Arizona Flips In-State 2017 DE My-King Johnson away from UCLA Bruins
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
Arizona’s 2017 recruiting class continues to bob and weave adding top talent seemingly as desired. Since mid-December, the Wildcats have added five new players pushing their class to 25 commits on Monday with the addition of Tempe defensive end My-King Johnson.
The addition of Johnson was somewhat of a surprise after he committed to UCLA on Jan. 6. Just 10 days later Arizona had flipped him away from their Pac-12 foe keeping him in-state. Johnson posted his decision on Twitter writing, “Just received a great home visit with Coach Rod (head coach). With that being said I have decided to commit to UofA. #beardown.”
Johnson had a big summer on the recruiting trail pulling in offers from Texas A&M, Arizona State, and USC before securing offers from Oregon and UCLA in September. In all, 11 different schools extended scholarship offers to the Tempe High School star after a standout sophomore season with 79 tackles and 13.5 sacks and a junior campaign with 44 tackles, 27 tackles for a loss, and 22 sacks.
The Wildcats have the No. 24 ranked recruiting class in the country per Rivals with two four-star recruits and 20 three-star talents. 247Sports has the class at No. 36, No. 8 in the Pac-12, with just one four-star player, running back Nathan Tilford.
Arizona Wildcats 2017 Verbal Commitment List (25)
SS Xavier Bell, 6-2, 185, Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, CA
SS Rhedi Short, 6-1, 185, Cathedral HS, Los Angeles, CA
SS Scott Young, 6-0, 190, Helix HS, La Mesa, CA
SS Troy Young, 6-1, 190, Mobile Christian HS, Mobile, AL
CB Malik Hausman, 5-11, 168, Bishop Gorman HS, Las Vegas, NV
CB Tony Wallace, 5-10, 170, Spring Valley HS, Las Vegas, NV
LB Joshua Brown, 6-2, 222, Long Beach Poly, Long Beach, CA
LB Tony Fields, 6-2, 205, Desert Pines HS, Las Vegas, NV
LB Jose Ramirez, 6-3, 195, Auburndale HS, Auburndale, FL
DE/LB Kylan Wilborn, 6-2, 236, Notre Dame HS, Sherman Oaks, CA
DE My-King Johnson, 6-4, 225, Tempe HS, Tempe, AZ
DT Kurtis Brown, 6-3, 260, Liberty HS, Bakersfield, CA
DT Austin Faoliu, 6-3, 285, Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, CA
DT Sione Taufahema, 6-3, 310, College of the Canyons, Valencia, CA
OT Edgar Burrola, 6-6, 295, Desert Pines HS, Las Vegas, NV
OT Cody Shear, 6-4, 285, Sheldon HS, Eugene, OR
TE Bryce Wolma, 6-4, 235, Saline HS, Saline, MI
RB Nathan Tilford, 6-2, 190, Upland HS, Upland, CA
QB Braxton Burmeister, 6-0, 211, Country Day, La Jolla, CA
QB Rhett Rodriguez, 6-0, 190, Catalina Foothills HS, Tucson, AZ
WR Brian Casteel, 6-0, 190, Charter Oak HS, Covina, CA
WR Bryce Gilbert, 6-5, 230, Higley HS, Gilbert, AZ
WR/DE Jalen Harris, 6-3, 210, Desert Ridge HS, Mesa, AZ
WR Warren Jackson, 6-5.5, 185, Bishop Alemany, Mission Hills, CA
ATH Drew Dixon, 6-4, 195, Sabino HS, Tucson, AZ
Photo credit: ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com; My-King Johnson gets another sack.