Early on Saturday, long before Arizona beat NAU by 38 points, Troy Young and Andres Fox lunched together in what could have quite possible been a first-time-in-history sort of occurrence.
Young and Fox played together at Mobile Christian High School in Mobile, Alabama, and this weekend Young, a UA freshman safety, hosted Fox for an official visit. Fox is a highly-regarded three-star defensive end recruit in the 2018 class, a player who holds offers from Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Stanford, Arizona, USC — and 21 other programs.
Odds are Fox won’t be suiting up for the Wildcats next season, though Arizona convincing him to use one of his official visits to come to Tucson isn’t something that should be taken lightly.
UA coach Rich Rodriguez often preaches that the Wildcats feel like they can reel any recruit in if they can just convince them to come to Arizona’s campus. As he often says, the only issue is all the schools and states flown over on the way to Tucson. The trip from Alabama to Tucson will take you past Louisiana and Mississippi and through the meat of Texas.
Fox’s visit is significant beyond the geography — he’s a big-time recruit with big-time offers at a position of need for the Wildcats.
But his presence alongside Young might be historic for another reason. High schoolers from the South usually don’t leave the South. High school football players from Alabama, especially, don’t usually make the trek out West, and Arizona is trying to secure two Alabamans in back to back seasons.
Consider: Of the top-100 Alabama football players in the 2017 class, only three — Young, defensive end Ryan Johnson (Stanford) and athlete Tyson Williams (Nevada) — signed with western programs.
You won’t find many Arizona native’s on Alabama’s roster, although the Crimson Tide currently has Tucson High product Levi Wallace. Wallace intercepted a pass in Alabama’s win over Florida State on Saturday.
So why did Young, who played but didn’t record any statistics on Saturday night, choose Arizona?
Well, he almost didn’t. Young committed to Arizona in July, but wavered as February’s signing day came close. He was tempted by Alabama-Birmingham, visited both UAB and Western Kentucky and was pushed by South Alabama and Troy.
He ended up at Arizona anyway. Even if Fox doesn’t, Arizona is being bold by trying.
“I was (nervous)” coming to Arizona, Young said. “But I’m pretty sure everyone else is nervous going to college. It was different for me coming out here but I just felt like it was the right thing to do … From the start I committed with Arizona. I had other schools coming but I just felt like this was the right place for me to go.”
Injury bug
Linebacker DeAndre’ Miller (foot) and safety Isaiah Hayes (shoulder) didn’t play Saturday, as expected. Miller is still walking in a boot, so he might be out for a while.
Quarterback Khalil Tate went to the locker room with an apparent shoulder injury in the second half. Freshman Rhett Rodriguez, the coach’s son, played the bulk of the fourth quarter and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.
Saturday morning, the Wildcats learned they’d lost a different player for the season — redshirt defensive end Jalen Cochran posted on Instagram that he was out for the season after surgery on a torn pectoral tendon.
This offseason, Cochran announced an intent to transfer to Miami of Ohio before coming back to Arizona.
“Through the past couple years I’ve had setbacks that put me away from the game I love,” Cochran wrote on Instagram. “But I just know I won’t give up and my time will come.”
