A 'tough' decision still leads legacy recruit Harris to Arizona

Arizona has had a way of making sure legacy recruits have stayed within the Wildcat family under Rich Rodriguez and Friday afternoon came the latest example of it. Jalen Harris is the son of a former Desert Swarm era linebacker, Sean Harris, but as a recruit his name carried what for what he did on the field not his dad. One of the better pass rushers in the state of Arizona the Mesa-Desert Ridge standout picked up some big offers.

His parents’ (his mother Cha-Ron played basketball at UA) alma mater was the first school to offer earlier this year then others jumped on board. Eventually there were a number of schools working hard to get a commitment from the 6-foot-3 versatile athlete. Oregon, Colorado, Washington State, Vanderbilt and Iowa State all jumped into the race.

Still, his connection with Charlie Ragle and the rest of the UA staff made his decision one he wanted to get wrapped up before the season started. Having his parents full support didn’t hurt either.

“I just felt like it was the right fit for me,” he said. “It was a place I built good relationships with the coaching staff. ... It’s cool my parents went there and all, but I mostly want to be my own person. I like the school and not just because my parents went there.”

Other legacy recruits in recent years made no mistake that Arizona offers were ones they were waiting on and when they came through there was not much hesitation about pulling the trigger on a commitment. Harris went about things differently, however, and he let himself be recruited and he went on plenty of visits throughout the spring and summer looking for the best fit. In the end it was more of a tough decision than other legacy prospects Arizona has on board already.

“It was really tough,” he said. “Other schools were nice and I appreciate them offering me and doing everything. It was really something I had to think about.”

Harris, who racked up 70 tackles and 17.5 sacks as a junior, said the plan right now is to have him come in at the stud position in Arizona’s defense which is a hybrid linebacker/defensive end spot in the Wildcats’ system.

He is the 25th commitment for Arizona in the 2017 class.