Arizona just keeps plugging away at its 2017 recruiting class.
On April 12, the Wildcats added a verbal commitment from four-star athlete Nathan Tilford from Colony High School in Ontario, California.
He's the sixth player to verbally commit to Arizona's 2017 class, jumping in on the wave of momentum the Wildcats have experienced with recent commitments.
The 6-foot-1-inch, 200-pound Tilford is the latest highly-touted Southern California recruit the Wildcats have stolen from the grips of that area's powers. He chose Arizona over offers from hometown teams USC and UCLA, as well as Nebraska, Arizona State and Michigan.
With Tilford's verbal commitment, the Wildcats now have the No. 1 and No. 3 athletes in the West, according to Scout.com. Fellow UA commit Greg Johnson, from Hawkins High School in Los Angeles, is rated the top athlete in the region.
Scout also rates Tilford the No. 186 overall recruit in the nation, and the No. 13 athlete. He is expected to play running back at Arizona, which is a position of need going forward with Nick Wilson set to run out of eligibility after the 2017 season.
Much attention has been paid to Arizona's new defensive coaches, but it was actually offensive coordinator/running backs coach Calvin Magee who led the charge for Tilford. UA analyst Miguel Reveles, who was an assistant coach at Colony for two seasons before joining Rich Rodriguez's staff, helped with the recruitment. UA receiver Samajie Grant also attended Colony.
Scout.com's Greg Biggins had this to say about Tilford...
Been watching Tilford since he was in 8th grade, multi-position player who could end up at RB, WR, LB or safety, very nice pickup for #UA
— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) April 12, 2016
