Arizona’s quest to rebuild its depleted defense has once again landed on a star from the FCS ranks who was a hot commodity for several other programs.
The Wildcats have landed a commitment from ex-Montana defensive end Riley Wilson, who picked the UA over Boise State, Memphis and Oklahoma State.
Committed!! Proverbs 16:3 pic.twitter.com/YrKGypo5hF
— Riley Wilson (@_Rileywilsonn) December 27, 2024
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Wilson spent the past two seasons at Montana, starting 14 games including 12 this season. He had 83 tackles, 11.5 for loss, with 4.5 sacks for a Grizzlies team that reached the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Wilson will be a 6th-year senior, having spent three years at Hawaii from 2020-22 when he appeared in 18 games. He began his career as a receiver before switching to defense with Hawaii, and in the 2020 recruiting class he was ranked as a 3-star prospect from Plano, Texas.
Arizona has picked up 16 players from the NCAA transfer portal, seven on defense. Wilson is the third for the defensive line, all from FCS schools, and it also landed FCS All-American linebacker Blake Gotcher from Northwestern State.
Groves-Killebrew enters portal as deadline approaches
The portal officially closes on Saturday night, with the next 10-day window coming in the spring. Between then the only players who can enter are either graduates or ones from schools that saw a change in head coach, something Arizona is very familiar with it.
With the window coming to an end there’s been another wave of entries, with two Wildcats among those going in. On Thursday the UA saw sophomore quarterback Adam Damante and redshirt sophomore cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew enter.
Groves-Killebrew, who would be looking for his fourth school, played in 10 games with six starts for Arizona in 2024. He started the first three games and the final three, recording 26 tackles with a sack and four pass breakups.
His departure is the fifth for UA at the cornerback position, sixth if you include nickel corner Treydan Stukes who entered the portal but withdrew on Christmas Eve. Tacario Davis and Jai-Ayviauynn Celestine are still in the portal while Demetrius Freeney signed with Boise State and Emmanuel Karnley is headed to Miami, Fla.
Arizona has responded by adding cornerbacks Jay’Vion Cole (Texas) and Michael Dansby (San Jose State) from the portal. It also return redshirt sophomore Johno Price and signed three corners in its 2025 recruiting class.