Wednesday, Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch can sit back and admire his work as college programs across the country scramble to add the final pieces to their 2022 recruiting classes. The Wildcats signed most of their class during the early signing period in December, and since that time UA has continued to see its group continue to rise up the rankings.
The all-star game season featured several top performances by Arizona signees highlighted by a standout showing in San Antonio from all-purpose back Rayshon "Speedy" Luke, who scored two touchdowns in the prestigious All-American Bowl.
He also made his commitment to the Wildcats public during the game earning the team some national recognition.
The spotlight had already started to shine on UA earlier in the winter when Fisch and his coaches landed the first five-star recruit in Tucson since 2006. Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan went on to have a strong showing in the Polynesian Bowl, an event that featured solid performances from several other UA signees.
Luke, offensive linemen Jonah Savaiinaea and Grayson Stovall plus versatile athlete Jai-Ayviauynn Celestine and defensive end Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei all saw their Rivals rankings improve in recent weeks.
The Wildcats enter National Signing Day and the start of the regular signing period with the top-rated class in the Pac-12 and 19th-best class overall for 2023. For context, UA has never finished a cycle better than third in the Pac-12 during the Rivals era (2002-2022).
Arizona's best finish overall was 18th in 2006 with a class the featured players such as Mike Turner, Devin Ross, Earl Mitchell, Ricky Elmore and Brooks Reed among others.
It will take a few years to truly see how the 2022 class will stack up against the talent in that group, but Fisch has certainly generated quite a bit of buzz with the class he has assembled. It is particularly impressive when considering Arizona's 1-11 record in the first season under its new head coach.
"That’s really exciting,” Fisch said Friday during his pre-Signing Day press conference when discussing Arizona’s high-ranking class. “There’s a lot of questions about, what does that all mean? Rest assure, I can tell you that Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Texas and Georgia have all been in the top five the last five years. So, traditionally, it means that if you do well recruiting, you do well with your wins and losses.
“I think our men’s basketball team was one and two the last two years in the Pac-12. So, kind of gives you a good indication of what that looks like.”
When Fisch assembled his staff at the outset of his tenure with the Wildcats he did so with recruiting in mind. When he needed to find replacements for departed defensive coordinator Don Brown and linebackers coach Keith Dudzinski, the UA head coach again turned his focus to recruiting by bringing in high-level recruiters Johnny Nansen and Jason Kaufusi.
Nansen has been critical in helping the Wildcats continue to build inroads in Southern California prospects adding to the success of some of Arizona's other coaches who work that area including Kevin Cummings, Jimmie Dougherty, Ricky Hunley and Jordan Paopao.
“Really excited about the way our staff recruited,” Fisch said. “Cleary they were absolutely relentless. We talk about, as a program, to be resilient, and they certainly were that. So, our assistant coaches did just an amazing job, and I think we all see the impact Johnny Nansen and Jason Kaufusi arriving here when the did. So, super excited about our group.”
Arizona's impressive recruiting class was a slow build for the staff. The good news came in waves with numerous periods of silence. Then, toward the end of the cycle, the Wildcats turned a corner adding several key pieces down the home stretch leading into the early signing period.
McMillan proved to be the crown jewel, but several other key members of the class joined the group late as well. It was something that even caught Fisch by surprise as well.
"We have a sign in our building that says, ‘no one rises to low expectations,’” Fisch said. “So, we tried to make them as high as we possibly could. We’re really excited about the way it kind of domino effect. It was one of those, ‘I came, then this guy came, then this guy came’ and they just kept coming. You’re bringing in guys that were committed to top programs and had offers from every program in the country. Guys like Kevin Green and Ephesians Prysock the last weekend all of a sudden decide to come in.
“Then I would certainly say the way the transfer portal started snowballing, that was very exciting. That one, we couldn’t predict. We worked for a year to try to get this signing class, but then that portal really came from the work that was done. People wanted to be a part of the program, which is pretty exciting. It’s pretty exciting right now.”
Recruiting highly-rated classes is part of the process when building a program, but utilizing that talent on the field to win games is ultimately what determines the success of any one group. Fisch understands that, and he knows there is still much work to be done for his team to reap the benefits of what the coaches were able to do over the last year on the recruiting trail.
“We gotta build this roster to have sustainability and recognize that we’re walking in here and there’s a lot of excitement about our recruiting class, but remember they were all playing high school football last year. So, we now gotta go out there and play Oregon and SC and programs like that. So, we’re gonna have to get them to learn fast and recognize that maybe it’s gonna take a year or two.”
Arizona will also have to build another recruiting class, which has already started. The Wildcats added a commitment from high three-star safety Canyon Moses on Tuesday as the first commit in the 2023 class. Following up the 2022 class with one that is even better will be no small task for Fisch and his coaches, but he likes the direction of where the team is headed despite the rocky start to the rebuild on the field.
Fisch said Friday that Arizona has one remaining spot in its class. The Wildcats hosted high three-star outside linebacker Kevonte Henry over the weekend, and he will decide between sticking with his commitment to Michigan or flipping to either UA or Oklahoma come Wednesday morning.
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