12/15/2021 football Edit

COMMITMENT: 2022 SoCal DE TaiTai Uiagalelei flips to Arizona from Wazzu

Matt Moreno • GOAZCATS

Senior Editor

Matt Moreno is the senior editor at GOAZCATS.com. He joined the staff in August of 2011 and began as senior recruiting editor with the site before becoming senior editor in June of 2014.

California defensive end Ta'iTai'i Uiagalelei completed his flip from Washington State on Wednesday after visiting Arizona over the weekend. (Instagram.com/taitai.uiagalelei)

A whirlwind of a weekend led to a change of mind for California defensive end Ta'iTa'i Uiagalelei. The Santa Ana-Mater Dei standout senior helped his team win a state title Saturday night before making a quick visit to Arizona to end the contact period Sunday. Wednesday, he completed his flip from Washington State by committing and signing with the Wildcats.

The 6-foo-3 defensive end, who is the cousin of current Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, had been committed to the Cougars since September. However, new defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen has strong connections to Southern California high schools, and Arizona quickly emerged with an offer for Uiagalelei shortly after Nansen was named the new defensive coordinator.

The offer prompted the visit, and Wednesday Uiagalelei was announced as a new member of Arizona's 2022 recruiting class.

Uiagalelei finished his senior season with 18 tackles, including six tackles for loss, to go with two sacks, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.

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