Friday rewind: The week in UA recruiting
It was a tough loss for Arizona last week at UCLA, but recruiting still rolls on as the Wildcats look to finish their 2013 class with National Signing Day just a few months away.
At this point in the year many recruits are still taking their time and planning trips as their seasons near their end. However, there is still the next batch of recruits who are just beginning the process.
Advertisement
One such recruit has held an offer from the Wildcats since the end of the summer and he still holds Rich Rodriguez's program in high regard. 2014 receiver prospect Michael Garner is one of three San Diego (Calif.) Madison players who has been recruited by the 'Cats. His teammates Lee Walker and Pierre Cormier are both committed to UA already and there is a lot he likes about the Wildcats.
"It was good," he said to GOAZCATS.com of his visit back in the summer when he picked up his offer. "Everything was perfect both school-wise and football-wise. They're still No. 1 on my list right now of where I want to go but I have another couple schools looking at me.
"I'm only a junior so I still have time."
Garner currently plays receiver at Madison, but he could also envision himself moving around to multiple positions at the next level. One thing that Madison has in common with UA is the style of offense and that's something that has caught Garner's attention.
"I like it a lot," he said. "I could see myself playing receiver there and maybe even running back because I'll be playing that too. So I can see myself playing multiple positions."
When it comes to the UA staff, they envision similar things for Garner should he ultimately choose the 'Cats.
"They see me as that athlete," he said. "Kind of that guy who can play wherever they need me. So I can do what I do at whatever position they put me at."
Vanderbilt, Florida State and Oregon State are a few of the programs interested in Garner at this time, but he still just holds an offer from UA.
Garner is expected to visit Tucson before the season is over, but one recruit already made that trip a few weeks ago.
Two-star defensive end commit Jack Banda visited UA for its game against USC last month, which turned out be a big game for the Wildcats.
"I was there for the USC game and that was really good," he told Rivals.com this week. "It was crazy and an awesome win and a great atmosphere."
It was Banda's second trip to UA after he made his decision over the summer without every visiting Tucson. At this point the Loganville (Ga.) Grayson standout is only planning on taking one official visit as his recruitment has been closed for some time now.
"My official will probably be in January," he said. "But it will be my only official visit to any school."
Davonte Nunnery is teammates with UA running back commit Zachary Green and 2014 target Bryce Dixon at Ventura (Calif.) St. Bonaventure. At this point the 5-foot-10, 190-pound recruit is starting to receive interest from schools and UA is in that mix.
The 2014 cornerback prospect has yet to receive any offers yet, but he thinks they could come sometime down the line.
"They said they're going to keep looking at me," Nunnery told Rivals.com
UCLA and Washington are two other schools that are getting in the mix early for Nunnery.
On the basketball side of things two five-star prospects from the class of 2014 made some cuts to their lists and UA found itself on both of them.
Five-star wing Stanley Johnson from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei trimmed his list to 15 schools, which included seven Pac-12 schools with UCLA and Washington among the group.
Fellow five-star prospect Isaiah Whitehead, a shooting guard from Brooklyn (N.Y.) Abraham Lincoln also trimmed his list down. The 6-foot-4 prospect cut his list down to 10 schools overall and the Wildcats found themselves on that list as well.
UCLA is the only other Pac-12 school that made the cut.
Click Here to view this Link.Matt Moreno
GOAZCATS.com Senior Recruiting Editor