Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Dwayne Difton to transfer

UConn wide receiver Dwayne Difton has confirmed with coach Paul Pasqualoni that he plans to transfer to another school. It's been an ongoing process over the last several weeks, and there's still some paper work on UConn's end to complete before it's official, but Difton's UConn career will end.

Fairly or unfairly, Difton entered UConn with considerable hype, but never lived up to the billing. While coming from the top-rated high school program in the nation, St. Thomas Aquinas, he wasn't that widely recruited. He made just 22 career catches in his two seasons, and was never able to establish himself in the offense. He was also deeply affected by Jasper Howard's murder in 2009, his true freshman year. Howard, like Difton from South Florida, had taken the young player under his wing and the two had become very close in a short period of time. How much that took a toll on Difton as a player is unclear. But with younger receivers stepping up in spring practice, and Difton again producing little, it's likely the writing was on the wall.

No word on where Difton will wind up just yet, though a source indicated he'll be looking at schools closer to his Ft. Lauderdale home.