Recruiting continues to be in focus for Arizona's coaches with spring ball still about a month away. The offers have slowed down a bit, but with California and several other states starting up spring football seasons it is certainly bound to pick up with more opportunities for evaluation and new film. Here's a look at the latest recruiting notes when it comes to Arizona targets at this point in the year.
• Fresno athlete set to make decision next week
As the recruiting cycle plays out some prospects are jumping on offers early because of the uncertainty of the last year. COVID-19 limited the spots teams have on their rosters and left some prospects out in the cold once the transfer portal filled up. One of the recruits who has been moving quickly with his own recruitment is Fresno, California all-purpose back Jonah Coleman. He was offered by Arizona last month and he decided to release a top six this week. He also announced his plans to commit to one of the six programs next Monday (March 1). Arizona is one of the programs to make the cut along with Oregon State, Tennessee, Colorado State, San Diego State and San Jose State.
The Wildcats have prioritized him over the last month and have various connections to him and that part of the country. Kevin Cummings and recruiting coordinator Ryan Partridge both have ties to the area and have helped the program make some progress in his recruitment in a short amount of time. Right now I still don't feel 100% comfortable calling this one for the Wildcats, but Arizona's staff absolutely wants him in the mix in the class and remains in pursuit.
Coleman is a true all-purpose back with his ability to both carry the ball and catch passes. Arizona would have him mostly focused on running the ball, but he certainly has the skill set to play a lot of receiver for the Wildcats as well. Oregon State has emerged as a big competitor for Arizona and the other programs in pursuit, but the Wildcats have made a lot of progress in the last few weeks.
"I just want coaches that give me an opportunity to compete and get better, a place where I feel like I am home, and a good academic school," Coleman recently said about what he's looking for in his college program.
• 4-star New Jersey quarterback adds Arizona offer
The Wildcats have certainly offered a wide array of quarterbacks in the class already, but the latest one has a ton of big offers and comes from an area Jedd Fisch knows well. The Wildcats have slowly been moving into New Jersey in this cycle and there is plenty of talent in the area for the program to pursue. Bergen Catholic is one of the top high school programs in the country and its quarterback, Steve Angeli, added an offer from Arizona to his list this week. The 6-foot-2 prospect has a four-star Rivals ranking and is rated as the 13th-best pro-style quarterback in the 2022 class. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Michigan, LSU and Penn State are some of his other offers but Arizona is going to work to try and bring him across the country.
Fisch is a New Jersey native and knows the area well, but the Wildcats will need to put in some work to make a commitment a reality. Notre Dame has been the presumed leader for quite some time now, and the expectation remains that he will eventually commit to the program because of some strong family connections to that program. He has not done it yet, though, leaving the door open for a school like Arizona to try and make a push.
Angeli has not been a full-time starter for very long so he needs to continue to develop, but he has an impressive skill set and is only going to improve as he moves ahead in his development.
"Consistent accuracy is something that’s tough for quarterbacks to achieve, and Angeli has made progress in this area," Rivals.com East Coast recruiting analyst Adam Friedman previously wrote about the 2022 quarterback. "He’s also a fearless runner. He’s not afraid to take a hit or call his own number, but he isn’t a quarterback that’s going to pick up huge chunks of yards. Angeli is a smart and savvy pocket passer that runs just enough to keep defenses honest."
• Several junior targets come off the board
The commitments for the 2022 class are starting to pick up heading into March, and several Arizona targets have made decisions within the last couple weeks. A few more decisions were made in the last several days, and while not all of them have been heavily targeted by the new UA staff there are a handful that Fisch and his coaches were looking to add into the mix in Tucson.
Among the most notable prospects to pick a different program was four-star Florida safety Anthony Rose from Hallandale High in South Florida. Over the weekend he announced a top three that included South Carolina, Penn State and Arizona. He announced his commitment to South Carolina on Tuesday. The process moved quickly with Rose and the Wildcats were able to make some good headway with him in a short amount of time after offering the 6-foot-3 prospect back in January. The Wildcats edged out some notable programs to get on his short list including Arizona State, Michigan, LSU, Texas A&M and Penn State among others. However, the next step for Fisch and his staff is to land prospects like Rose.
In the end he's not coming to UA and the staff needs to change its ability to pull in recruits of his caliber. It was always going to be difficult to get him away from the Southeast but Arizona showed that its staff has strong enough connections across the country to make it at least feasible.
California tight end Jack Pedersen also recently ended his recruitment early after previously making the move across the country to Florida to play at IMG Academy. Arizona's new staff offered the four-star prospect after the former staff was one of the early offers for Pedersen and had done a solid job of making inroads in his recruitment. However, getting him to leave California was always going to be tough and proved to be the case as he is staying close to play at UCLA. Arizona wants to add multiple tight ends in the class and Pedersen would have been a great one to start with in the 2022 class.
• Fresno athlete set to make decision next week
As the recruiting cycle plays out some prospects are jumping on offers early because of the uncertainty of the last year. COVID-19 limited the spots teams have on their rosters and left some prospects out in the cold once the transfer portal filled up. One of the recruits who has been moving quickly with his own recruitment is Fresno, California all-purpose back Jonah Coleman. He was offered by Arizona last month and he decided to release a top six this week. He also announced his plans to commit to one of the six programs next Monday (March 1). Arizona is one of the programs to make the cut along with Oregon State, Tennessee, Colorado State, San Diego State and San Jose State.
The Wildcats have prioritized him over the last month and have various connections to him and that part of the country. Kevin Cummings and recruiting coordinator Ryan Partridge both have ties to the area and have helped the program make some progress in his recruitment in a short amount of time. Right now I still don't feel 100% comfortable calling this one for the Wildcats, but Arizona's staff absolutely wants him in the mix in the class and remains in pursuit.
Coleman is a true all-purpose back with his ability to both carry the ball and catch passes. Arizona would have him mostly focused on running the ball, but he certainly has the skill set to play a lot of receiver for the Wildcats as well. Oregon State has emerged as a big competitor for Arizona and the other programs in pursuit, but the Wildcats have made a lot of progress in the last few weeks.
"I just want coaches that give me an opportunity to compete and get better, a place where I feel like I am home, and a good academic school," Coleman recently said about what he's looking for in his college program.
• 4-star New Jersey quarterback adds Arizona offer
The Wildcats have certainly offered a wide array of quarterbacks in the class already, but the latest one has a ton of big offers and comes from an area Jedd Fisch knows well. The Wildcats have slowly been moving into New Jersey in this cycle and there is plenty of talent in the area for the program to pursue. Bergen Catholic is one of the top high school programs in the country and its quarterback, Steve Angeli, added an offer from Arizona to his list this week. The 6-foot-2 prospect has a four-star Rivals ranking and is rated as the 13th-best pro-style quarterback in the 2022 class. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Michigan, LSU and Penn State are some of his other offers but Arizona is going to work to try and bring him across the country.
Fisch is a New Jersey native and knows the area well, but the Wildcats will need to put in some work to make a commitment a reality. Notre Dame has been the presumed leader for quite some time now, and the expectation remains that he will eventually commit to the program because of some strong family connections to that program. He has not done it yet, though, leaving the door open for a school like Arizona to try and make a push.
Angeli has not been a full-time starter for very long so he needs to continue to develop, but he has an impressive skill set and is only going to improve as he moves ahead in his development.
"Consistent accuracy is something that’s tough for quarterbacks to achieve, and Angeli has made progress in this area," Rivals.com East Coast recruiting analyst Adam Friedman previously wrote about the 2022 quarterback. "He’s also a fearless runner. He’s not afraid to take a hit or call his own number, but he isn’t a quarterback that’s going to pick up huge chunks of yards. Angeli is a smart and savvy pocket passer that runs just enough to keep defenses honest."
• Several junior targets come off the board
The commitments for the 2022 class are starting to pick up heading into March, and several Arizona targets have made decisions within the last couple weeks. A few more decisions were made in the last several days, and while not all of them have been heavily targeted by the new UA staff there are a handful that Fisch and his coaches were looking to add into the mix in Tucson.
Among the most notable prospects to pick a different program was four-star Florida safety Anthony Rose from Hallandale High in South Florida. Over the weekend he announced a top three that included South Carolina, Penn State and Arizona. He announced his commitment to South Carolina on Tuesday. The process moved quickly with Rose and the Wildcats were able to make some good headway with him in a short amount of time after offering the 6-foot-3 prospect back in January. The Wildcats edged out some notable programs to get on his short list including Arizona State, Michigan, LSU, Texas A&M and Penn State among others. However, the next step for Fisch and his staff is to land prospects like Rose.
In the end he's not coming to UA and the staff needs to change its ability to pull in recruits of his caliber. It was always going to be difficult to get him away from the Southeast but Arizona showed that its staff has strong enough connections across the country to make it at least feasible.
California tight end Jack Pedersen also recently ended his recruitment early after previously making the move across the country to Florida to play at IMG Academy. Arizona's new staff offered the four-star prospect after the former staff was one of the early offers for Pedersen and had done a solid job of making inroads in his recruitment. However, getting him to leave California was always going to be tough and proved to be the case as he is staying close to play at UCLA. Arizona wants to add multiple tight ends in the class and Pedersen would have been a great one to start with in the 2022 class.
