Arizona football: Branden Leon, Carrington Vaughn earn scholarships

One of the best things about college sports is when an unheralded walk-on earns their way up the ranks into a starting role and/or a scholarship.

The Arizona Wildcats have had a slew of them in recent seasons, and you can add two more to the list.

Running back Branden Leon and linebacker Carrington Vaughn have been awarded scholarships, head coach Rich Rodriguez told reporters Wednesday.

Leon, a redshirt sophomore from Goodyear, Ariz., played in all 12 games last season, mainly in a special teams role, though he did have eight carries for 38 yards, too.

Vaughn, a redshirt sophomore from Pennsylvania, played in 11 games last year and recorded eight tackles, including a sack in Arizona’s season-opening loss to BYU. He, too, was mostly used on special teams.

Neither Leon nor Vaughn appear on Arizona’s depth chart that was released Monday, but both will surely have a role on special teams once again in 2017.

Most importantly, Leon and Vaughn have not gone unnoticed for their work, and now they’ll have their college tuition covered, which is nothing to scoff at seeing how the cost of tuition for in-state and out-of-state residents at the UA is roughly $12,000 and $36,000 in 2017, respectively.

Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire