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Mackovic brings in the beef

DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat

UA head football coach John Mackovic discusses the 2002 Wildcat recruiting class yesterday during National Letter of Intent signing day.

By Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday Feb. 7, 2002

UA signs 29 players to National Letters of Intent

The 2002 Arizona football recruiting class can be labeled Texas-sized for two reasons - 11 of the 29 players hail from the Lone Star state, and some of the players are nearly as large as the nation's second-largest state.

John Mackovic came through with his promise after his first season as UA head coach when he said he would recruit larger players.

Mackovic announced the 2002 recruiting class yesterday on National Letter of Intent signing day, listing a group that contains 23 high school players and five junior college players.

"This is the kind of recruiting class we hope we can get every year," Mackovic said. "Our emphasis on some things is different - our emphasis on size, our emphasis on specialist, the type of quarterback that we want and the types of wide receivers. We intend to build this program fast."


Defense
Pos Name Hometown
DE Paul Philipp San Bernardino, Calif.
DE Marcus Smith San Diego, Calif.
DE Andre Torrey Alameda, Calif. (CC)
DE Marlon Brisco Inglewood, Calif.
DE Tim Volk Thousand Oaks, Calif.
DT Carl Tuitavuki Oakland, Calif. (CC)
LB Spencer Larsen Gilbert
LB John McKinney Copperas Cove, Texas
LB Akin Akinniyi Carrollton, Texas
S Lamon Means Galena Park, Texas
CB Jason Martin Pasadena, Calif.
CB Luis Nunez Chula Vista, Calif. (JC)
CB Gary Shephard Spring, Texas
Offense
QB Ryan O'Hara Pasadena, Calif.
OT Tanner Bell Castroville, Calif.
OT Keith Jackson Inglewood, Calif.
OT John Parada Alta Loma, Calif.
OT Matt Lamatsch Clafkin, Kan (CC)
OL Kili Lefotu Riverside, Calif.
RB Beau Carr Spring, Texas
HB Ra'Shawn Mosley San Antonio, Texas
FB Gilbert Harris San Antonio, Texas
TE Javier Martinez Pico Rivera, Calif (CC)
TE Matt Padron San Antonio, Texas
WR Biren Ealy Houston, Texas
WR Mike Jefferson El Paso, Texas
WR Juan Valentine Houston, Texas (JC)
Specialist
P Danny Baugher Phoenix
PK Nicholas Folk Sherman Oaks, Calif.

ESPN recruiting expert Tom Lemming ranked the 2002 class No. 20 in the nation.

Mackovic's promise of recruiting bigger players seems to hold true - the offensive linemen average 6-foot-6, 301 pounds, and the defense linemen are not too far off, weighing in at 255 pounds and averaging 6-foot-4.

The biggest prep player is John Parada, who prepped at Alta Loma High School in Alta Loma, Calif.

Parada, 6-foot-8 and 305 pounds, is rated as a top-30 prospect at offensive tackle and is one of 16 players from California.

"I think he is big enough," joked Mackovic. "He has a brother who is 7-feet and plays basketball. I hope he doesn't grow anymore so he won't go play basketball."

One player who quit playing basketball to concentrate on football is Muir High School quarterback Ryan O' Hara.

O' Hara, a native of Pasadena, Calif., is considered the prize recruit in the 2002 class.

The 6-foot-6 quarterback will be one of three quarterbacks for the Wildcats this fall along with senior Jason Johnson and redshirt freshman Nic Costa.

"I think having three quarterbacks who can work and do it is better than having five," Mackovic said. "When you have five, they are not all going to stay around."

Arizona lost two of its quarterbacks after the season when freshman John Rattay and sophomore Cliff Watkins both withdrew from UA.

That is good news for O'Hara, who committed to Arizona in June after attending a camp in Tucson. He is considered a drop-back passer but, despite his height, is surprisingly fast with a 4.65 40-yard dash time.

"He has a big-league arm and he runs like a deer," Mackovic said. "He has a high motivation to succeed."

One of O'Hara's teammates at Muir, cornerback Jason Martin, also decided to sign with UA today.

Martin was a two-way player in high school at wide receiver and cornerback but Mackovic said he will play cornerback at Arizona.

"He is similar to Michael Jolivette," Mackovic said. "He has real quick feet."

Martin and O'Hara hooked up 33 times for 783 yards and four touchdowns last season.

One player who will get to play wide receiver at UA is Biren Ealy from Houston.

At 6-foot-4, Ealy is no exception to the 2002 mold of going big. Ealy also had a 106-yard kickoff return last season.

Another wide receiver, who committed yesterday, is Texas' Mike Jefferson. Jefferson, who hails from El Paso, Texas and will bring another tall receiver to help compliment Mackovic's pro-style offense. Jefferson is 6-foot-2.

Not all recruits had an easy time deciding whether Arizona was the right school for them.

One of those players was defensive end Marcus Smith, who made a last-minute commitment to Arizona after turning down Southern California.

Smith, from San Diego's Mission Bay High School, was a first-team All-San Diego linebacker.

"I want to give (UA defensive backs coach) Steve Bernstein and (defensive line coach) Marty Long a Bear Down Award for getting Marcus Smith here," Mackovic said about their recruiting efforts. "He did go back and forth and his decision went all the way to the end."

Arizona only signed two in-state players - punter Danny Baugher (Mountain Point High School in Phoenix) and linebacker Spencer Larson (Highland High School in Gilbert).

"I didn't set a number, but we were involved with a lot of players in-state," Mackovic said. "For different reasons, players went other places, but it is not because we didn't show an interest (in signing players from Arizona). It was (because) it didn't fit for us or them. We don't expect that every year we will only sign two players in Arizona."

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