Jacory Croskey-Merritt didn’t stay away from Arizona for long.
Following a stellar season at New Mexico, the running back revealed plans to transfer to Arizona in February. He committed to Ole Miss in April but had another change of heart.
On Wednesday, Croskey-Merritt officially rejoined the Wildcats. He told the Tuscon Star‘s Justin Spears that his “heart led me” to Arizona before, so he decided it was “where I should be.”
“Just being around great people for my last year, just seeing what these guys have built in the last year and I want to be a part of it and just keep adding and building and winning a championship for the program,” Croskey-Merritt said. “I just want to add to what they’re doing and make the team better.”
The Alabama native said playing closer to home was his main motivation for transferring to Ole Miss. He otherwise didn’t want to elaborate on what led to him leaving Arizona earlier this year.
“There were a lot of confusing things going on,” Croskey-Merritt said. “That’s it. … It wasn’t really transcripts (or academics). I can’t really say what was happening, but there were a lot of people talking that I didn’t know about. It was a lot of stuff. I don’t really want to get into the details, but people blow things up that shouldn’t have been blown up. A lot of people and schools were talking to each other.”
Following four seasons at Alabama State, Croskey-Merritt registered 1,262 yards and 18 touchdowns for New Mexico State last year. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry and exceeded 200 rushing yards in each of his final two games with the Lobos.
Croskey-Merritt called himself a “Swiss-army knife” in the mold of NFL stars Alvin Kamara and Jahmyr Gibbs He has lofty aspirations for his 2024 season at Arizona.
“My personal goal is to be the best running back in the Big 12 and win a lot of awards going out and give myself a shot to get drafted,” he said. “I want to turn a lot of heads, not just in the Big 12 but around the nation. Putting my name out there, so people can recognize me.”