The Next Level

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior cornerback Chris McAlister (11) gestures to the crowd to cheer in the game against Oregon on Oct. 31 at Arizona Stadium. McAlister will play in his last home game as a Wildcat this Friday against ASU. He is considered to be a first round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

After traveling through most of the west coast and a little of the east coast, they found what they were looking for in a senior class that had potential, but just needed some practice and experience to fulfill that potential.

Seniors Chris McAlister, Kelvin Eafon, Jeremy McDaniel, Daniel Greer, Mike Lucky, Ryan Springston, Edwin Mulitalo and LaChaux Rich have been staples on the gridiron of Arizona Stadium and are a main reason why the Wildcats are getting mentioned with the likes of Florida, Florida State and Notre Dame.

"They have all maximized their capabilities. It is the smallest senior class and to a man they have had their best year," head coach Dick Tomey said. "It's extraordinary that they have all been outstanding. You couldn't see it coming."

Chris McAlister (CB)

For three years in the Arizona defensive backfield, McAlister has consistently played against the best receiver the other team had to offer.

This hard work and determination has paid off as he is a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to the nation's best defensive back, as well as a finalist for the Football News Defensive Player of the Year Award and the Mosi Tatupu Special Teams Player of the Year Award.

He has five returns for touchdowns, including two kick returns, two interception returns and a punt return. As for the 1998 season, he has accumulated 29 tackles, four interceptions, 14 passes broken up, a blocked punt and a 100-yard kickoff return against Hawaii on the first play of the season.

"My last three years have been nothing but a learning experience," McAlister said.

His Arizona career began in 1996 after a year at junior college with an interception on his first play against UTEP. From then on he picked off five more passes, returning one for a touchdown, had a 100-yard kickoff return, 45 tackles and garnered first team All-Pac-10 honors.

In 1997, as offenses began to notice his presence on the field and started throwing away from him, he still managed to intercept four passes, blocked a punt and had 43 tackles to earn him All-Pac-10 honors for the second consecutive year.

After this season, McAlister will enter the NFL Draft and is projected as a top 10 pick. But he still knows he has the two most important games left to play this season.

"The ASU game is going to be emotional. Every game is, but this one going to be more physical," he said. As for the NFL draft, "When the time comes I will be ready, but I definitely regret this being my last game. I'm going to really miss college life."

Kelvin Eafon (RB)

Eafon missed his first two seasons of football (1994 and 1995) after he signed a national letter of intent to play basketball, but quickly proved his worth to the football coaches in the fall of 1996 as he rushed the ball 16 times for 97 yards.

After a 1997 season which saw him rush 123 times for 436 yards and four touchdowns, also catching 21 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown, Eafon knew he was going to be looked upon as a leader this season.

He was named one of the three captains along with McAlister and Barrett Baker, and his statistics prove that he is deserving. Eafon has a team-high 16 touchdowns to go along with 545 yards rushing on 133 carries.

After the Wildcats beat Oregon, Tomey praised Eafon by saying, "He is one of the most competitive people and is clearly the leader of our offense. The main things he has are heart, strength and power."

Jeremy McDaniel (WR)

After playing a year at a junior college in Kansas, McDaniel was the highest rated recruit in 1995 for the Arizona coaching staff.

In 1996 he proceeded to lead the team in receiving, catching 31 passes for 607 yards and three touchdowns, earning honorable mention All-Pac-10.

At Camp Cochise in 1997, he had a bout with misfortune as he suffered a deep thigh bruise that forced him to sit out the season as a medical redshirt.

So this year he came into play as kind of an unknown, unproven receiver.

"At first when (junior wide receiver) Dennis Northcutt went to the Pac-10 media day, he was telling me that they did not say anything about me," McDaniel said. "I was on kind of the low-down, but now the recognition makes me feel great."

This season McDaniel is part of the two-headed monster at receiver for the Wildcats, along with Northcutt, and has 57 receptions for a team-high 865 yards and nine touchdowns.

McDaniel says he is ready for the next level and hopes to have the same success there.

Daniel Greer (DT)

Greer came to Tucson out of Salinas, Calif., in 1994 and proceeded to redshirt his true freshman year.

He played in 1995, 1996 and in 1997 but did not reach his full potential until this year, racking up eight sacks to go along with his 36 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

For Greer, college hasn't been all about football, but a win in his final home game couldn't be sweeter.

"In a few words, college is learning about life," Greer said. "And I couldn't think of anything better than a win against ASU and then a bowl game. You better tell them to bring down the goal posts."

Mike Lucky (TE), Edwin Mulitalo (OG), LaChaux Rich (CB/SS) and Ryan Springston (P)

These four seniors have played integral parts in the program since they came to Arizona.

Lucky has been around since 1994, when he redshirted, and since then has been an every-down player every game.

Not only a blocker, he has also been a threat at receiver, catching 45 passes for 500 yards and four touchdowns in his career.

As for his five years as a Wildcat, Lucky said, "It has been a roller coaster ride, with a lot of ups and downs. Some years I have felt great and some years not so great, but it will all end on a high if we beat ASU."

Mulitalo is only in his second year as a Wildcat as he was a junior college transfer, but after his 1997 season he was listed as one of the top offensive linemen returning to Pac-10 play after starting all 11 games.

Rich has been hampered by a foot injury that has forced him to miss six games in 1998, but he is another player who has been at UA since 1994 and his leadership was needed this year for the young Wildcats.

He does have seven tackles and an interception this year and has 38 tackles for his career, which included a redshirt year in 1996.

Springston has been mentioned by the coaching staff as one of the most improved players for UA this season as he is averaging 38.9 net yards per punt in 1998, which ranks the Wildcats 11th nationally in that category.

He is averaging 41.9 yards per punt individually with his longest being a 56-yard punt. He has six touchbacks and 17 punts inside the 20-yard line.

1997 was his first year as UA's punter after transferring from junior college and he finished the season with a 38.9-yard average despite spraining his knee and separating his shoulder against Stanford.

All the Wildcat seniors will end their regular season this Friday at Arizona Stadium at 4:30 p.m. against the Sun Devils.

Dan Rosen can be reached via e-mail at Dan.Rosen@wildcat.arizona.edu.