HS football: Flannigan-Fowles says he'll play at UA

Flannigan-Fowles, wearing a blue Arizona Wildcats T-shirt, put pen to paper and signed a document of commitment to the UA on Thursday.

It was good news for Flannigan-Fowles, a 6-foot-3-inch, 180-pound defensive back. But what it means for his immediate future is still unclear.

Documents of commitment are non-binding agreements between schools and players. And Flannigan-Fowles hasn’t played a game since Nov. 8, 2013: He was ruled ineligible for the 2014 season following a ruling by the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

Flannigan-Fowles is likely to grayshirt next fall, enrolling in January as part of the team’s 2016 class. The Wildcats’ incoming class is full.

“I want to play right away, but if they want to redshirt me or grayshirt me, whatever they have me doing, it is what it is,” Flannigan-Fowles said. “Even though I’ve been through all I’ve been through I’m still at the destination I want to be.”

Athletes trying to put on weight, recover from an injury or gain eligibility may opt to grayshirt, meaning they delay enrolling in classes for at least a semester to avoid losing a year of eligibility.

The UA has done this before: Wide receiver Jordan Morgan graduated from high school last spring but didn’t join the UA football team until January. Defensive tackle Sani Fuimaono opted to grayshirt after suffering a wrestling injury during his senior year of high school.

Flannigan-Fowles isn’t hurt; he’s rusty. The defensive back transferred to Mountain View last summer after playing the previous two seasons at Tucson High.

The AIA ruled him ineligible because of a recruiting violation; Flannigan-Fowles didn’t play a single down in any of the Mountain Lions’ 10 games.

“What happened happened, we can’t do (anything) about it,” said Flannigan-Fowles, who went to Santa Rita as a freshman. “We thought it wasn’t our fault, we thought we did the right thing but they thought otherwise. We’re a great family; we didn’t come over here because we’d been recruited, we came over here because it was a family decision.”