It's difficult to find quality centers at the high school level, but Arizona believes it found one and it took only hours for the Wildcats to land a commitment from California offensive lineman JT Hand on Sunday. The 6-foot-3 prospect from Mission Viejo High School was offered just this afternoon by Kyle DeVan and this evening he came to his decision by picking UA over his one other offer from UNLV.
Hand is someone who likely would have seen more interest had coaches been able to see him this spring, but instead he has had to wait out the process. He participated in a camp out in California on Saturday and performed well from the sounds of it and Arizona decided to offer him.
Arizona offensive line coach Kyle DeVan has done a good job of building up the offensive line depth and being able to find a true center prospect is significant since Power Five-level centers are not common out of high school. It's obviously a position that DeVan knows well considering he played center in the NFL.
As far as the commitment, I'm impressed by it and it's a nice get by the Wildcats. Mission Viejo High has one of the top-tier teams in Southern California so he gets plenty of opportunities to go up against high-level competition. Everything I've seen from him points to him having the chance to be a successful player at the college level and I like his game overall. I was able to get a look at him last season in a game plus at the Rivals Camp back in early March. He has a nice presence about him when he's on the field and he's just a solid player. I've watched him play both guard and center and I like him at either spot.
UA is going to have some options, but I like what UA is doing up front right now. The staff is not building the group with players who are going to blow anyone away with their ranking, but I think the quality is there. It's a nice find by UA.
He is also a legacy recruit with his dad, Bryan, being an alum of UA having played for the Wildcats back in the 1990s. So, the offer that he he received today was the one he had been hoping to get during the process. It's hard to imagine this one not sticking through the signing period since Arizona is the place he wants to play.
Hand is someone who likely would have seen more interest had coaches been able to see him this spring, but instead he has had to wait out the process. He participated in a camp out in California on Saturday and performed well from the sounds of it and Arizona decided to offer him.
Arizona offensive line coach Kyle DeVan has done a good job of building up the offensive line depth and being able to find a true center prospect is significant since Power Five-level centers are not common out of high school. It's obviously a position that DeVan knows well considering he played center in the NFL.
As far as the commitment, I'm impressed by it and it's a nice get by the Wildcats. Mission Viejo High has one of the top-tier teams in Southern California so he gets plenty of opportunities to go up against high-level competition. Everything I've seen from him points to him having the chance to be a successful player at the college level and I like his game overall. I was able to get a look at him last season in a game plus at the Rivals Camp back in early March. He has a nice presence about him when he's on the field and he's just a solid player. I've watched him play both guard and center and I like him at either spot.
UA is going to have some options, but I like what UA is doing up front right now. The staff is not building the group with players who are going to blow anyone away with their ranking, but I think the quality is there. It's a nice find by UA.
He is also a legacy recruit with his dad, Bryan, being an alum of UA having played for the Wildcats back in the 1990s. So, the offer that he he received today was the one he had been hoping to get during the process. It's hard to imagine this one not sticking through the signing period since Arizona is the place he wants to play.
