208-of-374 passes for 2,246 yards with nine touchdowns over 862 snaps in 13 games (all starts), finishing the season as one of only four offensive or defensive players to start every game for Clemson … also rushed 105 times for 308 yards with four touchdowns … his 862 snaps were the most in a season by a Clemson quarterback since 2017 (Kelly Bryant, 886) … All-ACC Academic Team selection … completed 19-of-37 passes for 178 yards with one interception vs. No. 5 Georgia … completed 14-of-24 passes for 171 yards with one touchdown and one interception vs. SC State, also adding five rushing attempts for 23 yards with a career-high-tying two rushing touchdowns … completed 18-of-25 passes for 126 yards and also recorded a career-high 46 rushing yards on eight carries vs. Georgia Tech … completed 12-of-26 passes for 111 yards with two touchdowns and one interception at NC State, also leading the team in rushing with 63 yards on nine carries including a career-long 37-yard rush in the fourth quarter … completed 13-of-28 passes for 207 yards and rushed for 50 yards on 12 carries vs. Boston College … completed a season-high 21-of-34 passes for 181 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions at Syracuse … completed 12-of-25 passes for 128 yards and rushed eight times for 50 yards with a rushing touchdown at No. 23 Pitt … completed 19-of-31 passes for 189 yards with a touchdown and an interception and helped Clemson overcome a three-point fourth-quarter deficit in a win vs. Florida State … completed 18-of-30 passes for 220 yards with two passing touchdowns and no interceptions for a season-high 143.6 pass efficiency rating at Louisville, also adding the late go-ahead rushing touchdown in a comeback win …  completed 21-of-44 passes for 241 yards with one touchdown and one interception vs. UConn … completed 11-of-19 passes for 208 yards with one touchdown and one interception and added 30 yards on eight rushing attempts vs. No. 13 Wake Forest … completed 9-of-19 passes for 99 yards and rushed five times for 33 yards at South Carolina, becoming the fourth straight Clemson quarterback — and 23rd Clemson quarterback since 1954 — to win his starting debut in the rivalry … completed 21-of-32 passes for 187 yards in leading Clemson to a Cheez-It Bowl win vs. Iowa State.

2020: Completed 78-of-117 passes for 914 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions in 235 snaps over 10 games (two starts), while also adding four rushing touchdowns amid his 28 carries for 60 yards … his 146.4 pass efficiency rating was fifth-best by an ACC freshman quarterback since 2002 (min. 100 passes), trailing only Clemson’s Deshaun Watson (188.6 in 2014), Florida State’s Jameis Winston (184.8 in 2013), North Carolina’s Sam Howell (160.2 in 2019) and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence (157.6 in 2018) … became only the second FBS player since 2000 to throw at least 115 passes and record at least five passing touchdowns and no interceptions (Georgia Southern’s Shai Werts in 2018) … joined Steve Fuller, Willie Jordan, Patrick Sapp, Nealon Greene, Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence to become the seventh true freshmen ever to start a game for Clemson at quarterback, joining Watson and Lawrence as the only true freshmen to win their starting debuts … made collegiate debut at Wake Forest, completing 2-of-3 passes for 16 yards and rushing once for three yards … completed 8-of-11 passes for 75 yards and rushed three times for seven yards with two touchdowns vs. The Citadel, becoming the first freshman quarterback at Clemson with two rushing touchdowns in a game since Kelly Bryant at Miami in 2015 … rushed twice for five yards and completed a pass vs. Virginia … rushed for 17 yards vs. No. 7 Miami … available but held out as a precaution at Georgia Tech … went 1-for-3 for 11 yards vs. Syracuse … made his first career start vs. Boston College and completed 30-of-41 passes for 342 yards with two passing touchdowns and no interceptions while also rushing six times for 25 yards with a rushing touchdown … led Clemson to the largest comeback in Memorial Stadium history (18 points) in that game, earning ACC Rookie of the Week honors and sharing team offensive player of the game honors … with that performance against Boston College, joined Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence as the only true freshmen in Clemson history to win their starting debuts, and his 342 passing yards were the third-most by a Clemson freshman (true or redshirt) in his starting debut, trailing Watson’s 435 yards against North Carolina in 2014 and Charlie Whitehurst’s 420 yards against Duke in 2002 … earned ACC Rookie of the Week for a second straight week and shared team offensive player of the game honors after completing 29-of-44 passes for a career-high 439 yards with two passing touchdowns at No. 4 Notre Dame while also adding a rushing touchdown … his 439 passing yards at Notre Dame were the third-most in a game in school history and broke the school freshman record of 435, set by Deshaun Watson against North Carolina in 2014 … the 439 passing yards at Notre Dame were also most ever thrown against the Irish by an opposing quarterback, breaking the mark of 425 held by USC’s Carson Palmer in 2002 … completed 7-of-12 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown vs. Pitt … played one snap at Virginia Tech, a handoff to Darien Rencher that resulted in a 50-yard touchdown.