Sione Taufahema sat in the Tucson Airport on Sunday, his flight back to California delayed for a couple hours.
He did not stress. Taufahema laid back in his chair, closed his eyes and smiled. He knew he was going to be an Arizona Wildcat.
“I just thought, ‘Yep, this is where I want to be at,” Taufahema said.
When he returned home, Taufahema — a defensive tackle — shared the news with his parents, little brothers and “shed a few tears,” he said.
Arizona is desperate for size on the defensive line, so Taufahema fits the bill — at 6-foot-2, 324 pounds, Taufahema will already be Arizona’s biggest defensive lineman whenever he enrolls. Wednesday was the first day junior college players could sign their letters of intent.
It was a perfect match.
“It’s just a blessing. It feels great,” Taufahema said. “It was just like a whole bunch of weight was lifted off my shoulders … (when he got the offer) I hugged my parents and just told them I finally made it, and now I just gotta keep grinding to get to the top.”
Taufahema’s story is a familiar one in the junior college recruiting realm.
Two years ago, Taufahema was an offensive lineman at Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, California, with only a scholarship offer to a Division II program.
As recently as the midway point of his sophomore season — the equivalent of a senior year at a four-year college — at College of the Canyons, Taufahema was without an FBS offer.
He’s since added six offers, including from Hawaii and Northern Illinois, his last offer coming on Nov. 28, when Arizona defensive line coach Vince Amey flew out to Mission Hills to try to bring Taufahema to the Wildcats.
Arizona had initially planned to add as many as three junior college recruits for its 2017 class this week, but Garden City (Kansas) Community College linebacker Delshawn Phillips flipped to Illinois on Wednesday, and Arizona Western defensive tackle Matt Leo signed with Iowa State Wednesday.
Leo and Phillips are unique junior college case studies.
Leo comes from Australia, and started playing football for the first time in his life last year at Arizona Western. He’s 22 years old and listed at 6-foot-7 and 275 pounds, with remarkable athleticism. Arizona pursued him, but Iowa State got him.
Phillips signed with Western Michigan out of high school but didn’t report, moved on to Garden City Community College and now is considered one of the top JUCO linebackers in the nation. He chose Illinois on Wednesday by posting a video to social media.
For schools looking for a quick fix in a positional area of weaknesses, or just for some experienced and bigger football players, the junior college route is a popular one. Kansas State is a program that rather famously has turned to the junior college route in recruiting, and Arizona State has long done the same too.
The Wildcats are still in pursuit of a few other JUCO recruits for 2017, too, including offensive linemen Isiah Moore of Mesa Community College and Desmond Blan, also of Arizona Western.
Late in a 3-9 season, UA coach Rich Rodriguez addressed the prospect of adding junior college players to speed up a rebuilding process.
“You don’t want to get too many because you’ve got to build your program,” he said. “But we need some grown men.”
Sometimes it works, like it did recently with Utah for running back Devontae Booker; more often than not, it doesn’t.
“For whatever reason, a lot of the JC kids are further out than most high school kids,” said Greg Biggins, a national recruiting analyst for Scout.com. “If you bring in seven, eight juco kids, you’re gonna be lucky to hit on two, three or four of them. So again, you gotta be really, really sure about your evaluation of those guys coming in and fitting needs, playing right now.”
The Wildcats have signed 14 junior college players since Rodriguez was hired in 2012. B.J. Denker, from Cerritos College, was a productive starting quarterback in 2013.
Jerrard Randall came from Northeast Mississippi Community College in 2014 and ran for 702 yards at quarterback in 2015.
Offensive lineman Steven Gurrola, out of Scottsdale Community College was an All-Conference selection at center in 2014.
Paul Magloire (Arizona Western) led Arizona in tackles in 2016 and Dane Cruikshank (Citrus College) might be Arizona’s most talented cornerback on the roster. Defensive lineman Jeff Worthy (Santa Ana College) was a contributor for two years and tight end Matt Morin (Saddleback College) was a valuable jack of all trades for the UA this past season.
Those are the success stories.
Four-star defensive lineman Anthony Fotu (Laney College) was kicked off the team after one season; defensive lineman Timmy Hamilton (Coffeyville College) never reported for fall camp; linebacker Antonio Smothers (Scottsdale Community College) had six tackles in two years; and quarterback Jesse Scroggins (El Camino College) attempted 18 UA passes.
Last season, four-star defensive end Josh Allen was ruled academically ineligible before he enrolled.
After a 3-9 season, Arizona is desperate for immediate help. It might come from the junior college route; it might not.
“I think I’m definitely prepared to come in and win a starting spot,” Taufahema said. “Just being a junior college guy and going up against other Division I prospects is going to help me a lot just to come in and play right away.
“That was part of the pitch.”
