Editor’s note: This is the last in a five-part series grading the Arizona Wildcats’ football recruiting classes between 2013 and ’17.
The changes then-Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez made to his staff after the 2015 season really began to bear fruit in the ’17 recruiting class.
Although Arizona’s class rankings remained relatively low, the class produced several immediate-impact players – many of whom remain core members of the squad.
The 2017 season itself was memorable in multiple ways. Sophomore quarterback Khalil Tate became a breakout star and helped the Wildcats bounce back from a miserable 3-9 campaign. It also would turn out to be Rodriguez’s last year as coach; he was fired in January after an investigation into workplace behavior.
But we’re not here to relitigate Rodriguez’s departure. We’re here to analyze his recruiting efforts, concluding our five-part series with an examination of the class of 2017.
As with each preceding group, we’ll name the best and most disappointing players from the class and give an all-encompassing letter grade.
To create a quantitative basis for comparison, we added up the career starts for each class. In the cases of the 2016 and ’17 classes, those numbers still can grow. But, overall, they provide a relatively consistent unit of measure to determine the value of each group.
And now, onto the UA class of 2017.
NATIONAL/PAC-12 RANKINGS
247Sports: 45 (national), 10 (Pac-12)
Rivals: 37 (national), 8 (Pac-12)
STAR RATINGS
Four stars: 1
Three stars: 24
Two or fewer stars: 4
(Note: We’re using 247Sports Composite Ratings for this project, and we’re including walk-ons who earned scholarships or became significant contributors.)
THE NUMBERS
All the start stats here are subject to change. Entering the 2020 season — which is in and of itself subject to change — the class of ’17 had produced 225 total starts, ranking third among the five classes we examined. With a full ’20 season, the ’17 class likely would eclipse 300 starts, which would push it to second in our survey behind the ’13 class (359). The class average of eight starts per player (excluding specialists) also ranks third — but again would rise significantly with a 12-game campaign this year. Eight of 28 nonspecialists have started 12 or more games, a 28.6% mark that ranks third in the study. That figure easily could approach 40% by the end of the ’20 season, which would bump the ’17 class to second place in that category. Eleven nonspecialists never started a game, a rate of 39.3% that ranks fourth (i.e., second best). Three of those players are still with the program, so there’s a decent chance the ’17 class could claim top honors.
KEY CONTRIBUTORS (CAREER STARTS)
WR Stanley Berryhill (2), DT Dereck Boles (23), RB Gary Brightwell (2), DE JB Brown (14), OT Edgar Burrola (6), WR Brian Casteel (9), WR Drew Dixon (4), OLB-DE Jalen Harris (12), LB Tony Fields II (37), LB Anthony Pandy (8), LB Colin Schooler (33), OLB-DE Kylan Wilborn (22), TE Bryce Wolma (20), S Scottie Young Jr. (29)
BEST PLAYER
Colin Schooler became Arizona’s starting middle linebacker five games into his freshman season, and he has been a productive fixture ever since. Schooler was named Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year in 2017, and he has earned honorable-mention all-conference recognition in each of his three seasons. Schooler has compiled 312 tackles, including 46 for losses, and has never had fewer than 95 and 11, respectively, in any season. He also has defended 11 passes, with four interceptions. Runner-up honors go to Schooler’s sidekick, Tony Fields II, who has started every game (37 straight) since arriving on campus. Fields has 287 tackles, including 17 TFLs.
MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER
Defensive end My-King Johnson checked a lot of boxes, at least on paper. He had desirable length at 6-foot-4, and he came from a Phoenix-area high school (Tempe). Johnson originally committed to UCLA and held offers from Arizona State, Oregon, Texas A&M and USC. At the UA, Johnson had trouble putting on good weight. He never played for the Wildcats, redshirting in 2017, notching 12 straight DNPs in ’18 and being dismissed from the program in the spring of ’19 because of a violation of athletic department policy. Tailback Nathan Tilford also should be mentioned here. The lone four-star recruit in the class, Tilford has yet to establish himself as a rotation regular. He has impressed in flashes and still has two years of eligibility.
UNDERDOG SUCCESS STORY
Defensive tackle Dereck Boles doesn’t appear on the commitment lists for 2017 at 247Sports or Rivals. Boles, who began his career at Boise State, transferred to Arizona from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, and it wasn’t clear whether he’d be part of the UA program until the summer before the ’17 season. Once he got all his academic work squared away, Boles became a steady two-year starter at a position where Arizona has struggled to find viable options. He totaled 88 tackles, including 10.5 TFLs, two passes defensed and two fumble recoveries in 25 games.
Defensive tackle Dereck Boles heads off the field in the rain as nearby lightning strikes forced the Wildcats to take cover just before the start of a scrimmage as the University of Arizona continues preparing for the upcoming season, Saturday, August 11, 2018, Tucson, Ariz.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO …
Quarterback K’Hari Lane threw a state-record 56 touchdown passes as a senior at Macon County High School in tiny Montezuma, Georgia. He had no FBS offers as of Jan. 31, 2017, when Bleacher Report wrote a feature about him. By mid-February, Lane had committed to Arizona. He never appeared in a game in two seasons with the Wildcats. Lane transferred to Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he completed 3 of 6 passes (all for touchdowns) in five games last season. Safety Scottie Young Jr. also merits a mention in this category. A starter for most of his three seasons at Arizona, Young grad-transferred in the spring to West Virginia, where he’ll reunite with former UA safeties coach Jahmile Addae.
IF IT WEREN’T FOR BAD LUCK …
As noted, Arizona struggled to recruit quality defensive tackles during the Rodriguez era. They are probably the hardest commodity to come by outside the SEC footprint. The Wildcats appeared to have a potential space-eater in Sione Taufahema, a 6-1, 339-pound junior-college transfer. But Taufahema had a knee issue that required surgery during the ’17 offseason, and his career at Arizona never gained traction. He never appeared in a game for the Wildcats. He is now an assistant coach at St. Genevieve High School in Panorama City, California, according to his Twitter bio.
EXPERT SAYS
Adam Gorney, national recruiting analyst for Rivals and Yahoo Sports: “Colin Schooler was a kid I had seen a lot in high school. We really should have made him a four-star. He just made plays every single time he was on the field. Tony Fields was very similar. … Nathan Tilford was always interesting. He looked great. He was a big kid. He kind of fell into a problem because, as an eighth-grader, he was ‘The Guy,’ then he kind of just stayed the same for the next four years or so. … My-King Johnson, I remember him having great size and length (for) that hybrid position (DE/OLB). When you do this (for a living), sometimes you fall in love with how a kid looks and forget how a kid plays. … This was a good class. There were some kids who easily could have been four-stars like Schooler and Fields, and some that probably shouldn’t have been.”
OVERALL GRADE: B
The 2017 class yielded both quality and quantity, and there’s more to come (although how much more will depend on the status of the ’20 season amid the coronavirus pandemic). The class conceivably could surpass the 2013 group — which earned the highest grade, a B-plus, among the five we analyzed — if players such as Gary Brightwell, Jalen Harris and Anthony Pandy enjoy breakout campaigns this year. What’s been missing the past two seasons is results in the win-loss column. Since posting a 7-6 record in 2017 — with many members of this class contributing significantly to that effort — the Wildcats have gone 9-15 and haven’t played in a postseason game. It’s unfair to solely blame the ’17 class for that, but adding a winning season (or two) to its résumé would enhance its legacy immeasurably.
