It’s the last week of spring and the transition to the summer months and the preparation for the fall season is getting underway. June is a big month for recruiting and we will bring you all the latest in this week’s War Room.
Let’s jump right into things for this week.
Football
We’ll start where we usually do with the Wildcats football team and Rich Rodriguez’s program is a busy one at the moment with camp season in full swing along with summer workouts beginning now that some newcomers have made their way on campus. It is under two months now until the start of camp and that means the staff will have to speed up the process a bit in the summer with an earlier start.
* Rodriguez has been a bit of a broken record heading into the summer talking quite a bit about his incoming group and he isn’t doing it on accident. As a program Arizona wants to get things going in the right direction as quickly as possible and that is one reason you saw so many midyear enrollees and could see a bunch of new faces on the field this season. The first batch of newcomers arrived on campus recently and over the weekend the group got its first taste of work outside the weight room. Recruits who have already graduated have made their way out to Tucson to begin the next step in their careers and we thought it would be a good time to take a closer look at some of the new freshmen already on campus and break down what will be expected of them heading into the summer.
- My-King Johnson: The in-state defensive lineman made his way down from Tempe and he was one of Arizona’s big gets late in the recruiting process. UCLA decided to let him open things up and quickly after that Arizona made its push and was able to pull him away from the Bruins. He has the potential to be a key piece to the defense in the years to come and with plenty of help needed along the defensive line this season it wouldn’t be a shock to see Arizona forgo a redshirt season with him. He’ll need to add a bit of weight this summer, but he has the talent to be an impact player early in his career with the ‘Cats.
- Jalen Harris: The other in-state defensive end Arizona picked up and is already on campus is another prospect who the coaching staff has big plans for down the road. His speed and height are two things that coaches can’t teach and having more players who can get after the quarterback is where UA needs the upgrade defensively. Harris will fit right into the “stud” linebacker position meaning you might see him with his hand in the ground at times and at others he’ll be used as a standup defensive end/linebacker. Harris needs to add more weight as well so his work in the weight room will determine just how soon he could get on the field.
- Rhedi Short: The Los Angeles-based freshman safety fits right into Arizona’s scheme with his ability to hit and create on the back end. He is expected to come in and play one of the up safety spots either at the spur or bandit, but he has the ability to really play any position in the secondary. It will be interesting to see if Arizona uses at different spots and just exactly how he fits in but he has the type of game that Jahmile Addae likes to see with his aggressiveness and because of that he could make a push once camp gets going.
- Xavier Bell: The California-based free safety from Mater Dei High School is about as college ready as they come when it comes to his size. He is tall and has already filled out his frame quite a bit coming into his first college summer. Bell has a mean streak on the field and plays with the type of aggressiveness Arizona’s staff likes to see. If he can get a good handle on the playbook he is someone who could end up contributing this year in some capacity. Arizona is pretty set on the back end with so many returning contributors but Bell is someone who looks the part and was plenty productive in his high school career playing for one of California’s best teams.
- Rhett Rodriguez: The time has finally come for Rodriguez to coach his son and Rhett will be one of a handful of scholarship quarterbacks on the roster this season. What we all know about the Catalina Foothills standout and four-year starter is that he will have the best grasp on the playbook of any other quarterback on the team. He doesn’t have the physical gifts of the other signal callers, but he does have his brain and on this team that will take him a long way. He is not going to be expected to come in and take any jobs, but a productive summer could have the freshman competing for that third spot, which as UA knows it might have to use should it run into even more injury bad luck.
- Scottie Young: The San Diego-based safety made it out early for the summer he is someone who will benefit by having a few extra weeks head start when it comes to learning the system and getting a feel for the program. Like some others we mentioned above the big thing working against Young right now is that there are two groups of players who have at least some experience and at the three safety spots UA returns its starters. It will be a tough rotation for a freshman to crack considering most of the group is young itself, but Young has talent and it will be interesting to see what kind of push he can make once things get going even more.
Football recruiting
It is a heavy recruiting time and there have already been a rush of new commitments all over the country as the summer gets ready to get going. It is camp season and that means programs are getting a chance to interact with recruits once again. UA held its on-campus camps over the weekend and this week it will hit the road and have coaches all over working different camps continuing that process. It all comes back to recruiting and while coaches aren’t supposed to talk recruiting at camps it happens and it is a big part of what goes on when the coaches get the chance to interact with the prospects. Camp season is just part of the process in putting together the next class and for UA there is already a solid foundation heading into the summer.
* Now, while we can talk about commitments and the next Wildcat Rodriguez and his staff are looking for, something that has continued to take place and UA knows all too well about is decommitments and prospects backing away from early pledges. Everyone involved knows the game. Nothing is official until papers are signed in February – and now December too. For UA that means still recruiting prospects who have committed to other programs and also that it has to continue to recruit its own commits to make sure another school doesn’t come in and snag them away. UA is already starting to see what it will have to deal with as the process goes on and it will certainly be interesting to see how things all play out with this class after having a number of pledges back away from commitments in the last cycle.
Today we will take a look at the commitments Arizona does have and examine just how realistic it would be for them to eventually end up at a different school. It’s not fun to talk about but it is becoming an even bigger part of the process and UA has to deal with it.
- Adam Plant Jr. : UA has five commits heading into the summer and that number will likely grow as things progress over the next couple months, but someone Arizona’s staff is going to have to continue to put work into is the Las Vegas-based defensive end. It has been a good spring for Plant as he picked up the Rivals 3-Stripe Camp defensive line MVP award early in the spring and just over the weekend he camped with USC and took home the defensive line MVP there as well. Penn State and USC were the other two offers Plant decided to look away from when he made his pledge to UA, but the Trojans remain very much in play. He is going to take visits and let the process play out so there will be some tense times for the Wildcats as things progress. The positive for everyone involved is that Plant is not hiding his intentions to see what other schools have to offer and that should help keep his relationship with UA on the strong side. Plant is almost assuredly going to get more offers once the season starts and he gets seen with Bishop Gorman on the national stage, but UA getting an early pledge from him was important. Don’t expect Plant to make a move elsewhere, but also don’t be completely caught off guard when he feels out more schools and looks at all of his options before signing.
- Issaiah Johnson: A SoCal offer could change things in his recruitment, but at this stage USC and UCLA aren’t making offers to the three-star linebacker from Los Alamitos, California. Johnson built a nice bond with Scott Boone and that was a big reason he ended up picking UA early in the process. Johnson knows so many other recruits that it wouldn’t be a true surprise if the turned up on another campus for a visit at some point, but right now he is solid in his pledge and there aren’t any signs right now that he is thinking about looking at other schools.
- Jaden Mitchell: The Las Vegas-based receiver from Desert Pines is going to be looking elsewhere and the way he talks about his commitment he is certainly open to other offers. Mitchell has not been secretive about his plans to see what other schools have to offer and that means taking other trips and camping with several programs. He recently stopped by Tucson for another visit and his relationship with the staff remains strong, but he is going to see other schools and it will be interesting to see how it is all approached from both sides. Mitchell has not tried to hide his plans and has even gone so far as to post them on social media. If he continues to have open communication with the staff about what his plans are it shouldn’t be an issue, but definitely expect him to see other schools before signing with UA.
Let’s jump right into things for this week.
Football
We’ll start where we usually do with the Wildcats football team and Rich Rodriguez’s program is a busy one at the moment with camp season in full swing along with summer workouts beginning now that some newcomers have made their way on campus. It is under two months now until the start of camp and that means the staff will have to speed up the process a bit in the summer with an earlier start.
* Rodriguez has been a bit of a broken record heading into the summer talking quite a bit about his incoming group and he isn’t doing it on accident. As a program Arizona wants to get things going in the right direction as quickly as possible and that is one reason you saw so many midyear enrollees and could see a bunch of new faces on the field this season. The first batch of newcomers arrived on campus recently and over the weekend the group got its first taste of work outside the weight room. Recruits who have already graduated have made their way out to Tucson to begin the next step in their careers and we thought it would be a good time to take a closer look at some of the new freshmen already on campus and break down what will be expected of them heading into the summer.
- My-King Johnson: The in-state defensive lineman made his way down from Tempe and he was one of Arizona’s big gets late in the recruiting process. UCLA decided to let him open things up and quickly after that Arizona made its push and was able to pull him away from the Bruins. He has the potential to be a key piece to the defense in the years to come and with plenty of help needed along the defensive line this season it wouldn’t be a shock to see Arizona forgo a redshirt season with him. He’ll need to add a bit of weight this summer, but he has the talent to be an impact player early in his career with the ‘Cats.
- Jalen Harris: The other in-state defensive end Arizona picked up and is already on campus is another prospect who the coaching staff has big plans for down the road. His speed and height are two things that coaches can’t teach and having more players who can get after the quarterback is where UA needs the upgrade defensively. Harris will fit right into the “stud” linebacker position meaning you might see him with his hand in the ground at times and at others he’ll be used as a standup defensive end/linebacker. Harris needs to add more weight as well so his work in the weight room will determine just how soon he could get on the field.
- Rhedi Short: The Los Angeles-based freshman safety fits right into Arizona’s scheme with his ability to hit and create on the back end. He is expected to come in and play one of the up safety spots either at the spur or bandit, but he has the ability to really play any position in the secondary. It will be interesting to see if Arizona uses at different spots and just exactly how he fits in but he has the type of game that Jahmile Addae likes to see with his aggressiveness and because of that he could make a push once camp gets going.
- Xavier Bell: The California-based free safety from Mater Dei High School is about as college ready as they come when it comes to his size. He is tall and has already filled out his frame quite a bit coming into his first college summer. Bell has a mean streak on the field and plays with the type of aggressiveness Arizona’s staff likes to see. If he can get a good handle on the playbook he is someone who could end up contributing this year in some capacity. Arizona is pretty set on the back end with so many returning contributors but Bell is someone who looks the part and was plenty productive in his high school career playing for one of California’s best teams.
- Rhett Rodriguez: The time has finally come for Rodriguez to coach his son and Rhett will be one of a handful of scholarship quarterbacks on the roster this season. What we all know about the Catalina Foothills standout and four-year starter is that he will have the best grasp on the playbook of any other quarterback on the team. He doesn’t have the physical gifts of the other signal callers, but he does have his brain and on this team that will take him a long way. He is not going to be expected to come in and take any jobs, but a productive summer could have the freshman competing for that third spot, which as UA knows it might have to use should it run into even more injury bad luck.
- Scottie Young: The San Diego-based safety made it out early for the summer he is someone who will benefit by having a few extra weeks head start when it comes to learning the system and getting a feel for the program. Like some others we mentioned above the big thing working against Young right now is that there are two groups of players who have at least some experience and at the three safety spots UA returns its starters. It will be a tough rotation for a freshman to crack considering most of the group is young itself, but Young has talent and it will be interesting to see what kind of push he can make once things get going even more.
Football recruiting
It is a heavy recruiting time and there have already been a rush of new commitments all over the country as the summer gets ready to get going. It is camp season and that means programs are getting a chance to interact with recruits once again. UA held its on-campus camps over the weekend and this week it will hit the road and have coaches all over working different camps continuing that process. It all comes back to recruiting and while coaches aren’t supposed to talk recruiting at camps it happens and it is a big part of what goes on when the coaches get the chance to interact with the prospects. Camp season is just part of the process in putting together the next class and for UA there is already a solid foundation heading into the summer.
* Now, while we can talk about commitments and the next Wildcat Rodriguez and his staff are looking for, something that has continued to take place and UA knows all too well about is decommitments and prospects backing away from early pledges. Everyone involved knows the game. Nothing is official until papers are signed in February – and now December too. For UA that means still recruiting prospects who have committed to other programs and also that it has to continue to recruit its own commits to make sure another school doesn’t come in and snag them away. UA is already starting to see what it will have to deal with as the process goes on and it will certainly be interesting to see how things all play out with this class after having a number of pledges back away from commitments in the last cycle.
Today we will take a look at the commitments Arizona does have and examine just how realistic it would be for them to eventually end up at a different school. It’s not fun to talk about but it is becoming an even bigger part of the process and UA has to deal with it.
- Adam Plant Jr. : UA has five commits heading into the summer and that number will likely grow as things progress over the next couple months, but someone Arizona’s staff is going to have to continue to put work into is the Las Vegas-based defensive end. It has been a good spring for Plant as he picked up the Rivals 3-Stripe Camp defensive line MVP award early in the spring and just over the weekend he camped with USC and took home the defensive line MVP there as well. Penn State and USC were the other two offers Plant decided to look away from when he made his pledge to UA, but the Trojans remain very much in play. He is going to take visits and let the process play out so there will be some tense times for the Wildcats as things progress. The positive for everyone involved is that Plant is not hiding his intentions to see what other schools have to offer and that should help keep his relationship with UA on the strong side. Plant is almost assuredly going to get more offers once the season starts and he gets seen with Bishop Gorman on the national stage, but UA getting an early pledge from him was important. Don’t expect Plant to make a move elsewhere, but also don’t be completely caught off guard when he feels out more schools and looks at all of his options before signing.
- Issaiah Johnson: A SoCal offer could change things in his recruitment, but at this stage USC and UCLA aren’t making offers to the three-star linebacker from Los Alamitos, California. Johnson built a nice bond with Scott Boone and that was a big reason he ended up picking UA early in the process. Johnson knows so many other recruits that it wouldn’t be a true surprise if the turned up on another campus for a visit at some point, but right now he is solid in his pledge and there aren’t any signs right now that he is thinking about looking at other schools.
- Jaden Mitchell: The Las Vegas-based receiver from Desert Pines is going to be looking elsewhere and the way he talks about his commitment he is certainly open to other offers. Mitchell has not been secretive about his plans to see what other schools have to offer and that means taking other trips and camping with several programs. He recently stopped by Tucson for another visit and his relationship with the staff remains strong, but he is going to see other schools and it will be interesting to see how it is all approached from both sides. Mitchell has not tried to hide his plans and has even gone so far as to post them on social media. If he continues to have open communication with the staff about what his plans are it shouldn’t be an issue, but definitely expect him to see other schools before signing with UA.
