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Arizona football recruiting SitRep: Wildcats land sixth commitment of 2018 class, return Jalen Cochran, and more

Arizona adds another piece to the current class and returns a current player

Armani Adams at the 2016 Nike Football The Opening Regional in Atlanta
Student Sports

This week has been a busy one for the Arizona Wildcats. The coaching staff traveled for camps and had a couple of visitors on campus. To add to that, they added the sixth member to their 2018 recruiting class and got a key piece of the defensive line back as well.

With that let’s dive into this week’s SitRep:


Armani Adams

On Thursday, Armani Adams became the sixth member of Arizona’s 2018 class, and the first player east of Arizona to commit to the program. The three-star safety hails from Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Arizona was his biggest offer and his relationship with the coaching staff helped move his decision along without seeing Tucson for himself. He was a tackling machine on defense during his junior season racking up 76 tackles with 14 for loss. We will have more this upcoming week on the Wildcats’ newest commit.

Full Article


Khalil Shakir

Shakir, a 4-star wide receiver from Vista Murrieta High School (Murrieta, Calif.), is one Southern California prospect who the Wildcats have focused in on — and the interest is reciprocal.

Shakir already visited Tucson once and he came away impressed.

He talks to the coaching staff almost every day and relationships with the staff are very important to him. He likes what he is hearing from the staff and should be coming out with a trimmed list in the near future. This is another recruitment to keep a close eye on.

Full Interview


Recruiting Notes

  • On Wednesday, 4-star wide receiver J.R. Justice (St. Augustine High School in San Diego, Calif.) listed his top schools. The only schools that made it are Arizona, USC, and San Diego State. To be honest it seems USC is third on the list with the Wildcats and Aztecs above the Trojans. U of A assistant Rod Smith has done a great job with Justice so far and this is a recruitment to definitely keep your eye on.
  • On Friday, Christian Young (3-star CB from Foster High School in Richmond, Texas) released his top 11 schools. Arizona, Iowa State, Houston, Purdue, California, Kansas, Arizona State, and Oklahoma State were some of the schools that made the cut. However, this weekend Young took a trip to Ames, Iowa to visit the Cyclones. The trip went so well that he committed on Sunday. Originally, he was going to commit in mid-July. Still, Young liked Arizona so it would not be surprising to see the Wildcats get a visit from him.
  • Shawn Preston (3-star DB from St. James High School in St. James, La.) is another prospect that listed his top schools with Arizona on it. The Wildcats join Memphis, SMU, Mississippi State, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Purdue, and Louisiana Tech. UA has done well in Louisiana in the past, but it can be difficult to pull players from the Boot.
  • Another big prospect the Wildcats are sitting well with is Camren McDonald (4-star TE from Long Beach Poly in Long Beach, Calif.). The ‘Cats join USC, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Georgia, Washington, California, and Washington on his list of preferred schools. There is some stiff competition for the 6-foot-4 standout with a lot of USC buzz surrounding his recruitment. However, the fact that the UA made the cut shows the work that defensive coordinator Marcel Yates has put in.
  • The final player to trim his list this week is 3-star receiver Taye Barber from Cypress Springs High School (Cypress, Texas). Arizona made the cut along with Clemson, West Virginia, Stanford, Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, TCU, and Utah. Landing Barber will be a tough haul for Arizona, and the next step will be for the staff to get Barber on campus for a visit.

Current Team Notes

  • Friday delivered more good news for UA. Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Jalen Cochran announced that he would be returning to Tucson to continue his career. Shortly after the end of spring practice, Cochran announced that he would be transferring from Arizona, with the reason being was that he was homesick and wanted to be closer to family. But after some time away, he had a change of heart. He should be a full participant in fall camp.

Visitors

The Wildcats’ staff hosted a couple of recruits on campus this past week in between camps.

2018 Visitor

Wide Receiver

  • Carlos Baker: St. Laurence High School (Burbank, Ill.)/6’6”/180 pounds/Unranked/Independence Community College

2019 Visitor

Quarterback

  • Dequan Finn: King High School (Detroit, Mich.)/QB/6’2”/170 pounds/Unranked

Camps

  • On Tuesday, Arizona’s coaching staff made their way to the Houston area to participate in a camp at Prairie View A&M. From what I can tell, the camp went well and an offer or two went out. It’s important for the staff to get face time with the prospects in the area if they are to make headway in the state.
  • The second camp was at the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif. The Wildcats offered 2019 prospect Travion Brown. Another prospect that stood out was 4-star defensive end Jeremiah Martin. There has been a lot of UCLA buzz around Martin, but this is one commitment the ‘Cats are going to continue to fight for.

2018 Offers (6)

Running Back

  • Ta’Zhawn Henry: Lamar High School (Houston, Texas)/5’8”/175 pounds/3-star
  • Darrius Smith: Dawson High School (Pearland, Texas)/5’9”/170 pounds/Unranked

Wide Receiver

  • Chris Olave: Mission Hills High School (San Marcos, Calif.)/6’1”/170 pounds/3-star
  • Maureese Wren: Horn High School (Mesquite, Texas)/6’3.5”/216 pounds/3-star

Offensive Line

  • Jarrett Bell: Norco High School (Norco, Calif.)/OG/6’5”/285 pounds/3-star

Defensive Line

  • Jackson Cravens: Timpview High School (Provo, Utah)/DT/6’3”/275 pounds/3-star

2019 Offers (1)

Athlete

  • Travion Brown: Linfield School (Temecula, Calif.)/6’3”/200 pounds/Unranked

2018 Arizona football commits

Name Position Position Ranking Rating Height Weight High School City
Name Position Position Ranking Rating Height Weight High School City
Armani Adams S 117 *** 6-0 190 Lakewood St. Petersburg, FL
Tre Adams WR 182 *** 6-3 190 Wakeland Frisco, TX
McKenzie Barnes CB 123 *** 6-2 170 Edison Fresno, CA
Jailen Bailey WR 278 *** 5-10 180 Lincoln San Diego, CA
Steven Bailey OG 39 *** 6-3 290 Centennial (Glendale CC) Peoria, AZ
Jaiden Dockery S 95 *** 6-0 195 Lancaster Lancaster, TX
Jhevon Hill ATH 66 *** 6-3 185 Cajon San Bernardino, CA
Martell Irby RB 101 *** 5-10 200 Morse San Diego, CA
Mykee Irving DT 42 *** 6-4 330 Calabasas Calabasas, CA
Issaiah Johnson ILB 36 *** 6-3 220 Los Alamitos Los Alamitos, CA
Jamarye Joiner QB (Dual Threat) 24 *** 6-3 205 Cienega Vail, AZ
Donovan Laie OT 102 *** 6-6 315 Oceanside Oceanside, CA
Thomas Marcus WR 171 *** 6-4 185 San Diego San Diego, CA
Jaden Mitchell WR 193 *** 6-0 180 Desert Pines Las Vegas, NV
Jake Peters TE 62 *** 6-5 240 Santa Margarita Catholic Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Adam Plant WDE 48 *** 6-5 245 Bishop Gorman Las Vegas, NV
Darrius Smith RB 119 *** 5-10 175 Dawson Pearland, TX
David Watson OT 117 *** 6-6 300 Amphitheater Tucson, AZ
Zach Williams WR 211 *** 6-3 205 Jones Creek Alpharetta, GA
Christian Young S 60 *** 6-1 201 Foster Richmond, TX