Now that receiver Tetairoa McMillan officially is headed to Arizona, what are the Wildcats getting?
“He’s a program-defining type of athlete,” said Greg Biggins, a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports.com. “He’s a kid who could play at Alabama, Clemson or Ohio State. He’ll come in next year and immediately be one of Arizona’s best offensive players. His ceiling is very high.”
McMillan is among several signees on track to enroll at Arizona this month. The product of Servite High School in Anaheim, California, is the No. 31 overall player in 247Sports’ rankings. He likely will be rated as a five-star player by the time 247Sports puts out its final ranking later this year; it uses the NFL draft — 32 first-round picks — as the cutoff.
McMillan is already rated as a five-star prospect by Rivals.com, which has him as the 11th-best player in the country. Servite’s coaches started to see signs of stardom when McMillan was a sophomore.
“He was making super-hard catches look routine on the practice field,” said Rudy Cambero, Servite’s NCAA recruiting liaison and co-offensive line coach. “We became accustomed to T-Mac doing what T-Mac does. That kid is special.”
Listed a 6 feet 4 inches, McMillan also excelled on the volleyball court for the Friars. That helped him develop a rare sense of timing in jump-ball situations.
“He’s a prototype ‘X’ receiver,” said Servite tight end Keyan Burnett, who’s also headed to Arizona. “He’s going to make the 50/50 catches 100% of the time.”
UA coach Jedd Fisch is looking forward to adding the 6-4 McMillan, the 6-5 Burnett and 6-4 receiver AJ Jones of Ontario, California, to Arizona’s offense. The Wildcats ranked last in the nation in red-zone touchdown rate this past season.
“The biggest thing he can bring is touchdowns,” Fisch said of McMillan, who had 34 touchdown catches in 27 games at Servite. “How do you score touchdowns in the red zone? It really comes down to being able to make plays in one-on-one matchups — the fade ball, the slant, the back shoulder. His ball skills and his vertical jump, being 6-foot-4 ... is a game-changer for us.”
