Arizona Football Recruiting: Is there a chance in hell Arizona lands 5-star Larry Turner?

Arizona Football tops the list of offers for five-star athlete Larry Turner, but that is only because the list is sorted alphabetically, but does Arizona have a chance?

Arizona Football is just one of about 15 offers for Southern California athlete, Larry Turner so far. As Turner enters his Junior year, and begins to take visits to schools he is interested in, will Arizona be on the list?

Will the coaches even try to land this star talent? Especially considering Turner has offers from some of the nations top schools.

Arizona Wildcats Football

So what school tops the list for Turner? Well, he says UCLA is his favorite school, but unfortunately that is one school he doesn’t have an offer from yet. Instead defending National Champion LSU Tigers, USC, Oregon, Tennessee, Colorado and Utah among others have offered the phenom.

Turner plays multiple positions and is so good and so entrenched in Southern California athletics, that he just showed up to support the other 150 players competing and training at the Premium Sports combine on January 26, 2020.

The combine took place at Banning High School near Long Beach, California, and everything was going swimmingly until news broke that Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people passed on after a helicopter crash just 50 miles or so away. Camp Directors, former Hawkins High School coaches, Coach Fig and Coach Ed did their best to keep the news away from the players until the end when we held a moment of silence.

In attendance, as far as media, was In The Front Row, Overtime, Greg Biggins (247 Sports) and more. We were all consoling each other while trying our hardest to channel Kobe and pay attention to the athletes playing and training hard before us. There wasn’t a media person I spoke to that didn’t point me towards Larry as a must interview and someone who actually was offered by Arizona at the combine.

Montana Craig (WR/CB) was there hanging out with Turner. So Cal talent is tight because of training and testing programs like Premier Sports, and Craig just committed to Colorado before the event. He even had an offer from Arizona as well. Craig does not drop balls and he would have been a fantastic commit should he have come here, but we wish him the best.

We first met Craig when he was the star on the Inglewood High School basketball team, and now sadly Arizona will have to defend against him.

To be honest, I wasn’t able to watch Turner play. However, following the interview, I vow to attend his football games this upcoming season though. Just from our interaction, Larry is a well-spoken young man who is looking for a school that can give him a great education, as he already understands Football is not forever.

Note to Arizona Football Coaches: 247Sports lists Turner’s school as Calabasas, but he told us he is transferring schools.

And who do you think Turner looks up to and is in contact with? Yes, fellow Southern California star Khalil Tate, someone Turner sees as a mentor and friend. Too bad Arizona’s coaches treated Tate the way they did and did not create a scheme that would accentuate his best skills for success, as well as making him share his senior season with an upcoming freshman quarterback.

This is no knock against Grant Gunnell, as I see great things ahead for Arizona with this young man, as this is someone Tate mentored as well. There was no quarterback that was going to save last season, as the protection diminished, receivers were inconsistent, and the play calling was boring and unimaginative.

Tate should have absolutely been invited to the Senior Bowl as well as the NFL Combine with the stats he put up in his career, despite the coaching staff that took over for Rich Rodriguez and Rod Smith, a quarterback coach of the year finalist.

Together, those two coaches understood the talent they had and cultivated his skills. In my opinion, Tate’s development was hindered and even diminished over the last two years, and I believe the misuse of his Talent will hurt recruiting efforts for Arizona Football, who has been seen as a local hero for so many Serra High School and SoCal athletes.

Turner would perhaps be ‘that’ player. The player who could stand out for Arizona and eventually be drafted into the NFL. But Noel Mazzone will have to change his predictable game plans and scheme for more players to be successful.

Turner is friends with a lot of SoCal talent, and you have to think that his trainers, coaches and those around him are paying attention to the drama unfolding and happening in Tucson with the recruitment struggles and change in staff. Will things change in two years when Turner starts to pick schools? It may be too late, but the Wildcats could certainly benefit from having this young man on the roster.

Here is my interview with Larry Turner during the Premier Combine:

Let’s also hope he wants to study Business because a degree from the Eller School of Business is extremely coveted. And that is something Larry is looking for, a great education and a degree he can use after his football career is over, which I’m thinking is a long time.