Arizona fans can breathe easy — quarterback Khalil Tate will arrive on campus on Sunday.
(Update: I previously wrote that he arrived on Saturday, but that was inaccurate. My apologies.)
For a little while, there was some concern that Tate was seriously considering overtures from USC, and it didn't help when Tate posted a message on Twitter two weeks ago saying "you'll be surprised with my decision" without any background, but all is well.
Saturday night, Tate's mother tweeted about her son's arrival in Arizona. His family is in Scottsdale visiting family first.
It. Just. Got. Real. 🔴🔵🏈 #BearDown @ZonaZealots @MattGOAZCATS @JasonScheer @ArizonaFBall pic.twitter.com/C4DDiAFpDS
— Serra Sports Mom (@serrasportsmom) January 10, 2016Tate, a 6-foot-1, 185 pound dual threat quarterback, is rated four stars by Rivals.com, Scout.com, 247sports.com and ESPN, and Scout has him as the 7th best athlete in the West and No. 16 in the nation.
He's expected to be legitimate competition for Anu Solomon and Brandon Dawkins at quarterback, and even if he doesn't win that job, I wouldn't be surprised to see him have some Jerrard Randall-esque packages installed for his freshman season. Tate had 2,130 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns, plus 2,036 passing yards and 17 more touchdowns for Serra HS (Gardena, Calif.) this past season.
Tate is the fourth confirmed early enrollee to arrive on campus for the spring semester, which begins on Wednesday. The others: defensive backs Isaiah Hayes and Antonio Parks and offensive lineman Harper Sherman. Tight end Jamie Nunley, linebacker Kahi Neves and offensive lineman Keenan Walker will be here in the next day or two. Hayes told me he hopes to be roommates with Tate, close friends from growing up together in California. They all will participate in spring football, which begins at the beginning of February.
I'll have some more recruiting news for you later tonight, particularly on Arizona scheduling a visit with a 4-star 2017 recruit, but just wanted to get this out there first.
