UAFB

Arizona hosted its annual summer recruiting event โ€” in the past it's been called 'OKG Day' but I didn't see that anywhere this time โ€” and, strangely, this one was a bit quieter than usual. Even with two more verbal commitments joining the busy 2017 fray.

Just look at last year โ€” over the course of four days, the Wildcats added seven verbal commitments. In the end, three of those โ€” RBย Tyliek Raynor,ย DEย Jake Burtonย and Sย London Iakopo โ€” didn't wind up sticking to their UA commitment, but this event has become a yearly moment for a wave of recruiting commitments.

That being said, 2017 clearly is not like past years. Beforeย LBย Delshawn Phillips and Sย Troy Young announced their verbal commitments to Arizona over the weekend, the Wildcats were already at 22 commitments for 2017. Now it's at 24, and Young wasn't even on campus.

Phillips was, though, and so were nearly 25 other recruits, including players who are already committed and other prominent Arizona targets. Here's a closer look at who was in town, split into three categories โ€” high-priority, commits, and others.ย 

The high-priority targets:

Who: WRย Joseph Lewis, CBย Thomas Graham Jr., WRย Jalen Hall (2018), DEย Hunter Echols, DEย Odua Isibor, WRย Bryan Thompson

About them: Arizona surely wants all six of these, and the first four in particular would be recruiting coups. Lewis, from Augustus Hawkins in Los Angeles, is a five-star receiver and the top-rated receiver in the 2017 class, and he's already visited the Wildcats a couple of times.

His teammate, Hall, is in the 2018 class โ€” Hawkins is going to, uh, put up some points this season. Sunday, Hall and Lewis were at Alabama for a visit.

Lewis might be a pipedream โ€” as long as Greg Johnson is still committed, UA has a shot, though โ€” but I get the feeling that Arizona is the front-runner for Graham, the stand-out corner from Rancho Cucamonga.ย 

Echols, teammates with commit Rhedi Short at Cathedral in Los Angeles,ย recently decommitted from UCLA and promptly listed the Wildcats amongst his finalists. I get the feeling that Arizona is doing pretty well with him.ย 

Isibor is an in-state recruit from St. Mary's in Phoenix, and Arizona gave him his first offer before he blew up, which seems to be helping. There hasn't been much about Arizona and Thompson, from Rancho Verde in Moreno Valley, California, recently but he seemed to enjoy his visit.ย 

The commits

Who: QBย Braxton Burmeister, ATHย Greg Johnson, Sย Xavier Bell, Sย Scott Young, TEย Bryce Gilbert, ATHย Drew Dixon, CBย Malik Hausman, LBย Delshawn Phillips, LBย Joshua Brown, OLย Edgar Burrola, WRย Warren Jackson, LBย Tony Fields, QBย Rhett Rodriguez

About them: Heavy dosage of UA commits on campus, the most important one, though, remains Johnson. The Wildcats received a commitment from him so early, back in March, and with his status as a four-star athlete and the No. 1 athlete in the West, he will surely have high-level programs trying to steal him away from the Wildcats. Arizona looks fine for now, though.

This won't be the first time the 2017 class rolls deep as a group to campus. Burmeister told me the group plans to all visit for a game together, probably for the ASU or USC game.ย 

Also of note: this was Brown's first visit to campus. The Long Beach Poly linebacker originally committed sight un-seen.

The others

Who: RBย Maleek Barkley, DEย Tyler O'Neil, OTย Michael Richardson, DTย Matt Leo

About them: With so many recruits already committed, coupled with the number of four and five-star targets Arizona is pursuing, I'm not sure there's enough room for this group in the 2017 class. Not to say it would surprise me if any of them committed at some point, just that I don't expect it. Having said that, both Leo and O'Neil are physical freaks Arizona could use in the interior.ย 

O'Neil is 6-foot-6, 220 pounds and Leo, from Arizona Western, is 6-foot-7 and 275 pounds. Barkley is already committed to Arkansas, and Richardson is a 6-foot-5, 260-pound tackle from Utah.ย 

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