Northwestern sophomore RB transfer Drake Anderson is Arizona-bound
For the second time on the same day Arizona has earned a commitment from Northwestern transfer who went to Chandler High School. Monday afternoon freshman safety Gunner Maldonado decided to make the move from Evanston to Tucson, and by the end of the day his teammate and fellow Arizona native, Drake Anderson, decided to do the same.
Anderson just recently picked up an offer from the Wildcats last week after he made the decision to enter the transfer portal at the tail end of his second season at Northwestern. The move to the Pac-12 will allow Anderson to return home to Arizona where he was a standout player for the Wolves that ended with an opportunity play in the Big Ten.
The 5-foot-11 back ran for a team-high 634 yards as a redshirt freshman and that earned him a spot on the Doak Walker Award watch list heading into the 2020 season. He finished second on the team with 256 rushing this season to go with two touchdowns.
His best game of the season came in the opener against Maryland as he finished that contest with 103 yards on the ground and a touchdown on just 10 carries. An explosive back, Anderson also had a strong performance against Nebraska with 89 yards on 18 carries to go with one touchdown.
At this point in his career Anderson has 926 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to go with 10 catches for 56 yards.
The Wildcats have a deep group of running backs heading into next season with only one senior on the team, Gary Brightwell. UA signed local Tucson back Stevie Rocker Jr. back in December and has five other scholarship players already at the position.
Anderson will take the spot in UA's 2021 class that had been filled by New Orleans running back Montrell Johnson, who decided to back off his pledge last month.
The newest UA commit has played in 21 games so far in his college career and will come to Tucson averaging 4.1 yards per carry. The expectation is that he will be able to play right away for the Wildcats and he will have three more seasons of eligibility when he arrives to UA.
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