When a coach makes a bold declaration in the middle of spring, it’s would be easy to pass it off as hyperbole.
Rich Rodriguez asserted toward the end of Arizona’s spring drills that the Wildcats’ next recruiting class, for 2017, would be “one of the best” in school history.
“I think there’s a little bit of buzz going on,” he said at the time.
That day was March 2. In Tucson, that time of year is reserved for the men’s basketball team.
A month later, it’s still far too early to figure out if Rodriguez’s prediction will prove true. National Signing Day isn’t until February, after all, and the Wildcats saw firsthand last season that an early verbal commitment doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an ironclad one. Many 2016 recruits who committed to Arizona in the summer of 2015 backed out by February, for a variety of reasons.
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Still, if there is an early buzzword for Arizona’s 2017 recruiting class, it would be, well, buzz.
Rodriguez wasn’t wrong in that sense. Particularly with the news Arizona received one day prior to his comments. That’s when Hawkins, California, standout Greg Johnson gave a verbal commitment to Arizona, sending some shockwaves through the West Coast recruiting landscape.
Johnson is rated four stars by Scout.com, the No. 1 athlete in the West and No. 4 in the nation.
If Arizona wanted to build buzz with its new coaching staff — new cornerbacks coach Donte’ Williams was Johnson’s lead recruiter — this did the trick.
“It was big, because I decided on where I wanted to go,” Johnson told the Star in March. “So I just put my time into that and it finally happened, so it’s over.”
That last part might not be entirely accurate, but recruiting is strange enough that Arizona’s super-early commitment from Johnson can be viewed as a recruiting coup even if he doesn’t stick it out with the Wildcats.
Johnson lives in USC and UCLA’s backyard, and both schools are still after him. Recently, Johnson has said that Oregon, Nebraska and Florida are also hot on his trail.
But right now he’s an Arizona commit, and the excitement about that has lasted longer than a month.
When Kurtis Brown, a defensive lineman from Liberty High School in Bakersfield, California, heard about Johnson’s commitment, his ears perked up. At that point, Brown had received a scholarship offer from the Wildcats about a week prior.
“With Greg, that was a huge start for Arizona,” Brown said. “I saw that and thought, ‘This could be something special.’”
Last week, Brown joined Johnson in verbally committing to Arizona’s 2017 class. Earlier that night, linebacker Kylan Wilborn did, too, and a day later, tight end Bryce Wolma joined the fray.
Coupled with Catalina Foothills quarterback Rhett Rodriguez, that’s already five commitments for 2017 before May, the most in Rich Rodriguez’s tenure coaching at Arizona.
And there might be more coming soon. In the midst of the hubbub from Brown and Wilborn’s commitments, top UA targets took notice. When Wilborn committed, four-star corner Elijah Blades — from Pasadena, California — responded with a retweet and a message saying “Smart”.
Others — like three-star safety Scott Young from La Mesa, California, and three-star running back Chris Brooks from Newbury Park, California, — responded similarly.
Earlier in the day, four-star corner Thomas Graham Jr., from Rancho Cucamonga, California, announced a decommitment from USC. He’s one of Arizona’s top targets, and a favorite thanks to the recruitment from Williams.
Now the guys who have already committed are doing work on their Southern California friends.
“It’s great to be able to help Arizona and start recruiting some other players so we can get the best class possible,” Brown said.
Added Wilborn, from Sherman Oaks, California, “I’m just happy that I have a place I know has my back. I have their back, and we’re just gonna keep it pushing.”
Last year, quarterback Khalil Tate committed to Arizona in March, and the Wildcats didn’t receive another high-level verbal until the summer.
In 2015, four-star offensive lineman Keenan Walker committed in April, and in 2014 the Wildcats garnered early commitments from athlete Cam Denson and running back Nick Wilson. For the 2013, class the UA reeled in offensive lineman Logan Stott nearly two years prior to that class’s signing day.
Those were all big signings, but none necessarily led to a wave of commitments, and Stott never even played for the Wildcats. Johnson appears to have changed that lack of momentum, at least for now.
“It’s not so much the early commitments I’m seeking as the really good players that come in,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not how many, it’s the quality.”
