LARAMIE – One of the fall camp standouts through Wyoming's first four practices is wide receiver Michael Fitzgerald.
 
And not just because the 6-foot-6 graduate transfer towers above the defenders trying to cover him.
 
Fitzgerald, who started his career at UMass and spent the past two seasons at Division II Central Missouri, has been consistently making plays in practice with the Cowboys.
 
"What has been encouraging with Mike is obviously a huge target, but he's got a big catch radius, too. The ball doesn't just have to be laid into his numbers for him to catch it," UW head coach Jay Sawvel said. "He had one catch today that was well behind him that he had to catch with two hands way outside the frame of the body and he caught it.
 
"Look, when a guy has the ability to catch the ball and a big radius all over the map and is also 6-foot-5-plus, that's not a bad thing to start with.
 
The transition Fitzgerald has made in wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight's room has been impressive considering he was not signed out of the portal until May after UW had already finished spring practice.
 
I caught up with Fitzgerald after he continued to flash his ability to make explosive plays during Friday's practice at War Memorial Stadium. Here's our conversation:
 
Thorburn: When you went into the portal what were you looking for?
 
Fitzgerald: I was looking for an opportunity to showcase my talents at a bigger level. I feel I could help a team at this level so that's what I was looking for mainly.
 
Thorburn: How did you end up here at Wyoming?
 
Fitzgerald: Coach Bouknight reached out and we talked a little bit. I could tell off the rip that he was just a great coach. I knew this was my priority spot. Of course, I talked to other places, but nobody was like Coach Bouknight.
 
Thorburn: Yeah, you probably studied a little bit about him and know he was a hall of fame player here and a great Cowboy who looks like he could still play. What has it been like trying to work with him to catch up after signing after spring practice?
 
Fitzgerald: He has been helping me out a lot. In general, he has been teaching me the little things on the side to make sure I can catch up and be with everybody else. But he still holds me to the same standard as everybody else, so I'm not getting any extra leeway or anything like that. He's a great coach.
 
Thorburn: You're from Atlanta, started your career at UMass, went to Central Missouri and now you're in Laramie. What has this journey been like for moving all over the country to chase your dream?
 
Fitzgerald: It's been interesting, it's been fun, too. I've got to meet a lot of different people and experience a lot of different things, different cultures and stuff like that. Especially being here in Laramie, this is probably the nicest place I've been since I was back home. It's great here. Everything's close, the people here are great, they treat you great. I love it here.
 
Thorburn: You missed out on winter though.
 
Fitzgerald: I'm not too mad about that.
 
Thorburn: I know it's early in camp, but you are making a strong first impression. Why do you think you weren't at this level before? Because it looks like you fit right in.
 
Fitzgerald: I had some development to do in college. It was just immaturity at first my freshman year, my sophomore year. It was little things like that, mental things I had to work on. I feel like going DII definitely humbled me and made me work on that. It forced me to get right.
 
Thorburn: Jay was just saying at his press conference that with your height and impressive catch radius you're very hard to cover. Do you think you will make an impact on this team immediately?
 
Fitzgerald: For sure. I feel I can contribute game one, so I just want to continue with fall camp and see how it goes.
 
Thorburn: How did you try to get a rapport with Kaden (Anderson) and the other quarterbacks after missing spring ball?
 
Fitzgerald: I went and threw with Landon (Sims) a little extra and threw with Kaden. I did some extra work and asked questions and tried making them know that I care.
 
Thorburn: Now that you've seen everyone out there for four practices what is your impression of this team?
 
Fitzgerald: I mean, this team is talented, that's for sure. We're very talented. We've just got to continue through fall camp, and I think we'll be great if we keep stacking days.
 
Thorburn: Have you done any hiking or any activities in Wyoming that are maybe different from things you do for fun in Atlanta?
 
Fitzgerald: Not yet. But I definitely want to go up to the mountains because there's nothing like that where I'm from. I want to do that, but I've just been focusing on football.
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.