Rich Rodriguez lands 24 in second Arizona recruiting class
Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez doesn’t concern himself much when it comes to recruiting rankings.
Scout.com ranks Arizona’s class 27th, Rivals places them 36th, and ESPN pegs it 39th.
With the class signed, sealed and delivered, the second-year Arizona coach said he and his staff do their own evaluations and rankings in their search for new talent.
“There are a lot of guys who rank the kids who do a great job but we like to do our own evaluation,” Rodriguez said. “The recruiting class this year and going forward are going to be our kind of guys.”
In all the Wildcats announced they have signed 24 players Wednesday, including 12 on offense, 10 on defense and two “athletes”. Twenty-two will enter as true freshmen and the other two are JUCO transfers.
Rodriguez led the Wildcats to a surprising 8-5 season last year — including a win in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl — but said his team, which played at a pace many opponents seemed to struggle with, can be even faster.
So, addressing that, along with the overall size and strength of the team, was a goal in his second recruiting season in Tucson.
“All coaches want to be faster and bigger but we were lacking in both of those aspects at times,” he said. “We had to have a lot of long drives offensively, sometimes 12 to 14 play drives.
“Defensively, we struggled in the size factor and guys playing out of position. We have big guys in this class but we still have to get bigger and I’m always looking for fast guys. We have three or four guys in this class who are dynamic in both punt and kick return who will have a great opportunity to show what they can do.”
| Name | Position | School | Rivals.com | Scout.com | ESPN.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jesse Scroggins | QB | El Camino College (Lakewood, CA) | **** | *** | *** |
| Jack Banda | DL | Grayson HS (Loganville, GA) | *** | ** | *** |
| T.J. Johnson | WR | Island Coast HS (Cape Coral, FL) | *** | *** | **** |
| Nate Phillips | WR | Basha HS (Chandler, AZ) | ** | *** | *** |
| Calvin Allen | DL | La Cueva HS (Albuquerque, NM) | *** | *** | *** |
| Mauriece Lee | WR | Marcos De Niza HS (Tempe, AZ) | *** | ** | *** |
| Paul Elvira | WR | Marcos De Niza HS (Tempe, AZ) | ** | ** | ** |
| Jacob Alsadek | OL | Torrey Pines HS (San Diego, CA) | *** | *** | *** |
| Lee Walker | WR | Madison HS (San Diego, CA) | *** | *** | *** |
| Pierre Cormier | RB | Madison HS (San Diego, CA) | *** | **** | **** |
| Luca Bruno | DL | Oak Park HS (Oak Park, CA) | *** | *** | ** |
| David Maka | Lineman | Tustin HS (Tustin, CA) | *** | *** | *** |
| Zachary Green | RB | St. Bonaventure HS (Ventura, CA) | *** | *** | *** |
| Anu Solomon | QB | Bishop Gorman HS (Las Vegas, NV) | **** | **** | |
| Steven Gurrola | OL | Glendale CC (Glendale, AZ) | *** | *** | *** |
| R.J. Morgan | LB | Crater HS (Central Point, OR) | ** | ** | *** |
| DeAndre Miller | LB | Buckeye Union HS (Buckeye, AZ) | *** | *** | *** |
| Ryan Dunn | LB | San Ramon Valley HS (Danville, CA) | *** | *** | *** |
| Khari McGee | ATH | Edison HS (Fresno, CA) | *** | ** | *** |
| Philip Wright | LB | Cardinal Newman HS (Santa Rosa, CA) | ** | ** | *** |
| Derrick Turituri | LB | Crater HS (Central Point, OR) | ** | *** | *** |
| Derek Babiash | CB | Poway HS (Poway, CA) | *** | **** | **** |
| Samajie Grant | WR | Colony HS (Ontario, CA) | *** | *** | **** |
| Devin Holiday | CB | Mission Hills HS (San Marcos, CA) | *** | *** | *** |
