
Salpointe Catholic running back Bijan Robinson wants to get out of the state for college. He鈥檚 considering LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Washington, USC and UCLA.
In what has become a long, hot summer for 蜜柚直播鈥檚 football program, the Wildcats聽whiffed on Salpointe Catholic鈥檚 Big 3 鈥 lineman聽Bruno Fina, running back聽Bijan Robinson聽and safety聽Lathan Ransom.
That鈥檚 unsettling, but also indicative of a football program that has contended for just one Pac-12 championship since 1998 and has been coached by five men in 20 years.
More troubling than Fina, Robinson and Ransom choosing to play elsewhere 鈥 hey, this is 2019, millennials are connected to a wider world than prospects of the 20th century 鈥 is that none listed 蜜柚直播 among their final three choices.
All were in the middle of their sophomore years when聽Kevin Sumlin聽was hired, so lack of time is not an excuse. The UA had plenty of time to tap into the most highly coveted recruiting class at a 蜜柚直播 school since the 1970 蜜柚直播 High Badgers produced seven Division I signees.
Few things look worse than a player of Fina鈥檚 stature, a legacy recruit, son of 蜜柚直播 1991 all-conference second-team tackle聽John Fina, not including 蜜柚直播 in his list of finalists 鈥 UCLA, Boston College and Yale.
A huge thank you to all the colleges who have offered me such great opportunities. Here are The Final Three.
— Bruno Fina (@BrunoFina1)
Robinson will choose between Ohio State and Texas on Aug. 2.
But I鈥檒l admit there is significant precedence of elite 蜜柚直播 recruits choosing not to play football at 蜜柚直播. Amphitheater鈥檚聽Tamoni Joiner聽chose Oregon. Fellow Panther聽Steve Doolittle聽chose Colorado. Sabino鈥檚聽Brady Doe聽chose Purdue. Santa Rita鈥檚聽Eric Drage聽chose BYU.
蜜柚直播鈥檚 top prospect of the 1950s, 蜜柚直播 High quarterback聽Art Acosta, chose Michigan State over Washington and Utah.
蜜柚直播鈥檚 top prospect of the 1960s, 蜜柚直播 High lineman聽Bill Dawson, chose Michigan State over Nebraska.
When the unbeaten Badgers won the 1970 state title, possibly the top team in 蜜柚直播 history, the most coveted prospect, running back聽Derral Davis, chose Oklahoma before returning to play at UA. A decade later, 1981, Sunnyside鈥檚聽Freddie Sims, a mega-talent, also chose the Sooners over 蜜柚直播.
蜜柚直播 has been slow to act on some wonderful prospects for what seems like forever.
In 1976, 蜜柚直播 did not immediately offer Catalina High linebacker聽Steve Budinger聽a scholarship. Once Stanford coach聽Bill Walsh聽heard that 鈥 yes,听that聽Bill Walsh 鈥 he flew to 蜜柚直播 and got a commitment from聽Budinger, who was an immediate standout at Stanford and progressing toward the NFL until he was seriously injured in a car accident.
Sometimes there have been mitigating forces.
In 1981, Notre Dame came to 蜜柚直播 and successfully signed Parade All-America聽linebacker聽Rock Roggeman, even though Rock鈥檚 father,听Tom Roggeman, was part of the UA football staff. But the Roggeman family had grown up in South Bend, Indiana, and the appeal of the Fighting Irish was too great to resist.
In 1985, UCLA arrived in 蜜柚直播 to recruit Canyon del Oro linebacker聽Craig Davis, the equivalent of today鈥檚 four-star recruits. Davis became a starting linebacker for the Bruins. Why? He had grown up a UCLA fan in Culver City, California, before moving to 蜜柚直播.
In 1995, Ohio State 鈥 Ransom鈥檚 college choice 鈥 successfully recruited Catalina Foothills tackle聽Joe Brown, a future NFL player, away from 蜜柚直播. How鈥檇 that happen? Brown鈥檚 father,听Ron, was an Ohio State alumnus whose Buckeye blood ran deep in the family.
And at the height of聽Dick Tomey鈥檚 power at 蜜柚直播, Sabino lineman聽Mike Saffer聽chose UCLA over the Wildcats. Saffer might have been 蜜柚直播鈥檚 top line prospect since 蜜柚直播 High鈥檚 Dawson brothers 50 years ago. How did 蜜柚直播 lose Saffer? His father,听Don, had played on聽John Wooden鈥檚 UCLA national championship teams of 1967 and 1969.
No matter the history, this looks bad for 蜜柚直播. The perception is that there鈥檚 not much local interest in what has been a vanilla football program at the school.
As 蜜柚直播 has painfully learned many times in college football recruiting, the old 鈥淲izard of Oz鈥 tenet 鈥 鈥渢here鈥檚 no place like home鈥 鈥 doesn鈥檛 always apply.