Catching up with Arizona's 2025 commits as UA coaches hit the recruiting trail during bye

With Arizona currently in a bye week, the Wildcats coaches are hitting the recruiting trail for the next few days from Thursday through Saturday before preparing for the Big 12 opener against 12th-ranked Utah in Salt Lake City next Saturday.

Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said in his news conference on Monday that UA coaches will be “kind of all over the place” this week.

Brennan is returning to the Bay Area to watch his son, Scotty Brennan, quarterback the Los Gatos Wildcats (crazy, right?) against the Mountain View High School Spartans, the same mascot as his former job at San Jose State.

Every school has a recruiting strategy, and some programs take different angles. Some heavily rely on the transfer portal and treat recruiting like NFL free agency, while some bank on high school recruits to develop over time and use the portal to patch up holes on the roster.

“We’re always going to be a developmental program here,” Brennan said. “First and foremost, high school kids. That’s how we build sustainable teams and develop those players over time. The portal players, I see it as how we’ve recruited junior-college players over time, where if you need an instant fix or someone you recruited isn’t quite ready and you need someone to play this year. That’s how we’ll look at portal players.”

For Arizona’s high school recruits, there’s a “high concentration of players” in Arizona, Hawaii and Utah. The Wildcats are “heavily involved in Texas and California right now.” Brennan said Texas, California and Florida “have the most Division I players in the country every year.”

Arizona currently has 20 commits for its 2025 recruiting class, which ranks 47th nationally and 10th in the Big 12, according to 247Sports.com. The Wildcats have eight players committed from Texas, six from California, four from Arizona and one from Hawaii and Florida.

Here’s a look at how some of those recruits are doing this fall:

Kellan Ford

Position: Tight end

Height, weight: 6-5, 230 pounds

Hometown (High school): Danville, California (Monte Vista)

Rating: Three stars (247/Rivals)

How they’re doing: Ford has 11 catches for 158 yards and three touchdowns in three games this season.

Luke Haugo

Position: Quarterback

Height, weight: 6-5, 200 pounds

Hometown (High school): Gilbert (Higley)

Rating: Three stars (247/Rivals)

How they’re doing: In three games, Haugo has completed 52 of 80 passes for 690 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. Higley recently lost 36-28 to the undefeated Marana Tigers, which has star wide receiver and Washington commit Dezmen Roebuck, who became the state’s all-time receptions leader, passing UA freshman Brandon Phelps. Haugo also has two rushing touchdowns this season.

Dajon Hinton

Position: Cornerback

Height, weight: 5-10, 175 pounds

Hometown (High school): Chandler (Hamilton)

Rating: Three stars (247/Rivals)

How they’re doing: Hinton has 15 tackles, one stop for loss and an interception for the undefeated Hamilton Huskies. Hinton had eight tackles in Hamilton’s 44-41 win over Boulder Creek last week. Hinton’s father, David Hinton, played defensive back for the Wildcats from 2000-02 while Brennan was a graduate assistant coach. Dajon’s older brother, D.J. Hinton, graduated from Tucson High and was a walk-on wide receiver for the UA.

Kaleb Jones

Position: Defensive tackle

Height, weight: 6-1, 275 pounds

Hometown (High school): Phoenix (Mountain Pointe)

Rating: Three stars (247/Rivals)

How they’re doing: Jones has six tackles, three stops for loss and a sack.

Robert McDaniel

Position: Quarterback

Height, weight: 6-1, 195 pounds

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Hometown (High school): Hughson, California (Hughson)

Rating: Three stars (247/Rivals)

How they’re doing: The goat farmer — seriously, his family owns roughly 150 goats — went to the high-profile “Elite 11” showcase that features some of the best quarterbacks nationally. So far this season, McDaniel has passed for 702 yards and 11 touchdowns with no interceptions — and a 69% completion rate. Hughson has outscored its opponents 122-14 in three games.

Isaiah Mizell

Position: Wide receiver

Height, weight: 6-0, 160 pounds

Hometown (High school): Orlando, Florida (Boone)

Rating: Three stars (247/Rivals)

How they’re doing: Mizell has 17 catches for 389 yards and four touchdowns this season; he has just under 1,800 yards and 29 touchdowns for his career.

Gio Richardson

Position: Wide receiver

Height, weight: 5-11, 170 pounds

Hometown (High school): Chandler (Basha)

Rating: Three stars (247/Rivals)

How they’re doing: Richardson has 13 catches for 221 yards and three touchdowns for the undefeated Basha Bears, which is coming off a 50-0 win over Scottsdale Saguaro. Richardson and Hinton will face off on Oct. 11, when Basha hosts Hamilton.

Terry Shelton

Position: Wide receiver

Height, weight: 6-4, 200 pounds

Hometown (High school): Carrollton, Texas (Ranchview)

Rating: Four stars (247), three stars (Rivals)

How they’re doing: Shelton recently became Arizona’s highest-rated commit for ’25 on 247Sports.com and is now considered a four-star recruit. The Dallas-area native doesn’t have recorded stats this season, but is one of the top wide receivers coming out of Texas.

Joshua Tuchek

Position: Cornerback

Height, weight: 6-1, 175 pounds

Hometown (High school): Long Beach, California (Millikan)

Rating: Three stars (247/Rivals)

How they’re doing: Tuchek, who hails from the same high school program as current star defensive back Tacario Davis, has the third-most tackles (20) this season at Millikan to go along with one pass deflection.

Wesley Yarbrough

Position: Running back

Height, weight: 5-10, 195 pounds

Hometown (High school): Crosby, Texas (Crosby)

Rating: Four stars (Rivals), three stars (247)

How they’re doing: Yarbrough is averaging 147 rushing yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry this season. He has 441 yards and four touchdowns on 77 carries in three losses and is the only running back commit in Arizona’s 2025 recruiting class.