David John "DJ" Uiagalelei ( ; born April 17, 2001) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

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for the

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. He previously played for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

before entering the transfer portal in 2022.

Early life and high school career

Uiagalelei, who is of Samoan descent, attended St. John Bosco High School in

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. As a junior in 2018, he was the ''

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'' High School Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 3,366 yards and 48 touchdowns. As a senior, he passed for 4,225 yards and 48 touchdowns. Uiagalelei also played baseball in high school. A five-star recruit, Uiagalelei committed to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

to play college football on May 5, 2019. He signed with them on December 18, 2019, and enrolled at Clemson on January 8, 2020.

College career

Freshman year

Uiagalelei started his first game for Clemson on October 31, 2020, against the

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. He replaced Trevor Lawrence, who was ruled out after testing positive for

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. Uiagalelei completed 31 passes on 40 attempts for 342 yards and 2 touchdowns in leading Clemson to a comeback victory after being down by 18 points in the first half. He started a second game in place of Lawrence the following week on November 7, 2020, against undefeated Notre Dame—Clemson lost to the

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in an overtime thriller, 47-40 despite another impressive performance by Uiagalelei, who completed 29 of 44 passes for 439 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Sophomore year

After Trevor Lawrence left for the NFL, Uiagalelei became Clemson's starting quarterback. He came into the season with much hype. The Tigers were ranked #3 in the nation in the preseason poll. He signed a deal with

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and

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to appear in their commercials throughout the season. Clemson's first challenge of the season would come against the #5 Georgia Bulldogs. However, Uiagalelei played poorly, going 19-for-37 on pass attempts, threw for 178 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. The game's only touchdown came from a pick six thrown by Uiagalelei. Clemson ultimately lost, 10-3.

Junior year

After being benched in favor of Cade Klubnik during the ACC

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, Uiagalelei announced his decision to enter the transfer portal on December 4, 2022.

Statistics

Personal life

Uiagalelei is a Christian. He attends a regular Bible study at Clemson and wears wristbands with Bible verses on them including Jeremiah 33:3, Philippians 4:13, Ephesians 6:10, and Romans 12:2.

References

External links

Clemson Tigers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uiagalelei, DJ 2001 births Living people American football quarterbacks American sportspeople of Samoan descent Clemson Tigers football players Players of American football from California Oregon State Beavers football players