Salpointe Catholic running back Bijan Robinson wants to get out of the state for college. He’s considering LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Washington, USC and UCLA.
Salpointe Catholic running back Bijan Robinson, Class of 2020, last week told a national recruiting service that he is not planning to play at Arizona or ASU, and is strongly considering LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Washington, USC and UCLA.
“These are the main schools right now,” he said.
Good for him; if nothing else, it shows that Robinson is not shying away from the highest platform of college football.
Ohio State, for example, has seven 4-star running backs in its program, including four – J.K. Dobbins, Master Teague, Brian Snead and Demario McCall – who combined to gain 1,243 yards last year.
Washington and Texas both have 4-star running backs in their incoming Class of 2019, and LSU has two, John Emery and Tyrion Davis, both who played high school football near the LSU campus. At USC, current running backs Markese Stepp, Stephen Carr and Vavae Malepeai were all 4-star recruits.
If Robinson leaves Tucson to play college football, it won’t be anything new. Many of the top running backs in Tucson history left town, with varying success.
In 1981, Sunnyside’s Fred Sims signed with mega-power Oklahoma. His competition at OU was overwhelming: Stanley Wilson gained 1,918 yards in Sims’ first two seasons at Oklahoma, but both were trumped when Marcus DuPree arrived in 1982 and gained 1,114 yards. Sims then left school after gaining 846 yards.
In 1972, Tucson High Parade All-American Jesse Parker signed with UCLA. He was injured and did not play for the Bruins, ultimately transferring to Arizona. He played briefly in 1977 but was not a starter.
In 1990, Amphitheater’s Mario Bates signed with Arizona State. He became an All-Pac-10 tailback in 1993, gaining 1,111 yards and was a fourth round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints. His older brother, Michael Bates, a Parade All-American, signed with Arizona in 1989 but was moved to wide receiver and left school after two years to concentrate on sprinting; he won the bronze medal at 200 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
In 2010, Ka’Deem Carey of CDO signed with Arizona. He broke the school’s season and career rushing records, led the NCAA in rushing in 2012 and was a consensus All-American.
Some Tucson running backs who stayed home thrived. Cholla’s Vance Johnson and Sunnyside’s David Adams both became All-Pac-10 tailbacks for the Wildcats. Some, like Amphi’s Jon Volpe (Stanford) and Salpointe’s Chris Hopkins (ASU) left town and gained more than 1,000 yards.
Either way, Robinson seems like he can’t go wrong by choosing any of those Top 25 schools.
