To get ready for the upcoming Arizona football season, All Sports Tucson offers a countdown, which will include history notes and a look ahead to the season — a good way to keep Arizona football on the mind in the summer months leading up to fall camp in early August and then kickoff against New Mexico on Aug. 31 in the start of the Brent Brennan era.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS PREVIOUS DAYS IN THE COUNTDOWN
A LOOK BACK — NO. 48 BYRON EVANS & ROB GRONKOWSKI
With it being the 48th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best players to wear No. 48 for Arizona is linebacker Byron Evans (with the Wildcats from 1983-86) and tight end Rob Gronkowski (2007-08). Evans is an Arizona Hall of Fame member who ranks second on school’s list with 552 tackles. He went on to play eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles as part of one of the more successful defenses in NFL history. The “Gang Green” defense included the likes of Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons and Seth Joyner. Evans was a second-team All-American, as selected by the Associated Press and Football News, in 1986. He was the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 1986. He earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior and senior. His 552 career tackles rank only behind the legendary Ricky Hunley (who finished with 566). Evans set the school record with 118 unassisted tackled in 1985 and came back with 111 more the next season. Counting bowl games (which the Arizona record book does not), Evans has two of the top three tackle seasons in Pac-12 history — 211 in 1985 and 210 in 1986. Evans resides in his native Phoenix, where he has worked as coach, teacher and pastor. He coached at his alma mater Phoenix South Mountain for four seasons and remains a physical education teacher in the Phoenix Union School District. Gronkowski was inducted into the Arizona Hall of Fame last year. He is one of the most prominent Arizona alumni today and enjoying an All-America career at Arizona before going on to establish himself as one of the most accomplished tight ends in the history of the National Football League. The 2008 First Team All-Pac-10 and Third Team All-American finished his collegiate career as Arizona’s record holder in a single game, season, and career for receptions, yards, and touchdowns by a tight end. Gronkowski was selected in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots and went on to enjoy an 11-year NFL career that included four Super Bowl championships, four First Team All-Pro selections, five Pro Bowl appearances, and a spot on the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. He is an NFL analyst for Fox among his many post-career multimedia ventures.
NO. 48 IN 2024
No players listed on the roster have uniform No. 48.
NOTE
COMMITTED LESS DO IT!!@ArizonaFBall pic.twitter.com/e3iv95Gifm
— Muizz Tounkara (@TounkaraMuizz) July 13, 2024
League City (Texas) Clear Springs three-star wide receiver Muizz Tounkara (6-foot-4 and 195 pounds) on Saturday became the eighth Class of 2025 prospect from Texas to commit to Arizona’s program. The Wildcats hold 20 total commits. He chose Arizona over his two other finalists, Kansas and Wisconsin. He is also Arizona’s fifth wide receiver commit from the group (third from Texas), indicating that former Arizona standout Bobby Wade has worked diligently to draw recruits.
ARIZONA CLASS OF 2025 COMMITMENTS
| NAM | POS | LOCATION | HT | WT | STARS | COMMITTED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muizz Tounkara | WR | League City, TX | 6’4″ | 195 | *** | 7/13/24 |
| Isaiah Mizell | WR | Orlando, FL | 6’1″ | 170 | *** | 7/10/24 |
| Gio Richardson | WR | Chandler | 5’11” | 180 | *** | 7/4/24 |
| Coleman Patmon | DB | Del Valle, TX | 6’3″ | 195 | *** | 6/26/24 |
| Mays Pese | DE | Santa Barbara, CA | 6’2″ | 260 | *** | 6/26/24 |
| Losipini Tupou | OL | San Francisco, CA | 6’2″ | 270 | *** | 6/24/24 |
| Javian Goo | OL | Kapolei, HI | 6’4″ | 285 | ** | 6/24/24 |
| Kaleb Jones | OL | Phoenix | 6’2″ | 288 | *** | 6/24/24 |
| Gianni Edwards | DB | Forney, TX | 6’0″ | 180 | 6/24/24 | |
| Dajon Hinton | ATH | Chandler | 5’10” | 165 | *** | 6/23/24 |
| Sione Tohi | OT | Santa Ana, CA | 6’3″ | 330 | *** | 6/23/24 |
| Allen Gant | DB | Lubbock, TX | 6’0″ | 186 | *** | 6/23/24 |
| Swayde Griffin | DB | Lago Vista, TX | 6’2″ | 185 | *** | 6/23/24 |
| Terry Shelton | WR | Irving, TX | 6’4″ | 200 | *** | 6/18/24 |
| Sean Robinson | WR | Cibolo, TX | 6’4″ | 215 | *** | 6/17/24 |
| Wesley Yarbrough | RB | Crosby, TX | 5’10” | 190 | **** | 6/17/24 |
| Joshua Tuchek | DB | Long Beach, CA | 6’1″ | 180 | *** | 6/17/24 |
| Luke Haugo | QB | Gilbert | 6’5″ | 210 | *** | 6/4/24 |
| Robert McDaniel | QB | Hughson, CA | 6’2″ | 190 | *** | 5/26/24 |
| Kellan Ford | TE | Danville, CA | 6’5″ | 235 | *** | 4/7/24 |
THEY SAID IT
“I love Arizona. It’s a really good area, really good facility, and really good people. The bond I have with all the receivers and the coaching staff too, really. I mean they’re really good people beyond football, so it really means a lot to me and my family. The wide receiver coach Bobby Wade played in the NFL too so the development piece is there and they’re losing a lot of seniors so I could come in and work and play.” — Tounkara to Rivals about his commitment to Arizona.
FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
Recommended for you
