5-star Tucson defensive end Elijah Rushing decommits from Arizona football

Arizona was on the wrong side of a triple-overtime heartbreaker on Saturday night in Los Angeles. And it wasn’t even close to the biggest loss of the weekend.

5-star Tucson defensive end Elijah Rushing has decommitted from the Wildcats, saying his hometown program isn’t the best fit for his development.

The 6-foot-6, 251-pound was set to be the highest-ranked recruit in school history to sign with the UA, which has never inked a 5-star prospect. Instead, he becomes the second local player to back off his pledge to the Wildcats in the past week.

3-star defensive lineman Keona Wilhite, Rushing’s teammate at Salpointe Catholic High School, decommitted on Oct. 1.

Had Rushing signed with the UA he'd have played alongside older brother Cruz Rushing, a redshirt freshman defensive back to transferred from Florida.

Arizona’s 2024 recruiting class still has 21 known commitments, including a pair of 3-star California athletes who flipped from San Diego State on Friday, but the loss of Rushing drops it to 46th nationally per 247Sports.