It didn't take long for new Arizona defensive line coach Joe Salave'a to land his first commitment with the Wildcats. UA announced Salave'a's addition Thursday afternoon and by the evening, the program had locked up another defensive lineman for 2025.
Cerritos College (Cerritos, Calif.) defensive tackle Leroy Palu has committed to Arizona following a recent visit to Tucson. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound recruit from Lakewood, California put together a strong season for the Falcons.
Palu played in all nine games for the Falcons during the 2024 season and racked up 39 tackles (16 solo) plus a team-high 13 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. He will have two seasons of remaining eligibility with the Wildcats plus a redshirt season available after he played two years at Cerritos College.
Arizona is the only Power 4 school on Palu's public offer list, but several other programs have pursued the midyear enrollee. West Virginia had made the strongest push behind the scenes as of late while Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado State and Utah State all were part of the offer group for Palu.
The big defensive tackle prospect is the third junior college player to join Arizona's 2025 class following a recent commitment from El Camino College (Torrance, Calif.) cornerback Elijah Brown and Garden City Community College (Kansas) defensive tackle Zac Siulepa.
He's the fifth defensive lineman in the group as well.
As a midyear transfer, Palu will be on campus this month allowing him to participate in spring ball with the Wildcats. He'll head to UA with 83 career tackles and 16.5 tackles for loss.
Palu was named an all-state player for his performance this season at Cerritos.
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