Monday was a banner day for the Arizona-Northwestern pipeline, when former NU running back and Chandler High School product Drake Anderson announced on Twitter his plan to transfer to the Wildcats.Β
Anderson became the second former Northwestern β and Chandler β player in the NCAA transfer portal to return home to Arizona, joining teammate and safety Gunner Maldonado, who tweeted his UA commitment Monday afternoon. Both Northwestern players are Jedd Fisch's first recruits since taking over as head coach of the Wildcats.Β
β€οΈ pic.twitter.com/0W1m02KYmL
— drake鴨 (@Drake_Anderson2) January 5, 2021
The 5-foot-11-inch, 180-pound Anderson played three seasons at running back for Northwestern, and rushed for 926 yards and five touchdowns on 228 carries.Β
Coming out of Chandler in 2017, the three-star Anderson wasn't recruited by Arizona or Arizona State and didn't hold any Pac-12 offers. His only four scholarship offers were Northwestern, Illinois, New Mexico State and Nevada.
Despite Gary Brightwell declaring for the NFL draft, running back remains the deepest position group on Arizona's roster, with sophomore Michael Wiley,Β freshmen Frank Brown and Jalen John, redshirt junior Nathan Tilford and redshirt sophomore Bam Smith, who opted out of the 2020 season for COVID-19 concerns, still on roster.
