Texas lands commitment from Arizona defensive lineman Bill Norton

According to On3’s Hayes Fawcett, Texas will be the destination for Arizona DL Bill Norton, who entered the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining.

Here was Fawcett’s report, which he tweeted out:

“BREAKING: Former Arizona DL Bill Norton has Committed to Texas, he tells @on3sports. The 6’6 325 DL totaled 43 Tackles and 2 Forced Fumbles in his college career. Will have 1 year of eligibility remaining.”

In the 2023 campaign, Norton appeared in all 13 games for Arizona. He tallied 32 tackles (14 solo, 18 assists), 2.5 tackles for a loss of five yards, three passes defended, five quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles.

Norton redshirted in the 2019 and 2020 seasons at Georgia. While there, he mostly saw action as a reserve defensive lineman and special teams member. He recorded 12 total tackles over four seasons with the Bulldogs.

Bill Norton played high school football at Christian Brothers (TN), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 157 overall recruit in the 2019 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Texas loses other transfer

The portal giveth and taketh, awarding the Longhorns Bill Norton but taking away running back Ky Woods, who’s planning on entering his name into the transfer portal per On3’s Pete Nakos.

According to Nakos, A&P Sports Agency shared that information with On3.

Woods had spent the past two seasons with the Longhorns. In that time, he appeared in three games, all of which came last fall, with all of his work coming on special teams. However, instead of entering his junior year in Austin, Woods will apparently look to hit the open market in the portal.

Woods, a native of League City, Texas, played high school football at Clear Springs. He was a three-star prospect there as the No. 1,826 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also ranked as a Top-150 RB and a Top-300 player out of the state.

Woods came in as part of their No. 5 class in On3’s 2022 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings. He was one of several three-stars in that group of 28 total commitments.

Now, with his transfer, Woods will be one of the 20-plus transfers to leave Texas in the portal this offseason, including one of the first in the cycle. Seven of those so far have come on the offensive side of the ball with him being the second running back (Derrian Brown).