Top newcomers include Villarreal, golf, softball stars
Arizona’s Class of 2015 doesn’t include a football player with five stars next to his name; a basketball player who is touted as a one-and-done superstar; nor a potential first-round pick in the baseball draft.
The strength of Arizona’s Class of 2015 is in women’s sports, which shouldn’t be a surprise. The Pac-12 is by far the NCAA’s most dominating conference for women’s sports. If you don’t recruit at the top level, you get buried.
Here is my annual list of the top incoming UA athletes, freshmen and transfers, who begin school Monday:
1. Haley Moore and Tyler Moore, golf. It’s a tie at the top because the San Diego golfers, children of former Ohio State offensive lineman Tom Moore, will both be freshmen for the Wildcats.
Haley has begun her senior season at San Pasqual High School but is expected to graduate in December and immediately become eligible for the Wildcats in January; that’s believed to be unprecedented at Arizona.
Haley recently completed the U.S. Women’s Amateur as the No. 15 overall seed. Even more impressive, she shot a 67 to qualify for the LPGA’s ANA Inspiration event at Rancho Mirage, California, in April — it was the only qualifying spot available — and then made the cut, shooting 73-74-73-74. As a high school freshman, Haley won the Craig Stadler Invitational by 22 strokes (she was 14-under par).
Tyler, who is ranked the No. 58 overall American junior boys golfer, is a three-time San Diego junior Player of the Year. His instructor is Harry Rudolph, a key player on Arizona’s 1992 NCAA championship team.
“We think Tyler can have an immediate impact for us,” says UA men’s golf coach Jim Anderson.
2. Taylor McQuillin, softball. At the highest level of California high school softball, the lefty pitcher was 55-2 the last two seasons. Maybe former UA All-America pitchers Nancy Evans and Jennie Finch were as highly-sought after as McQuillin, but certainly not more so. As a junior, McQuillin was the 2014 Gatorade National Player of the Year, but was even better as a senior, going 30-1.
3. Sage Watson, track. Currently in China for the world championships as part of the Canadian national team, the Medicine Hat, Alberta, product was fourth in the NCAA 400 hurdles in June. She then transferred from Florida State to Arizona for her final two seasons; she is immediately eligible.
4. Taylor Garcia, swimming. In Zeeland Michigan, George became America’s No. 2 ranked prep backstroker and the No. 6 overall prospect in the Class of 2015. She is on the USA junior national team, and a recruiting coup for UA coach Rick DeMont.
5. Carlos Villarreal, distance runner. Possibly the top in-state recruit in Arizona, in any sport, the Rio Rico High School grad emerged internationally when he won the Prefontaine Classic boys mile at Oregon’s Hayward Field (time: 4 minutes, 5.25 seconds) and set the state record in the 1,600 meters. He could be the next in UA coach James Li’s impressive list of distance runners.
6. Alyssa Palomino, softball. Her 58 career home runs at Mission Viejo High School are second in California prep history. A week ago, Palomino was MVP of the Junior Women’s World Championships. The granddaughter of former boxing champion Carlos Palomino, Alyssa broke the tournament record with 27 RBIs; the old record, 18, belonged to Olympic gold medal catcher Stacey Nuveman of UCLA.
7. Kendra Dahlke, volleyball. Coach Dave Rubio’s top-20 recruiting class is led by Dahlke, a 6-foot outside hitter from the San Diego area who is a potential four-year starter. The MVP of the 2014 USA Junior Nationals, Dahlke has impressive athletic genes; her father, Dave Dahlke, played college basketball at Minnesota.
8. Mark Tollefsen, basketball. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the 6-9, 199-pound senior transfer from San Francisco became Arizona’s leading scorer this year, or is among them. He’s intelligent, a high-percentage shooter with a range to 20 feet, and at USF started 70 games, scoring in double figures 50 times.
9. Megan Dulaney and Amarissa Hawker, track and field. Both have thrown the shot put more than 47 feet in high school, which ranks them in the top six of all incoming college shot putters. Dulaney is from Fairfield High School, near San Francisco; Hawker is from Herriman High School, a Salt Lake City suburb.
10. Blair Bish, swimming. Arizona beat the SEC swimming powers to get Bish out of Little Rock, Arkansas. As a high school senior, Bish became the No. 2-ranked swimmer in the breast stroke in the nation; he already has a time that would’ve put him in the NCAA finals last season.
