Arizona football only Power 5 team without 2021 commitment

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The commitment of 3-star California wide receiver Orion Peters to Washington State on Friday barely registered a blip on the overall recruiting radar. But what it did do is remove the Cougars from a select list, one that’s not an honor to be included on.

Prior to Peters’ pledge, Wazzu had been one of just two power conference college football programs without a commitment in the 2021 class. Now only one school stands alone in infamy.

Yep, that’s right: the Arizona Wildcats are the only school from the five big leagues—ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC—without at least one player committed for the 2021 season.

Despite scholarship offers to nearly 200 prospects, head coach Kevin Sumlin is still waiting for the first chance to post a cryptic tweet that’s his way of announcing a commitment without actually announcing a commitment (which is against NCAA rules).

At this time a year ago, Arizona already had three commits. Quarterback Will Plummer was the first one to come on board, in January, with offensive lineman Cedric Melton committing later that month (only to flip to Ole Miss) and then cornerback Khary Crump pledging right before the Spring Game in April.

There was no Spring Game this year, the result of the coronavirus pandemic that shut down all of college sports in March. Coaches haven’t been able to have any in-person contact since mid-March, limiting communication to texts, emails and phone calls, further impacting the recruiting process.

Several dozen of Arizona’s 2021 offers have been extended during this dead period, and while it still looks for that first commitment there are a few prospects who have indicated they’re quite interested in playing for Sumlin & Co.

One of those, 3-star Texas defensive end Terrell Tilmon, had included the UA in his top eight last month but committed to Oregon on Friday.

2021 recruits that have Arizona among finalists

3-star RB Logan Diggs

• Height, weight: 6-foot, 195 lbs.
• Hometown: Metairie, La.
• 247Sports rankings: No. 477 overall, No. 32 RB, No. 13 player in Louisiana
• Also considering: Arkansas, ASU, Louisville, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, USC, Vanderbilt

3-star DE Nick Dimitris

• Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 235 lbs.
• Hometown: Baldwin Park, Calif.
• 247Sports rankings: No. 559 overall, No. 38 WDE, No. 50 player in California
• Also considering: Auburn, Colorado, LSU, Mississippi State, UNLV

3-star DE Austin Booker

• Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 235 lbs.
• Hometown: Greenwood, Ind.
• 247Sports rankings: No. 632 overall, No. 41WDE, No. 10 player in Indiana
• Also considering: ASU, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern, Oregon, Purdue, Texas, Vanderbilt, Washington

3-star OT Isaia Glass

• Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 245 lbs.
• Hometown: Queen Creek, Ariz.
• 247Sports rankings: No. 1,162 overall, No. 103 OT, No. 15 player in Arizona
• Also considering: Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Utah, Washington State

Other 2021 targets showing interest (listed as ‘warm’ on 247Sports)

3-star OT Thomas Cole

• Height, weight: 6-foot-7, 255 lbs.
• Hometown: San Luis Obispo, Calif.
• 247Sports rankings: No. 498 overall, No. 47 OT, No. 43 player in California
• Also considering: Baylor, California, Colorado, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, Washington State

3-star QB Jalen Kitna

• Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 200 lbs.
• Hometown: Burleson, Texas
• 247Sports rankings: No. 698 overall, No. 25 PRO QB, No. 94 player in Texas
• Also considering: Florida, Oregon State

3-star S Mitch Leigber

• Height, weight: 6-foot-1, 205 lbs.
• Hometown: Laguna Hills, Calif.
• 247Sports rankings: No. 750 overall, No. 54 S, No. 64 player in California
• Also considering: Cal, Northwestern, Stanford, UCLA, Washington State

3-star ATH Matthew Langlois

• Height, weight: 6-foot, 185 lbs.
• Hometown: New Roads, La.
• 247Sports rankings: No. 58 ATH, No. 21 player in Louisiana (no national ranking)
• Also considering: Virginia

3-star OT Otto Hess

• Height, weight: 6-foot-6, 293 lbs.
• Hometown: Oswego, Ill.
• 247Sports rankings: No. 97 OT, No. 25 player in Illinois (no national ranking)
• Also considering: Boston College, Illinois, Minnesota

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