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. 33 SCOOBY WRIGHT III
With it being the 33rd day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 33 for Arizona is linebacker Scooby Wright III, who played for the Wildcats from 2013-15. He emerged from being a lightly recruited player out of high school to one of the most storied players in Arizona history. He dubbed himself “Two-Star Scoob” because of how he was overlooked by many colleges. Wright, despite being a relative unknown as a freshman out of Santa Rosa, Calif., started 12 of 13 games as a freshman, recording 83 tackles and an interception and garnering All-Pac-12 honorable-mention honors. In 2014, when Arizona won the Pac-12 South, Wright claimed the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Rotary Lombardi Award, Jack Lambert Award, and Chuck Bednarik Award in addition to being named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year (becoming the first sophomore to ever win the conference award). Wright also earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors. He had the highest finish of any defensive player in the 2014 Heisman Trophy voting, finishing ninth on the ballot. As a junior in 2015, Wright played only three games due to injury, recording two sacks and 23 tackles. After his junior year, he announced his intentions to enter the 2016 NFL Draft. Wright was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round (250th overall). He signed a four-year deal worth $2.401 million featuring a $60,700 signing bonus. He was waived by the Browns before the season but was later added to their practice squad. He was with the Arizona Cardinals in 2016-17 and New England Patriots in 2019. His pro career flourished in 2022 after he was signed by the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL. He was a defensive player of the week that season and he returned an interception for a touchdown in the USFL championship victory over the Philadelphia Stars. Wright, 29, retired from football in April after dealing with pain resulting from a neck injury. He recently was cleared medically and has continued training in jiu-jitsu.
NO. 33 IN 2024 — PK TYLER LOOP
Loop is in his fifth year in the program, gaining an extra year of eligibility because he was a freshman in 2020 when Arizona’s season was affected by COVID-19 restrictions. Last season, he was an All-Pac-12 second-team specialist selection and Lou Groza Award semifinalist. He made 19 of 24 field goal attempts, including a career-long 52-yarder at Colorado in a game in which he also made a game-winning 24-yard field goal as time expired. He was 53 of 53 in extra-point attempts to move to 103 for 103 in his career at Arizona. He has made 49 of 57 (86.0 percent) of his field-goal attempts in college.
NOTE
Arizona defensive backs in 2024:
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Hometown | Previous |
| 1 | Davis, Tacario | CB | 6-4 | 195 | Jr. | Long Beach, Calif. | |
| 2 | Stukes, Treydan | STR | 6-2 | 195 | Sr. | Litchfield Park | |
| 7 | Freeney, Demetrius | CB | 6-0 | 190 | Jr. | San Leandro, Calif. | Miami (Fla.) |
| 9 | Maldonado, Gunner | FS | 6-0 | 195 | Sr. | Chandler | Northwestern |
| 10 | Olson, Quinn | FS | 6-3 | 190 | Fr. | Sioux City, Iowa | |
| 12 | Smith, Genesis | FS | 6-2 | 200 | So. | Chandler | |
| 13 | Luttrell, Jack | SS | 6-0 | 180 | R-Fr. | Moultrie, Ga. | Tennessee |
| 16 | Hunter, Gavin | SS | 6-2 | 200 | R-Fr. | Mililani, Hawai’i | |
| 20 | Groves-Killebrew, Marquis | CB | 6-0 | 185 | R-So. | Kennesaw, Ga. | Louisville, Texas A&M |
| 21 | Price, Johno | CB | 6-2 | 175 | So. | E. Palo Alto, Calif. | Coll. of San Mateo |
| 23 | Karnley, Emmanuel | CB | 6-3 | 185 | R-Fr. | Walnut Creek, Calif. | |
| 24 | Celestine, Jai-Ayviauynn | STR | 5-9 | 180 | R-So. | Miami, Fla. | |
| 25 | Parish, Arian | FS | 5-11 | 180 | R-Fr. | Katy, Texas | |
| 27 | Goss, Owen | SS | 6-0 | 205 | Sr. | Hinsdale, Ill. | Colgate |
| 29 | Dunn, Devin | CB | 5-10 | 185 | R-So. | Chandler | |
| 31 | Wicks, Kaden | SS | 6-2 | 200 | Fr. | Oakland, Calif. | |
| 32 | Taliauli, Nela | FS | 6-0 | 180 | Fr. | Honolulu, Hawaii | |
| 35 | Flores, CJ | SS | 5-11 | 200 | R-So. | Tucson (Cienega) | NAU |
| 43 | Johnson, Dalton | SS | 5-11 | 200 | R-Jr. | Katy, Texas |
Projected depth chart:
CB
- Davis (11 starts at Arizona)
- Freeney
SS
- Johnson (no starts but 27 games played at Arizona)
- Luttrell
FS
- Maldonado (27 starts at Arizona)
- Smith
STAR
- Stukes (24 starts at Arizona)
- Celestine
CB
- Price
- Groves-Killebrew
The defensive secondary is one of Arizona’s strengths despite starting cornerback Ephesians Prysock transferring to Washington to join former head coach Jedd Fisch there. Arizona has experienced players in Davis at cornerback, Johnson at strong safety, Maldonado at free safety, and Stukes at the star (nickleback) position — combining for a total of 62 starts (Johnson has played in 27 games). Cornerback transfers Price, Groves-Killebrew and Freeney should battle in fall camp for a starting opportunity opposite Davis, an NFL draft prospect as a junior. Goss, at strong safety, is a decorated transfer from Colgate, earning an All-Patriot League first-team selection. Chip Viney is the new cornerbacks coach and Brett Arce is the safety/star position coach.
THEY SAID IT
“It was huge. It shows the kind of special bond this team has, the character these kids have. They wanted to finish this thing together. They love Tucson and they didn’t want to go. There was just so much going on. I am super excited to keep them and keep working together. That was part of the sell, right? We’ve had success and we’ve grown a ton, let’s continue on this journey together. We can keep building this thing.” — Arce on the fact that a majority of Arizona’s talented players in the secondary returned from last year’s 10-3 team.
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
