Cole Davis and Humberto Lopez are getting into the NIL game. I've been mentioning that Arizona's 2022 class likely would not have come together like it did in the non-NIL era. Well, Arizona's top supporters have unveiled the first big initiative to generate the football programs and other sports at UA. The Friends of Wilbur and Wilma Collective is up and running and will give community members, businesses and UA supporters an opportunity to take part in NIL deals with athletes on campus. The focus will be football, but other sports will be involved as well with women's basketball, softball and baseball being specifically mentioned in the press release announcing the collective today.

"We're proud of our University of Arizona student-athletes that compete at the highest athletic levels, strive for success in the classroom, and aim to make a difference in our community," Cole Davis said in the release. "Our focus is helping these young women and men achieve their dreams and become future leaders."

Davis and Lopez have been the most active financial supporters of the UA football program recently, so having them on board with NIL opportunities certainly could be very important for the program.

"Helping others is a passion and including student-athletes in building this community is a unique opportunity," Lopez said. "We recognize these student-athletes have numerous commitments and many pressures, and our goal is to support them as they overcome challenges and empower them to accomplish their goals on and off the playing field."

Here's more from the press release: "Friends of Wilbur & Wilma" will be an industry-leading NIL program designed to welcome alumni, fans, and businesses who wish to engage and work with the student-athletes at the University of Arizona. "Friends of Wilbur & Wilma" now can galvanize the nationwide community who loves and supports the student-athletes who represent the University of Arizona. Interested community members will now be able to learn more about the student-athletes and explore the best ways to work directly with them.

The Wildcats fell 45-37 in a shootout against No. 10 USC.

Here were some takeaways from the press conference after the game:

- Jedd Fisch mentioned the rebuild taking a step forward with another close game

- "There were some stops that weren't stops... I thought we had a third-and-8 stop." - Jedd Fisch on the questionable penalty on Jerry Roberts

- "There are some catches I don't even know what to say about them really." - Fisch on Dorian Singer

- "I thought that was great." - Fisch on the way the first half ended

- "That made a difference." - Singer on Arizona's first two red zone possessions resulting in field goals

- "We trust them." - Kyon Barrs on the younger defenders stepping up for Arizona

The recap will be updated with quotes soon.

GAME INFO

• Who: Arizona (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12; last week: BYE) vs. No. 10 USC (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12; last week: BYE)
• When: 4:00 p.m. MST
• Where: Arizona Stadium | Tucson, Arizona
• TV: Pac-12 Networks
• All-time series: USC leads 37-8 (last meeting: 41-34 Trojans win; Oct. 30, 2021)
• Odds: USC -15 1/2 | O/U: 75 1/2 (VegasInsider)

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It is officially a game week again, and here's the first of our coverage for the week as the Wildcats begin preparations for 10th-ranked USC ahead of Saturday's game in Tucson. Both teams are coming off a bye week and both teams are coming off of losses as well. We will have full coverage throughout the week, and above you can check out the first three press conferences featuring Jedd Fisch, Johnny Nansen, Brennan Carroll, Hunter Echols and Dorian Singer.

Fish will meet the media one more time before Saturday's game during his Thursday press conference at which time the Wildcats will release this week's depth chart.

Read about the first two press conferences here:

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San Diego offensive lineman Jonah Rodriguez is set to announce his decision this week. Arizona has been involved for a while, but he's coming off a visit to Nevada last weekend. One a visit leads to an announcement it tends to go a certain way, but the Wildcats have definitely been on his radar. I'm planning to speak with him shortly to get a better feel for everything overall but this is one to watch for when it comes to Arizona. There's been a good relationship there and he plays a position of need.

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"I wanted to go make plays and I wanted to be somewhere where I can be the guy."

My latest on Hunter Echols ahead of a big game against his former team in USC this week.

Check out my article on Cate Reese heading into her final season.

Hunter Echols and Dorian Singer, along with Brennan Carroll and Johnny Nansen spoke to the media Tuesday afternoon ahead of Saturday's game against USC.

Here is my story on my top-five takeaways:

Hey guys, I'll be doing live updates throughout Jedd Fisch's press conference.

With Pac-12 media days coming up this week, the conference has announced its two preseason media polls for the men's and women's teams across the league. Arizona was well represented on the lists with three all-conference selections on the women's side and four players earning recognition on the men's side with Azuolas Tubelis earning a nod as a member of the first team. You can see the full teams below.

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Azuolas Tubelis (1st team), Kerr Kriisa (2nd team), Pelle Larsson (2nd team), Oumar Ballo (honorable mention)

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Jade Loville (all-conference), Shaina Pellington (all-conference), Cate Reese (all-conference)

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Four-star offensive guard Iapani Laloulu is officially off the board to Oregon today. The Wildcats had been the favorite, but there had not been much competition up until recently. The Ducks had some other priorities fall through and land elsewhere prompting that staff to make a bigger push for the 4-star recruit from Hawaii. Ultimately, that new push set the Ducks apart since his brother already plays at Oregon.

Arizona has already focused its attention more on landing Caleb Lomu at this stage. There are some other offensive line options, but Lomu remains the priority at the position in the class.

Hey guys, since it is Arizona's bye week, I wanted to jump in here and ask you to send in some questions regarding the team that I will answer in a mailbag later this week.

The fall evaluation period began today allowing Tommy Lloyd and Arizona's coaches to get around to high schools to check in on prospects the program is targeting. There are two clear top targets in the current and upcoming classes, and Lloyd made it out to see both of them today. The staff will be active in getting out to see its top targets in the 2023 and 2024 classes, and it will be able to do so in a hurry since there aren't a ton of top-tier targets for the staff right now.

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In-state wing Cody Williams was visited by Lloyd and the coaching staff today as the Wildcats have now locked in an official visit with the top-50 senior from Perry High School in Gilbert. Williams will take an official visit to UA beginning Oct. 14. He just recently visited Colorado and will take an official visit to USC next week. LSU will host him on an official visit on Sept. 24. Williams is keeping his recruitment very close to the vest and even the schools involved are a bit in the dark about what he is thinking. Arizona is in a strong position, but he is not the type of recruit who is looking for all the usual things recruits at his level are looking for in a program. His older brother spent his career at Santa Clara and made it to the NBA, so he is not going to be wowed by brand names or things along those lines. He really is looking for the right fit, so his recruitment could end up going any number of ways.

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Four-star California wing Carter Bryant is the top priority in the 2024 class, and he is at a new school this year. That didn't stop Tommy Lloyd from making the stop by Newport Beach to check in on Bryant, who has grown up an Arizona fan. His recruitment has exploded and more schools are continuing to get into the mix, such as Duke, but Arizona is still the early top contender in his recruitment. He fits what the staff is looking for in every way and will continue to be a top priority for the Wildcats as the process moves ahead. He is one of the recruits expected to be on campus for the Red-Blue Game in a few weeks.

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Jedd Fisch outlined the recruiting plan for the week and the rest of the cycle this week when meeting with reporters. Our own Dylan Grausz breaks down all of that in the story above including Fisch's thoughts on how the plan has changed based on how the season has played out to this stage.

As for the coaches, the staff has already been out on the road checking in at high schools and watching games. Jedd Fisch was with Jimmie Dougherty out at the Basha-Hamilton game in Chandler last night.

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The staff has had coaches and will have coaches at campuses and games in Arizona, California, Texas and Hawaii this week.

Most of the focus is on the current commits and top 2023 targets but there have been and will be some visits to see 2024 recruits as well.

Tonight will be Caleb Lomu night for the Wildcats with Fisch expected to see Highland face Saguaro. Brennan Carroll is also supposed to be at that game after hitting up California yesterday.

Brayden Dorman, Dominic Lolesio, Solomon Davis, Brandon Johnson, Lucas Conti and Canyon Moses are commits who will have Arizona coaches at their games. Dorian Thomas is an uncommitted recruit the Wildcats will see this evening as Jordan Paopao makes his swing through the Pacific Northwest.

Thursday was a heavy in-state and California-focused day for the staff.

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I'll hold off on make the game week thread until actual game week, but just wanted to give you all a heads up about the kickoff time for the Wildcats' next game on Oct. 29 that has been set for 4 p.m. MST. Arizona getting a rare daytime kickoff before November next week after the bye when USC comes to town. The game will once again be televised by Pac-12 Networks.

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Since there is no game this week that means no preview show, but Troy and I got together to discuss where things stand with the Wildcats at this point in the season since the bye week offers a natural break to the season. We assess both sides of the ball, the standout players and how the Wildcats can go about improving over the final five games as they head into a challenging three-game stretch. We also give our overview of what we expect the rest of the season to look like for the Wildcats.

Listen to the full episode above.

TMac on the list:

I know we have talked a ton about this, and I couldn’t find the original thread, but I had a very interesting convo with one of our coaches on the golf course the other day. I brought up the NIL and what his thoughts are and he said something that may become a reality. “If this continues at the rate it’s going, there are going to be college players taking pay cuts to go to the NFL”. He’s 100% right at the pace it’s going now.
NIL is a disaster waiting to happen.

Brown enters as a graduate transfer

Check out my article on Arizona recruit Paris Clark

Today Coach Fisch stated he'd like to bring in 16-17 mid-year transfers.
And we're looking to add to the 18 high school commits.

We don't have a ton of seniors/bonus year guys.

Sure, there could be some attrition. But 30- -40 new guys would be over 85. With NIL in place, will player cuts / runoffs be a thing?

The first AP poll of the women's basketball season was released today and Arizona was ranked No. 19 to open the season. To me, this means a couple of things.

1. The AP voters respect the work Adia Barnes has done as the coach at Arizona. Especially given the fact that the Wildcats lost so many players via transfer and ended the season with an embarrassing loss to UNC at McKale Center.

2. Also, that despite the team losing so many players, Barnes was able to land key transfers to add to one of the best recruiting classes in the country. So, voters see the high-level talent that the roster has.

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I've locked in a Rivals FutureCast pick for Inglewood athlete Justin Johnson in favor of Arizona who is currently on campus for a visit with the Wildcats. I expect this one to move quickly. Although he is listed as a receiver, he projects as a defensive back at the next level. I watched him at the Under Armour and Rivals camps this offseason, and he has good length and moves well. He'll add some more depth to the secondary and probably will fit in as a safety at UA though he could very easily play cornerback.

Michigan State, Florida State, Colorado State and Grambling are his other offers.

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The latest PFF grades and snap counts have been logged in, and here is our breakdown of the grades from our own Dylan Grausz. Some interesting notes in there for sure. Jayden de Laura having his highest-rated game of the season is no surprise, and there is a lot of information to back up the changes that were made defensively plus some of the things you all are calling for defensively.

Make sure to check it out and let us know what you think after seeing the grades.

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Arizona does not have a game this week, but there are plenty of things to work on as the Wildcats begin their most grueling stretch of the season starting with next week's matchup against USC. Jedd Fisch met with reporters this afternoon to discuss the plan for the next few days and what's on tap for his staff in what will be a busy couple days for recruiting. Fisch will head out to four different games himself on Thursday and Friday while the staff will be represented at 28 games overall in multiple states including Hawaii.

Watch Fisch's full Monday press conference, which will be the team's only media availability this week, in the video above.