(Hey all. National signing day is Feb. 3, and so every day leading up to that day I'll be featuring an Arizona verbally committed player from the 2016 class. It'll be in the daily print edition of the Star as well. In addition, I'll expand on the profiles by linking to old articles about each recruit, plus I'll try embed their highlight videos where possible. Enjoy!)
The Arizona Wildcats have hosted “OKG Day” for a few years now. This year, the unofficial holiday for the Wildcats falls on Feb. 3. Over the next 20 days, the Star's Zack Rosenblatt will feature each of Arizona’s verbal commitments leading up to signing day. Arizona’s 2016 class currently has 15 commitments, but there is expected to be a lot movement over the next couple of weeks leading up to the big day. Up first: linebacker Kahi Neves.
Let Michael Eletise tell you a little bit about Kahi Neves.
Eletise is Arizona’s top recruit in the 2016 class, an offensive lineman from Hawaii, and he knows Neves well.
The two played high school football together as sophomores as Kaiser HS in Honolulu, Hawaii before Neves moved on to Utah. Back then, Neves was part-quarterback, part-defensive player.
“He was one of our quarterbacks. We didn’t play him at linebacker, but he did play a little defensive end when he was at Kaiser,” Eletise said. “He was good. He’s fast and strong, and I’m just excited to see what he’ll become.”
When Eletise and Neves both visited the UA campus on an official visit back in December, it was something of a reunion for the duo. It was a successful one, too, at least for the Wildcats — Neves came into Tucson as a verbal commitment to play quarterback at Utah, but flipped on his visit, intrigued at the opportunity to play defense at the UA.
Neves hasn’t played defense in a couple years — he was just a quarterback as a senior at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah — but said he’s “so excited” for the opportunity to play. Neves is getting a jump start on things as a mid-year enrollee and will practice with the team when spring drills start on Feb. 5.
Here’s a closer look at Neves and his path to the Wildcats.
Kahi Neves
- The file: Linebacker, 6-foot-4, 228 pounds. From Provo, Utah. Played QB as a senior at Timpview HS, defense as a junior at Brighton HS.
- Recruiting trail: Neves committed to Utah in October, and stuck with his commitment until Arizona came on strong in December, offering Neves a chance at immediate playing time on defense. He also had offers from Colorado, Hawaii and Utah State to play quarterback. He was rated a three-star quarterback by Scout.com, the No. 11 quarterback in the West and second-best QB in Utah.
- The numbers: Neves passed for 2,601 yards and 20 TDs as a senior, throwing 12 interceptions. Playing defense as a junior, Neves tallied 65 tackles and three sacks and also punted the ball 11 times for an average of 35.8 yards per kick.
- He said it: “I haven’t played defense in a while — I played a little this year, not too much though — and I miss it, I really miss it. It’s going to be a great transition. I love quarterback, but I’m a linebacker too.” — Neves
- Links: Scout, Rivals and 247sports profiles; Today's article about Neves enrolling in school early; Scout story from his time at the Elite 11 QB camp; An article about his senior year transfer to Timpview; On his Arizona commitment; An old article about when Arizona was targeting Neves; A 2014 article about his original Utah commitment.
Here's a Hudl video from Neves' junior year, when he last played linebacker.
