Drew Dixon experienced an out-of-body experience when he sat in coach Rich Rodriguez’s office at Arizona Stadium late last week.
Growing up in Tucson, the Sabino High School star would attend home games with a close friend. They’d talk about his future. “That could be you on the field one day,” his friend would tell him.
Dixon thought about all of that when he returned to Rodriguez’s office on Sunday afternoon, June 5, following a football camp hosted by the UA. Rhett Rodriguez, the Catalina Foothills quarterback, future Wildcat and Rich’s son, was there, too.
Dixon uttered the six words UA coaches love to hear at the end of a high school player’s recruitment: “I want to be a Wildcat.”
On June 5, Dixon verbally committed to Arizona’s 2017 class. He was offered a scholarship by Arizona in February.
“I went there two days ago (June 3), and we were talking about it. I was telling him that I was really interested, and I think he knew, but he wasn’t sure it was going to be so soon,” Dixon said.
Then, Dixon told Rodriguez he’d be committing. The coach hugged him, and Rhett Rodriguez cheered.
Dixon had originally planned to wait until February’s National Signing Day to make his decision. With Arizona hard after him, that plan changed quickly.
“I just didn’t want to wait any longer. It’s my dream school, so I had to pull the trigger,” Dixon said. “It’s a relief. I knew from the beginning it was the school I wanted to go to, so it just feels great.”
Dixon is the 10th player to verbally commit to Arizona’s 2017 recruiting class, which is presently rated No. 22 in the nation and second-best in the Pac-12, thanks to some high-level commitments over the last couple of months.
Dixon is rated the No. 1 athlete in Arizona, No. 9 in the West and No. 47 overall by Scout.com.
Dixon played quarterback for the Sabercats last year, and Rodriguez told him he has a shot to compete at the position for Arizona. Still, Dixon is most likely going to play receiver for UA. At 6 feet 4 inches and 210 pounds, he brings some much-needed size to the receiving corps.
As a junior at Sabino, he led the Sabercats to an 8-2 record and finished with 1,146 passing yards and 17 touchdowns. He also rushed for 446 yards and 12 scores.
“He’s a very versatile athlete; he can do a lot of things,” Sabino coach Jay Campos said on June 5. “He can play quarterback, he can play receiver. A lot of people were actually thinking about playing him on defense as well at the college level. There’s a lot of things he can do as a 6-4 athlete who can run well. He’s very strong. I think the sky’s the limit for him in terms of what he’ll be able to do for the Cats.”
Dixon chose Arizona over offers from Hawaii, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona and San Jose State. Other schools showed interest, too, but Dixon said he knew from the beginning where he wanted to go. Or, rather, where he wants to stay.
The relationships he built with Rodriguez, offensive coordinator Calvin Magee, and recruiting coordinators Matt Dudek and Chris Singletary were the main selling point, Dixon said.
“From the beginning when I visited the U of A, I knew that’s where I wanted to be at, it’s where I wanted to go,” Dixon said. “It was a dream growing up, and now, one day pretty soon from here, I will be that guy on the field.”
