Arizona Transfer Riley Wilson Comes Full Circle Against Hawaii
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Arizona Wildcats linebacker Riley Wilson was a pretty hot commodity coming out of Montana. Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales reached out to various people in the coaching industry that he knew to gather information on Wilson.
Wilson's head coach at Montana was Bobby Hauck. Hauck coached with Gonzales at San Diego State. The two hooked up and traded notes. Hauck told Gonzales that Wilson was a transfer kid that was worth fighting for.
“I had someone I really trust in this business validate him before I ever talked to him, so it made it simple,” Gonzales said to tucson.com.
Wilson said Gonzales' recruiting tactics were as aggressive as his defensive prowess.
“When I was in the portal I had a lot of schools contacting me, but what stuck out about Arizona and Coach G was that he was the only coach that consistently — even after I left Arizona (following an official visit) — called me and sent me messages,” Wilson said. “’Hey, man, we still need you here. What are you going to do when you go to this other school? We know what you’re going to do when you come here.’
“He was the only coach that stuck out and consistently texted me. He’s a real one. ... Coach G is amazing and he’s a big part of why I’m here now. I’m excited for this team and I’m excited for him to be back in a role that he’s really confident in and just thrive again.”
Wilson “is a tough sucker and he’s got great leadership skills,” Gonzales said.
“All of that was learned in one conversation (during his official visit),” said Arizona’s defensive coordinator.
Wilson signed with Arizona in December. He has lived up to the hype. He is as good as Hauck said he was.
“Riley Wilson is going to be a household name in Tucson by the end of the season,” Gonzales said. “He’s got some dynamic things he can do both on and off the football and he’s smart. I’ve yelled at him four or five times over the last two days about not running into somebody because we’re not even in pads. It’s great to have to slow him down.”
Wilson played high school football in Prosper, Texas, about a half hour north of Dallas. He said the Friday Night Lights are like "a religion". The 6-2, 230 pounder played wide receiver in high school and loved every minute of it. The big different was when he was in high school, he was 6-2, 177 pounds.
“All the stereotypes are true,” Wilson said. “I’m grateful to be from the state of Texas and represent them. It’s been a blessing to be from that state. It allowed me to build on my foundation going into college. ... Carrying over the things I learned in my life from the state of Texas, that brought me to where I am today.”
Wilson was "very under recruited" coming out of high school and was not the size of a prototypical wide receiver. He ended up signing with Hawaii. Hawaii happens to be Arizona's first opponent this season. He said his college career will come full circle when the two teams square off.
“God works in mysterious ways,” Wilson said. “It’s a great opportunity for me. This is my last year of college football and I started my career at Hawaii, so I’m going to finish it by opening up against some old-time friends, and I think it’s a great opportunity for us as a team to showcase what we can do. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Scott Alan Salomon, J.D., earned his Juris Doctorate from St. Thomas University School of Law and his bachelor's in Communications from Miami University. He brings years of experience as a General Sports Writer On SI and is a gifted communicator. He has worked for the Tribune Company, Fan Sided, and now serves in his capacity On SI.