Quite a few members of the Arizona Wildcats' recruiting class for 2012 have decommitted in recent weeks and four-star quarterback Nate Sudfeld was the latest player to do so. The 6'5, 230 pound quarterback officially opened his recruitment on Thursday and will begin looking at other schools on the west coast. Arizona is not out of the running, although some have questioned how the gunslinger would fit into Rich Rodriguez's read-option offense.
Here is the latest on Sudfeld, courtesy of ESPN and Recruiting Nation.
"I actually made the decision (to decommit) this morning," Sudfeld said. "I'm still going to talk with (Arizona) and they're still going to recruit me but I just felt like it was best to open myself up and not have that ‘commitment' label on me as I go through the process.
"I'm going to visit UCLA (Jan. 20) and they have been recruiting me hard for a while now. They haven't offered me yet but hopefully it happens. I plan to graduate early and that was really the sticking point in me opening things up. I just didn't feel comfortable enrolling early at Arizona right now before I really knew more about the new staff.
While those in Tucson may be frustrated with the lack of recruiting success thus far under coach Rodriguez, they must remember that these last few weeks have been a 'dead period' with high school players. And while the potential loss of Sudfeld will hurt, the gunslinger is not exactly the prototypical quarterback to run the new UA offense.
Sudfeld has said multiple times he hopes to enroll early at whichever school he selects and a decision could come within the next few weeks. Arizona appears to still be in the running; it's just a matter of how comfortable he feels with the new coaching staff in Tucson.
For more on the Wildcats, head on over to AZ Desert Swarm.