As the transition to the last set of sports for the year begins with spring sports opening up their seasons it is certainly an interesting time all around. Spring will arrive soon enough, but winter is giving its latest big push in Tucson this week as it is a quiet week around UA. The basketball team is on the road to Oregon where it will finish out its road schedule against Oregon and Oregon State before returning home to close out the regular season against Cal and Stanford.
We’ll have more on Sean Miller’s team as it nears the most important time of the season with the NCAA Tournament now less than a month away. We will also take a dive into another recent offer that went out to a five-star visitor plus additional recruiting tidbits on the recruiting side.
When it comes to football it is all about preparations for spring ball right now and with UA making a new hire for a director of strength and conditioning things can continue moving forward as Kevin Sumlin prepares to take the practice field for the first time as Arizona’s head coach. We’ll continue to look ahead to spring ball and a few players who could benefit greatly from a strong showing next month.
On the football recruiting side of things Arizona has slowed it down some with new offers it has sent out but over the last week there was a steady stream of additional offers going out to various prospects across the country. We’ll get you updated on those and provide some insight into their recruitments and UA’s chances.
Here is this week’s War Room.
Football
Arizona will begin spring practice in less than a month with March 19 being the kickoff date for Sumlin’s first spring with the Wildcats. There will be some new faces on the field this spring in addition to the new faces on the coaching staff. First impressions can hold a lot of weight and while spring ball is not the end all be all of how things will eventually come together when things start go become more real it is a good measuring stick of how the coaching thinks and what it feels about the team.
Spring will be the chance for players to continue showing what got them on the field under the previous staff or reinvigorate their careers if they are players who haven’t seen the field as much as they like so far in their careers. We know many of the names and faces we expect to see on the field come the season opener later this year. Khalil Tate, Tony Fields II, Colin Schooler and players like that aren’t going to be easily moved for their starting roles. However, the spring will present Sumlin to wipe the slate clean and truly evaluate the roster for his own goals as head coach. That will mean a chance for players who have been working more behind the scenes to get their opportunity to shine. Today we will take a look at a few players we have heard quite a bit about up to this point coming off last season who will have a chance to make a big move over the course of the month during spring practice and better their chances of getting on the field in 2018.
- Brian Casteel: The receiver position is an important one in Sumlin’s system and Noel Mazzone’s offense. It is a spot the coaching staff has already targeted heavily on the recruiting trail and is looking to upgrade. This coaching staff is going to value size at the receiver positions, but until it can get the roster looking how it wants there will be some other options to work with that it might not otherwise have looked at recruiting. One prospect who has set himself up to get on the field in 2018 is soon-to-be sophomore receiver Brian Casteel. He is built like anything but an outside receiver at 6-foot and 214 pounds. However, his brain makes up for a lot of what makes him different physically.
Inside receivers coach Theron Aych, who coached all receivers last season, said at the end of the year that Casteel was built like a linebacker or safety but his ability to grasp the concepts of the offense helped move him into some action as a freshman. He has a knack for getting open despite not having blazing speed or the height typically associated with outside receivers. The Wildcats are going to throw the ball more in 2018 and Casteel will have a chance to make a move up the depth chart this year because of his ability to get open and make plays as a pass catcher.
- Bryson Cain: The redshirt freshman offensive tackle is someone who previous head coach Rich Rodriguez could never truly hide his affinity for. Cain was in line to play in his second season with the program in 2017 but an ankle injury in camp derailed any chance he had of getting on the field last season. The California native went into the year as Layth Friekh’s backup at left tackle and was looking at seeing some playing time as part of the rotation. Season-ending injuries can certainly hinder a career, but Cain was back in practice on a limited basis at the end of the year and looks to be good to go for spring ball this year.
Arizona knows going into the season it will be without Friekh for the first two games as he sits out to serve an NCAA-mandated two-game suspension as a stipulation for his fifth season of eligibility. That means Arizona will need someone to fill that void early on and Cain had made quite the impression heading into the 2017 season. The unknown is, of course, new offensive line coach Joe Gilbert and what he is looking for but Cain has the talent to be part of the rotation once again.
- Xavier Bell: One thing Arizona defensive coordinator Marcel Yates continued to say at the end of last season was that he wanted to add some more length to his defense. He has a background in working with players in the secondary and when he said length he meant for the entire defense but especially that back end. Arizona doesn’t have a lot to replace on the back side of the defense but one starter it did lose to graduation is spur safety Dane Cruikshank. The spur position tends to do a lot of the things cornerbacks do and that is one reason it worked with Cruikshank moving from corner to spur before his senior season began.
Freshman safety Xavier Bell also made a move from his previous season to the 2017 season. Bell played exclusively as a free safety in high school, but when he arrived to Tucson he transitioned to that spur position. Other than someone like Nathan Tilford, Bell looks the part of a college safety physically. He has length at 6-foot-2 and that will be key for him as he looks to make a move up the depth chart now coming off his redshirt season.
Under the previous staff he was going to get a strong look at being a contributor in 2018, so this spring will be an important one for him to show that he’s ready to get on the field with new coaches now in place. There were plenty of positive things said about Bell and his work with the scout team toward the end of last season and he will be someone to watch closely once spring practice begins and players start vying for that open position on the defensive side of the ball.
Football recruiting
It’s the height of the recruiting season and soon enough junior days and visits will start taking place again as camp season gets underway. The thing that makes this year different than others before it is that prospects can begin taking official visits in the spring. It will add a new wrinkle into what is already a sometimes unpredictable process, and after a winter filled with coaching moves and changes it remains to be seen how much having the option available will not change very much because of all that late movement in the last cycle. Taking an official visit might end up not being the right way to approach things since there will still only be five official trips allowed throughout the process.
Either way the busy part of the year for recruiting is approaching and that means more offers going out and movement with the 2019 class and beyond.
* For Arizona there was a rush of offers in previous weeks, but things have slowed down some as of late with UA having limited spots open as of this moment. It will likely be a smaller class unless there is a wave of transfers after the spring. If there is then you can expect to see Arizona get even more active but for now it has to be a bit more selective with prospects it is offer. One of the trends that has become clear with the new coaching staff is actively pursuing highly-rated and highly-recruited prospects. That continued over the last week with the new offers that went out and today we will take a closer look at some of new prospects to get to know with UA offers on the table.
We’ll start with the newest offer and the four-star defensive tackle from Salt Lake City who recently ended what had been a nearly two-year commitment to BYU. Ika committed to the Cougars back in June of 2016 and things remained that way until last weekend when he backed away from that pledge. He has taken trips to other schools and entertained interest from other programs over the time he was committed and with UA staying active with Polynesian prospects it was an offer the Wildcats had to make.
Alabama, USC and Oregon are some his other offers at this point and his recruitment is only going to continue to gain steam this spring. Ika was bumped up from an unranked prospect into the Rivals250 Wednesday.
“Ika is a massive defensive tackle who has exceptional power but also surprising speed to beat interior offensive linemen into the backfield,” Rivals.com national analyst Adam Gorney wrote. “He has violent hands, great moves and is as aggressive and tough as any defensive lineman in this class. At 320 pounds or so, Ika is a handful to slow down and not many offensive linemen can do it.”
We’ll have more on Sean Miller’s team as it nears the most important time of the season with the NCAA Tournament now less than a month away. We will also take a dive into another recent offer that went out to a five-star visitor plus additional recruiting tidbits on the recruiting side.
When it comes to football it is all about preparations for spring ball right now and with UA making a new hire for a director of strength and conditioning things can continue moving forward as Kevin Sumlin prepares to take the practice field for the first time as Arizona’s head coach. We’ll continue to look ahead to spring ball and a few players who could benefit greatly from a strong showing next month.
On the football recruiting side of things Arizona has slowed it down some with new offers it has sent out but over the last week there was a steady stream of additional offers going out to various prospects across the country. We’ll get you updated on those and provide some insight into their recruitments and UA’s chances.
Here is this week’s War Room.
Football
Arizona will begin spring practice in less than a month with March 19 being the kickoff date for Sumlin’s first spring with the Wildcats. There will be some new faces on the field this spring in addition to the new faces on the coaching staff. First impressions can hold a lot of weight and while spring ball is not the end all be all of how things will eventually come together when things start go become more real it is a good measuring stick of how the coaching thinks and what it feels about the team.
Spring will be the chance for players to continue showing what got them on the field under the previous staff or reinvigorate their careers if they are players who haven’t seen the field as much as they like so far in their careers. We know many of the names and faces we expect to see on the field come the season opener later this year. Khalil Tate, Tony Fields II, Colin Schooler and players like that aren’t going to be easily moved for their starting roles. However, the spring will present Sumlin to wipe the slate clean and truly evaluate the roster for his own goals as head coach. That will mean a chance for players who have been working more behind the scenes to get their opportunity to shine. Today we will take a look at a few players we have heard quite a bit about up to this point coming off last season who will have a chance to make a big move over the course of the month during spring practice and better their chances of getting on the field in 2018.
- Brian Casteel: The receiver position is an important one in Sumlin’s system and Noel Mazzone’s offense. It is a spot the coaching staff has already targeted heavily on the recruiting trail and is looking to upgrade. This coaching staff is going to value size at the receiver positions, but until it can get the roster looking how it wants there will be some other options to work with that it might not otherwise have looked at recruiting. One prospect who has set himself up to get on the field in 2018 is soon-to-be sophomore receiver Brian Casteel. He is built like anything but an outside receiver at 6-foot and 214 pounds. However, his brain makes up for a lot of what makes him different physically.
Inside receivers coach Theron Aych, who coached all receivers last season, said at the end of the year that Casteel was built like a linebacker or safety but his ability to grasp the concepts of the offense helped move him into some action as a freshman. He has a knack for getting open despite not having blazing speed or the height typically associated with outside receivers. The Wildcats are going to throw the ball more in 2018 and Casteel will have a chance to make a move up the depth chart this year because of his ability to get open and make plays as a pass catcher.
- Bryson Cain: The redshirt freshman offensive tackle is someone who previous head coach Rich Rodriguez could never truly hide his affinity for. Cain was in line to play in his second season with the program in 2017 but an ankle injury in camp derailed any chance he had of getting on the field last season. The California native went into the year as Layth Friekh’s backup at left tackle and was looking at seeing some playing time as part of the rotation. Season-ending injuries can certainly hinder a career, but Cain was back in practice on a limited basis at the end of the year and looks to be good to go for spring ball this year.
Arizona knows going into the season it will be without Friekh for the first two games as he sits out to serve an NCAA-mandated two-game suspension as a stipulation for his fifth season of eligibility. That means Arizona will need someone to fill that void early on and Cain had made quite the impression heading into the 2017 season. The unknown is, of course, new offensive line coach Joe Gilbert and what he is looking for but Cain has the talent to be part of the rotation once again.
- Xavier Bell: One thing Arizona defensive coordinator Marcel Yates continued to say at the end of last season was that he wanted to add some more length to his defense. He has a background in working with players in the secondary and when he said length he meant for the entire defense but especially that back end. Arizona doesn’t have a lot to replace on the back side of the defense but one starter it did lose to graduation is spur safety Dane Cruikshank. The spur position tends to do a lot of the things cornerbacks do and that is one reason it worked with Cruikshank moving from corner to spur before his senior season began.
Freshman safety Xavier Bell also made a move from his previous season to the 2017 season. Bell played exclusively as a free safety in high school, but when he arrived to Tucson he transitioned to that spur position. Other than someone like Nathan Tilford, Bell looks the part of a college safety physically. He has length at 6-foot-2 and that will be key for him as he looks to make a move up the depth chart now coming off his redshirt season.
Under the previous staff he was going to get a strong look at being a contributor in 2018, so this spring will be an important one for him to show that he’s ready to get on the field with new coaches now in place. There were plenty of positive things said about Bell and his work with the scout team toward the end of last season and he will be someone to watch closely once spring practice begins and players start vying for that open position on the defensive side of the ball.
Football recruiting
It’s the height of the recruiting season and soon enough junior days and visits will start taking place again as camp season gets underway. The thing that makes this year different than others before it is that prospects can begin taking official visits in the spring. It will add a new wrinkle into what is already a sometimes unpredictable process, and after a winter filled with coaching moves and changes it remains to be seen how much having the option available will not change very much because of all that late movement in the last cycle. Taking an official visit might end up not being the right way to approach things since there will still only be five official trips allowed throughout the process.
Either way the busy part of the year for recruiting is approaching and that means more offers going out and movement with the 2019 class and beyond.
* For Arizona there was a rush of offers in previous weeks, but things have slowed down some as of late with UA having limited spots open as of this moment. It will likely be a smaller class unless there is a wave of transfers after the spring. If there is then you can expect to see Arizona get even more active but for now it has to be a bit more selective with prospects it is offer. One of the trends that has become clear with the new coaching staff is actively pursuing highly-rated and highly-recruited prospects. That continued over the last week with the new offers that went out and today we will take a closer look at some of new prospects to get to know with UA offers on the table.
We’ll start with the newest offer and the four-star defensive tackle from Salt Lake City who recently ended what had been a nearly two-year commitment to BYU. Ika committed to the Cougars back in June of 2016 and things remained that way until last weekend when he backed away from that pledge. He has taken trips to other schools and entertained interest from other programs over the time he was committed and with UA staying active with Polynesian prospects it was an offer the Wildcats had to make.
Alabama, USC and Oregon are some his other offers at this point and his recruitment is only going to continue to gain steam this spring. Ika was bumped up from an unranked prospect into the Rivals250 Wednesday.
“Ika is a massive defensive tackle who has exceptional power but also surprising speed to beat interior offensive linemen into the backfield,” Rivals.com national analyst Adam Gorney wrote. “He has violent hands, great moves and is as aggressive and tough as any defensive lineman in this class. At 320 pounds or so, Ika is a handful to slow down and not many offensive linemen can do it.”
