Working hard on and off the field

Coming in as a walk-on to then earning the title of scholarship athlete is one of the biggest jumps a collegiate athlete can make especially as a freshman. Dorian Singer, a wide receiver for the University of Arizona's football team has done just that.

Singer used to live in Minnesota but to get a better opportunity, he moved to Arizona his senior year in high school in hopes of being picked up by Arizona's football team. As a freshman, he walked on to the football team after his high school coach reached out to the Arizona wide receiver Coach Kevin Cummings. The coach liked what he saw but did not have any scholarship money to offer Singer but told him that there is an opportunity to earn it. That's when Singer knew he was going to have to prove himself.

Coach Cummings spoke very highly of Singer.

"In the beginning, Singer was trying to learn what his work ethic was going to be but what set him apart was his competitiveness," Cummings said. “Singer wanted to compete, he wanted to prove himself.”

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So Singer got to work, he became very serious with his goal in mind and would show up to practice giving his all every day.

"I have high expectations for myself so I continued to tell myself that I believe and refused to allow anyone to tell me that I can't do anything."

In the regular season against the University of Southern California, Singer had an ankle injury but was given the opportunity to show what he can do.

"We talked as a coaching staff and thought he would only play one game but after the USC game, he proved to be so valuable to us that we asked him not to redshirt because we needed him,” Cummings said.

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When everyone got back from break in January, that's when Singers' hard work started to show and the coaches picked up on it.

"Dorian would come in the facility at 5:30 in the morning to get a pre-workout in even though we already had another lift scheduled in the middle of the day. He would also come in and work on his mechanics for his body so it felt good for the day,” Cummings said.

Singer went the extra mile beating coaches into the meetings and facility. Singer made sure to have one on one meetings with Coach Cummings to discuss the film and what he needed to work on. That's when the coaches called him into a meeting and told him that they decided to put him on scholarship. The coaches told him that they acknowledge his work ethic and competitiveness. It shows on and off the field.

Coach Cummings believes Singer will be a key piece in Arizona’s offense during the upcoming 2022 season.

"With the way Singer is working now, he is going to be a valuable player for the upcoming season,” Cummings said.

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