There is always someone who likes to celebrate the Fourth of July by committing. That hasn't happened today so far, but there were a couple prospects who decided it was a good day to trim down their lists. The theme of this spring and start to summer has been Arizona sitting well with a number of targets that it has offered. That continued today with two more prospects from areas UA likes to target including UA on their shortened lists.
Joe Wilkins Jr. - WR/ATH (North Fort Myers, Florida)
Arizona was one of the first schools to jump in with the receiver and defensive back from Florida offering Wilkins back in mid-January. Since then plenty of other schools jumped on board and the three-star prospect has racked up over 20 offers up to this point. To better manage his list he decided to trim it down just a bit but not a major cut like others have done. Wilkins now is down to 14 schools overall and the Wildcats were included on that list Tuesday morning. The 6-foot-2 recruit projects as a receiver at the next level and that is where most schools are looking at him.
In addition to UA the versatile Floridian included Notre Dame, Louisville, Kentucky, NC State, Iowa State, South Carolina, Maryland, Michigan State, Central Florida, Western Kentucky, Appalachian State, East Carolina and Pittsburgh. As you can see there is a wide array of options for Wilkins and like many have done in this class he made sure to mention that his "recruitment is still open." So this list is not final should more offers come in.
Still, it does give the Wildcats a good idea of where they stand with the receiver prospect and some direction on whether or not to continue to pursue him. Notre Dame has been where most of the talk has centered with Wilkins and it was the program he listed first today - although he mentioned there was no order for his list. Still, he has not committed to the Irish and he plans on taking his time going through the process and figuring out what option best fits him.
“I want to take my visits before I really rank any schools,” Wilkins Jr. said in the spring. “I want to take my visits so I can rank them by who is coming at me the hardest, who has the best education, the best college town and things like that.”
Trenton Charles - RB/APB (Baton Rouge (La.) Scotlandville)
Arizona has of course remained active in Louisiana - as it always is - in this recruiting cycle with numerous offers out to prospects from The Boot. When it comes to the three-star all-purpose back from Baton Rouge the Wildcats were the second Power Five team to offer him when they did so back in early May during the spring evaluation period. Charles decided the holiday was a good time to trim down his list from double digit offers down to five schools that he wants to focus on more moving forward. Arizona made the cut as the only Power Five school on the list to go along with Army, Yale, SMU and UTSA.
Now the plan is to move forward and begin taking a closer look at those five options. The Wildcats are looking to again load up on prospects at the position and the commitment from Darrius Smith has not had a negative impact on Charles and now things can move forward.
The 5-foot-9 all-purpose back had 15 offers overall before Tuesday's cut and he dropped programs such as Arizona State, Northwestern and TCU among those offers in his cut down in addition to the rest of his Ivy League options outside Yale. Charles currently checks in as the No. 19 APB in the 2018 Rivals.com rankings coming off a junior season in which he rushed for nearly 700 yards to go along with six touchdowns and 17 catches for another 175 yards and another score.
Joey Ramos - OG (Phoenix-Deer Valley)
The in-state offensive lineman has become a priority target for the Wildcats in the 2018 class and he is someone the program has been working on for years not just months. The work has paid off with the high three-star recruit also deciding it was time to make a cut down to his list. He chose lunchtime as his time to do it trimming his lengthy offer list down to just six schools although the six left on the list are not a big surprise. Joining Arizona on his shortened list are four other Pac-12 schools and one program from out of the region. UCLA, ASU, Washington and Oregon all made the cut plus one school that has been standing out lately and that he recently visited, Iowa State, rounds out his top six.
Ramos has been down to Tucson plenty of times before and was recently on campus last month for a team camp over at UA. Ramos is certainly going to make an informed decision with ample time to get to know coaching staffs and take visits over the last couple years. UA is in a good position with him and this continues to show that the work is paying off.
Now things will get tougher as there is some legit competition not only out of the area but also right at home in Arizona. ASU is a legitimate threat for Ramos and even that battle won't be an easy one for the Wildcats.
“I’m not going to shut things down completely and will still be open to schools, but those schools on that list I’ll be focusing more on and getting into more depth on," he said last week. "I’ll probably make a commitment in early December.”
Joe Wilkins Jr. - WR/ATH (North Fort Myers, Florida)
Arizona was one of the first schools to jump in with the receiver and defensive back from Florida offering Wilkins back in mid-January. Since then plenty of other schools jumped on board and the three-star prospect has racked up over 20 offers up to this point. To better manage his list he decided to trim it down just a bit but not a major cut like others have done. Wilkins now is down to 14 schools overall and the Wildcats were included on that list Tuesday morning. The 6-foot-2 recruit projects as a receiver at the next level and that is where most schools are looking at him.
In addition to UA the versatile Floridian included Notre Dame, Louisville, Kentucky, NC State, Iowa State, South Carolina, Maryland, Michigan State, Central Florida, Western Kentucky, Appalachian State, East Carolina and Pittsburgh. As you can see there is a wide array of options for Wilkins and like many have done in this class he made sure to mention that his "recruitment is still open." So this list is not final should more offers come in.
Still, it does give the Wildcats a good idea of where they stand with the receiver prospect and some direction on whether or not to continue to pursue him. Notre Dame has been where most of the talk has centered with Wilkins and it was the program he listed first today - although he mentioned there was no order for his list. Still, he has not committed to the Irish and he plans on taking his time going through the process and figuring out what option best fits him.
“I want to take my visits before I really rank any schools,” Wilkins Jr. said in the spring. “I want to take my visits so I can rank them by who is coming at me the hardest, who has the best education, the best college town and things like that.”
Trenton Charles - RB/APB (Baton Rouge (La.) Scotlandville)
Arizona has of course remained active in Louisiana - as it always is - in this recruiting cycle with numerous offers out to prospects from The Boot. When it comes to the three-star all-purpose back from Baton Rouge the Wildcats were the second Power Five team to offer him when they did so back in early May during the spring evaluation period. Charles decided the holiday was a good time to trim down his list from double digit offers down to five schools that he wants to focus on more moving forward. Arizona made the cut as the only Power Five school on the list to go along with Army, Yale, SMU and UTSA.
Now the plan is to move forward and begin taking a closer look at those five options. The Wildcats are looking to again load up on prospects at the position and the commitment from Darrius Smith has not had a negative impact on Charles and now things can move forward.
The 5-foot-9 all-purpose back had 15 offers overall before Tuesday's cut and he dropped programs such as Arizona State, Northwestern and TCU among those offers in his cut down in addition to the rest of his Ivy League options outside Yale. Charles currently checks in as the No. 19 APB in the 2018 Rivals.com rankings coming off a junior season in which he rushed for nearly 700 yards to go along with six touchdowns and 17 catches for another 175 yards and another score.
Joey Ramos - OG (Phoenix-Deer Valley)
The in-state offensive lineman has become a priority target for the Wildcats in the 2018 class and he is someone the program has been working on for years not just months. The work has paid off with the high three-star recruit also deciding it was time to make a cut down to his list. He chose lunchtime as his time to do it trimming his lengthy offer list down to just six schools although the six left on the list are not a big surprise. Joining Arizona on his shortened list are four other Pac-12 schools and one program from out of the region. UCLA, ASU, Washington and Oregon all made the cut plus one school that has been standing out lately and that he recently visited, Iowa State, rounds out his top six.
Ramos has been down to Tucson plenty of times before and was recently on campus last month for a team camp over at UA. Ramos is certainly going to make an informed decision with ample time to get to know coaching staffs and take visits over the last couple years. UA is in a good position with him and this continues to show that the work is paying off.
Now things will get tougher as there is some legit competition not only out of the area but also right at home in Arizona. ASU is a legitimate threat for Ramos and even that battle won't be an easy one for the Wildcats.
“I’m not going to shut things down completely and will still be open to schools, but those schools on that list I’ll be focusing more on and getting into more depth on," he said last week. "I’ll probably make a commitment in early December.”
