Dajon Hinton is coming home to Arizona, where his dad David and DJ were part of the program, and he is returning to the city in which he started his football career with the Tucson Falcons of the Tucson Youth Football & Spirit Federation.
Dajon Hinton, rated a 3-star Class of 2025 athlete by Rivals, originally committed to Arizona State, but the Chandler Hamilton standout changed his mind after taking an official visit of the Arizona campus this weekend.
He will play his senior season at Hamilton after transferring from Scottsdale Saguaro, where he won a state championship last year.
When he plays for Arizona, it will be the second time he played football in Tucson since his days with the Tucson Falcons of the TYFSF. Saguaro played at Salpointe last season in the 6A state playoffs.
The elder Hinton knows Arizona’s coaching staff well.
When he was with the program as a cornerback from 1998 to 2002, Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina was the defensive backs coach during that time from 1998 to 2000 before he left to Texas in 2001.
Arizona coach Brent Brennan was a graduate assistant under Dick Tomey in 2000.
Arizona’s present offensive coordinator Dino Babers was also on Tomey’s staff at the time as an offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
“I absolutely loved Akina’s passion for the game, bar none,” David Hinton, who is a licensed barber and a coach, told AllSportsTucson.com. “He’s one of the best at what he does. You gotta really love the game to understand it. Akina will help with other staff to push Dajon to be the best he can be. That’s what Dajon said he’s looking for so that’s definitely what they will provide.
“Family is also key and definitely a family feel throughout the building. Brent, Babers, Zo (running backs coach Alonzo Carter), (former Desert Swarm defender and staff member) Brandon (Sanders), just to name a few, are men that you can conversate with about life and everything outside of football. It’s all there and provides the necessary tools to progress in this sport.”
David Hinton lettered from 2000 to 2002 but was in the program starting in 1998 when he redshirted. He then missed the 1999 season with a shoulder injury.
DJ Hinton joined the program under scholarship in 2017 as a slot receiver after graduating from Tucson High.
The younger Hintons come from athletic genes. Their dad ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at his pro day and he registered a 40-inch vertical leap.
ARIZONA CLASS OF 2025 COMMITMENTS
| NAME | POS | LOCATION | HT | WT | STARS | COMMITTED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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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.
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