Once an under-the-radar walk-on, new USC WR Dorian Singer now a rising star

In the two years to follow, he'd prove himself as one of the best wide receivers in the Pac-12 while at Arizona, and he's now set to be one of USC's primary targets as a transfer addition this year. But back in the spring of 2021 the three-star prospect was starting to get anxious about his future.

"I just had faith in God. This whole process for me has been different from everybody else, so if you believe then things just happen," Singer said this week, reflecting back.

Singer attended high school in Minnesota through his junior year. He already felt under the radar there, and then the pandemic hit and there was going to be no high school football season for his school that fall. So he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to ensure he'd have a senior season -- and hopefully a bigger spotlight for recruiters to notice him.

Except, it didn't quite play out that way ...

"I'm originally from Minnesota, so I had like 14 FCS offers. I wanted to move to Arizona to get some offers, I ended up losing those offers from moving from the Midwest to West Coast," Singer said, telling the story. "I gained like three offers, tried to commit, COVID then [played out and I] basically lost all my scholarships. And then like two months before all the freshmen were arriving on campus I still didn't have nowhere to go, and Arizona just gave me the opportunity to walk on."

That's right -- the guy who ranked second in the Pac-12 in averaging 92.1 receiving yards per game last season (66 catches for 1,105 yards and 6 TDs in all) started his college football career as a walk-on. The receiver who torched the Trojans at the end of October for 7 catches, 141 yards and 3 touchdowns had to pay his own way his first semester, before a scholarship spot opened for him with the Wildcats.

"That says a lot about who he is as a person and as a player," USC outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons said. "He's got a why. He's hungry and he's driven. Those are the type of kids that usually have success, not just in football but in everything they do in life."

With star receiver Jordan Addison off to the NFL as a projected first-round draft pick, Singer now steps in at USC with a prime opportunity to continue to grow that spotlight for himself.

Asked why he chose to transfer from Arizona after such a productive season in a pass-heavy offense, he said, "Just a different opportunity for me, that was the biggest thing. Winning culture."

And it sounds like the Trojans were at the forefront of his mind immediately as he entered the transfer portal.

"You know how it is with the portal now, [college coaches] reach out to the high school [coach], 'Hey, can you get me in touch with him?' So I was getting blown up -- 'Hey, what's Dorian doing?'" said Dana Zupke, Singer's football coach at Pinnacle HS in Phoenix. "So I was like, 'Hey, are you still open?' He goes, 'I'm going to make a decision real soon.' I think it was like three days later he announced."

Singer expounded on that decision while talking to reporters after practice earlier this week.

"Just the culture here. Coach [Lincoln] Riley's building something special, and everyone around the country, obviously they can see that," he said.