LOS ANGELES — One defensive lineman who was supposed to enroll at Arizona won’t be coming. Another who was coming, then wasn’t, has changed his mind and is expected to join the Wildcats after all.
Former USC defensive lineman Noah Jefferson will not be with the team when it opens training camp Monday, UA coach Rich Rodriguez said at Pac-12 Media Days on Wednesday.
Jefferson, a former four-star recruit, had announced his intent to transfer to Arizona in March; he would have had to sit out the 2017 season per NCAA transfer rules. Jefferson could join the program eventually, Rodriguez said, but it didn’t sound likely as of Wednesday.
The news wasn’t all bad. Junior college transfer Dereck Boles is in Tucson and should join the team soon, although he still has some schoolwork to complete before he can practice. Boles, who played at Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College last season, initially announced a commitment to Arizona in May. He then flipped to South Florida in June before ultimately settling on the Wildcats again.
“That’s fake news,” Rodriguez said, chuckling, when asked about Boles’ USF commitment. “It’s not 100 percent yet, because he’s got some academic work he’s got to finish up, but we expect Dereck Boles to be part of our program pretty soon.”
Boles started his career at Boise State — when Arizona defensive coordinator Marcel Yates coached there — before being kicked off the team after encountering some off-the-field issues.
Another defensive lineman, redshirt freshman Jalen Cochran, also is expected to rejoin the team after announcing plans to transfer earlier in the offseason.
Worries about the health of his grandmother led Cochran to leave Arizona, Rodriguez said. But apparently Cochran’s grandma wanted him to stick to his UA commitment. Cochran is from Plymouth, Michigan.
