3/16/2022 football Edit

SoCal WR Malachi Riley paying close attention to Arizona's rebuild

2023 receiver Malachi Riley made visits to Arizona on consecutive weekends back in January. (Twitter: @MalachiRiley11)

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.

SANTA ANA, California — As the spring arrives there will be an uptick in the recruiting process for many prospects across the country. Coaches will soon begin hitting the road again to evaluate recruits in person, and recruits will have a better idea of which schools want them most.

There are already a number of programs on the offer list for high three-star receiver Malachi Riley coming out of his junior season at Centennial High School in Corona, California.

So, for the 6-foot prospect, the process is a bit different this spring. His time is being spent sorting through his options figuring out which schools could present him with the best fit for his future. That means taking visits, and Riley has been busy recently seeing schools in person and getting to know coaching staffs much better.

His recent travels took him on a swing of the Pacific Northwest while he made a pair of visits to Arizona back in January.

Riley says he is having fun with the process right now, but he is also learning some valuable knowledge about what to be on the lookout for as he continues to push forward in his recruitment.

“Relationships,” he said about what he’s learned during the recruiting process. “I feel like the relationship is the biggest thing in this, because you don’t want to go somewhere you don’t have a relationship with your position coach. That would just be terrible. So, just the relationship, the feeling of home, somewhere you can live for three to four years of your life is the biggest thing for me.”

One school that he has built a strong connection with is Arizona. The Wildcats hosted Riley for visits on back-to-back weekends in January, and his longstanding relationship with receives coach Kevin Cummings has been a big part of his interest in the Pac-12 program.

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