Busy recruiting day lands Arizona Wildcats multiple commitments

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Josh Allen is a name that will be mentioned plenty during his Arizona career (Hudl video capture)

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As many as 19 football recruits were on Arizona’s campus today as part of the program’s red-carpet unofficial visit gathering that Rich Rodriguez has generated in his four years in Tucson.

Josh Allen

The biggest development to come out of today’s effort was the verbal commitment of Long Beach (Calif.) City College defensive end Josh Allen, a 6’4″ and 270-pound behemoth who visited ASU’s campus on Friday. Allen had 11 tackles for lost yardage last year with seven sacks and three fumble recoveries.

Four other players who visited pledged to Rodriguez and his staff:

— DeVaughn Cooper, WR, 6’0″, 175, Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne HS
— J.J. Taylor, RB, 5’9″, 155, Corona (Calif.) Centennial HS
— Tyliek Raynor, RB, 5’9″, 175, Philadelphia Imhotep HS
— Gavin Robertson, DB, 6’2″, 200, Auburn (Wash.) Mountain View HS

Four Class of 2016 players who took part in the unofficial visits have already committed:

— Jacob Colacion, ILB, 6’1″, 215, La Habra (Calif.) HS
— Justin Holt, DT, 6’1″, 285, Salpointe Catholic HS
— Sean Riley, ATH, 5’9″, 165, Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne HS
— Khalil Tate, ATH, 6’0″, 210, Garden (Calif.) Junipero Serra HS

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Four more Class of 2016 recruits who were not in Tucson today have already committed to Arizona. That brings the total to 11 players who have pledged to Rodriguez’s cohesive staff, which includes personable recruiting coordinator Matt Dudek.

In my 40-plus years following the program never have I witnessed football recruiting excitement for Arizona like this. Chip Kelly has nothing over Rodriguez in terms of being innovative. The red-carpet, large group events are masterful.

Many of the players talk among themselves about the benefits of playing together face to face instead of texting each other. A recruit on his own with his parents is not has hyped and ready to pull the trigger with a commitment as they are with their peers around.

The other Class of 2016 recruits who visited the campus today included:

Brandon Burton, ATH, 6’1″, 188, Gardena (Calif.) Junipero Serra HS
Bryson Cain, OT, 6’5″, 265, Temecula (Calif.) Great Oak HS
Andre Collins, WR, 6’4″, 192, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei HS
Matthew Gutwald, OL, 6’4″, 175, Dublin (Calif.) HS
N’Keal Harry, WR, 6’3″, 211, Chandler HS
Henry Hattis, OL, 6’7″, 265, Rio Rancho (N.M.) Cleveland HS
Chase Lucas, ATH, 5’11”, 172, Chandler HS
Tamarick Pierce, ATH, 5’11”, 197, Berkeley (Calif.) St. Mary’s HS
Markell Utsey, DT, 6’4″, 295, Little Rock (Ark.) Parkview HS
Evan Weaver, DE, 6’3″, 220, Spokane (Wash.) Gonzaga Prep

The accompanying slideshow shows those players who have committed to Arizona thus far, including those who pledged today, with Twitter reactions (click “next” to continue) …