If the last two seasons have taught Arizona anything, it's this: the Wildcats need linebackers. A lot of them.
Perhaps more than any other posision, injuries have decimated Arizona's depth chart at linebacker ever since Scooby Wright went crazy in 2014, and it doesn't get any rosier next season.
It's why the Wildcats need all the (immediate) help they can get at the position in the incoming 2017 class, and that includes Garden City (Kansas) Community College linebacker Delshawn Phillips. The 6-2, 220 pound linebacker committed to Arizona back in July.
Phillips told the Star on Thursday he's "definitely" still committed to the Wildcats, but still plans to take a visit this weekend to Illinois, while also considering a visit to Syracuse at some point. He also visited Central Florida during the season. He's not the only UA commit looking at Illinois — safety Rhedi Short visited the Illini during the season.
Despite all of that, Phillips said "it's going to be hard to top" the Wildcats. UA coach Rich Rodriguez and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Marcel Yates visited with Phillips in Kansas on Thursday. Receivers coach Tony Dews is also involved in his recruitment. Phillips said Rodriguez's visit "meant a lot".
Phillips recently completed a stellar sophomore season at Garden CC by helping the Broncbusters (yes, real name) defeat Arizona Western in the NJCAA championship game. Also in that game: Arizona commit Matt Leo, a defensive lineman who's also received a lot of national interest recently.
All told, Phillips finished the season with 92 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, two sacks, three interceptions and three forced fumbles.
As a junior college player, in theory Phillips should be able to come in and help Arizona right away. With Michael Barton, Jake Matthews, Cody Ippolito and Paul Magloire all gone, that leaves Arizona with just four scholarship linebackers: an injury-prone DeAndre' Miller, former walk-on Brandon Rutt and freshmen Jacob Colacion and Kahi Neves.
Beyond that, Phillips plans to enroll early and participate in spring drills. So even if Phillips were to flip from the Wildcats, it would likely happen in the coming weeks.
Here's more of what Phillips had to say in his conversation with the Star.
On winning the NJCAA title: "It was definitely a great experience. We put in a whole lot of hard work, the training was ridiculous. But at the end it all paid off. We got the W. It was a nice game, it came down to the end...It was what I wanted to do. My freshman season, me and the team we said we’re not losing. We knew what we was going to do, because we said we ain’t losing."
On how he did this season: "I think i did pretty good. I’m hard on myself, and I always gotta get better, but overall I had a pretty good season."
On how he's grown as a linebacker: "I’d start off by saying my IQ. My IQ in the game has come a long ways. I got smarter, I found easier ways to get to the ball, seeing blocks, reading offenses, knowing where they going with the ball when they line up, watching film. My game matured."
On what sold him on Arizona: "They sold me on everything. First, I was excited to go there just from what I was hearing, how I could help the defense. Then once I got there, my academic plan was explained to me, I got along with players very well, the facilities are nice and it felt like a family-oriented environment."
On playing right away: "That’s been the biggest factor, that I’d come in and play right away. Of course that’s what I’m looking for. I want to go in and play right away."
