Valley Vista’s Damir Ilicic (15) releases the ball as Salpointe’s Keona Davis (50) goes in for the tackle during a matchup at Salpointe Catholic High School on Sept. 15, 2023

One of Arizona's top in-state commits for its 2024 recruiting class backed out of his verbal pledge late Monday night. 

Three-star Salpointe Catholic edge rusher Keona Wilhite announced on his social media accounts Monday night that he's re-opening his commitment. 

Wilhite was one of two Salpointe Catholic stars committed to Arizona's 24 recruiting class, along with five-star prospect and top-rated edge rusher Elijah Rushing. Besides Arizona, the 6-5, 245-pound Wilhite holds offers from Washington, Oregon State, UCLA, BYU, Colorado, Nebraska and Arizona State. 

Greg Biggins, a national recruiting expert for 247Sports.com, submitted his "crystal ball" prediction for Washington to land Wilhite. The Huskies were recently in Tucson and beat the Wildcats 31-24 at Arizona Stadium on Saturday. 

With Wilhite no longer a part of the Wildcats' recruiting class, Arizona has 20 commits for '24 — six in-state prospects. 


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Contact Justin Spears, the Star's Arizona football beat reporter, at jspears@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @JustinESports