On Arizona's 2000 recruiting class:
I am glad that we have all of the documentation on all of the guys we have, and I think the day has gone really well for us.

The thing that has been most positive for us is that we addressed some of our biggest needs at different positions for next year's team. We really bolstered positions on the offensive line, at running back, defensive back and linebackers in view of the number of players who will be graduating in the next couple of years.

The junior college players who signed all have a chance to help immediately. Some may require a redshirt year, but we have three players with three years of eligibility left.

We have a lot of guys who have a chance to get in there and do a job. This group is academically solid, and physically, this is a group that runs very well. They are strong enough and fast enough.

I don't think we had as many junior college guys visit as we had in previous years, but we got a higher percentage of those who did visit to sign. We had a lot of crying needs that were obvious to junior college players.

I think we did a good job of evaluating who to recruit. We have a lot more players with position flexibility, and we have a lot of players who will have opportunities to play. We signed a lot of guys who may play a position other than the one we signed them at.

I think the recruiting rankings are meaningless. My view is that recruiting has more to do with your long-range reputation than anything else. I am proud of who we have, and I think the players we have signed will help answer a lot of crucial needs. But, the jury is still out on what we have (as a class).

Several of these guys are going to play (next season), but we just don't know which ones. It will be fun to see all of these guys play. Some will be blown away by the competition, and others will be ready. We will have to wait and see who that will be.

Tomey on individual signees:
Fata Avegalio is an interesting guy because he could be a linebacker or a defensive end. He is very impressive on the run and hit. He is also a very good student.

Jermaine Chatman does not have spring practice, and it's hard for a player without spring practice to be able to play in the fall, but he may be able to do it.

Tremaine Cox has as much size and speed as anybody to come out of Tucson in a long time. He has a lot of speed and excellent size for a young player, and we will see how he develops.

David Crockett has three years of eligibility. He played with Chatman, and both are really similar. I like both of these guys.

Clarence Farmer is big, strong and runs well, and he is a fabulous young man. I think he has tremendous position flexibility. I hope he's a tailback, but he can be a lot of things.

Vince Feula is a very impressive defensive lineman. He is very quick and very hard to block. He is an outstanding football player.

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Steve Fleming, in my view, is as good a quarterback as there was available. He has so much upside, and he can run like the wind. He played on a 14-0 team that was not a passing team. He doesn't have a lot of the numbers the guys we recruited had, but he was the guy we wanted because he has so much upside. I think he will blossom into a great quarterback.

Keoki Fraser, Keoni's brother, had an outstanding year. He needs development, but I think he will be a good player.

Anthony Fulcher has tremendous position flexibility, and it will be interesting to see how he develops.

Erik Garcia will practice with us in the spring, so he will have a chance to learn the offense and get his feet wet in college football. I think having spring practice is important, especially at that position (quarterback). He has excellent feet, which is the thing that is the most attractive when you look at him on tape.

Chris Harris is a very impressive young man, and he has tremendous speed. He will be able to find a place to play. He is another one of those players at tailback who has the chance to be a lot of things.

I am not sure there is a more impressive guy on tape that we signed than Pat Howard. His school is one of the marquee schools in Texas. He is a hard-working guy, and he wants to play right away and have the chance to compete.

Justin Jochum is very impressive. I have never seen a transcript like his on a football player. He is the class valedictorian, and he also wants to be a good athlete. He played tailback and safety, and he has a great deal of size potential.

Chris Johnson reminds you of Yusuf Scott out of high school. He is taller, but he has the same kind of body.

We needed someone to compete at placekicker, and we thought Tommy (Kirovski) was the best one. He led the state of California in scoring, and he is an impressive football player. He will compete at place kicker, and he will kick off and punt, but we will have to see how much he can do.

Out of all the offensive linemen we signed, Reggie Sampay has the most position flexibility. He can play center, and he has great feet. His quickness and his athleticism are some of the same characteristics Bruce Wiggins had coming out of high school.

Tony Thompson is an impressive edge rusher. He comes off of the edge and makes plays.

Perry Thompson is a giant of a person, and he really has the chance to play defense as well as offense.

Juan Valentine is a very skilled receiver. There is a high likelihood that Juan will go to a junior college, but we wanted to sign him because we liked him, and he liked Arizona.

We recruited John Vorschek a couple of years ago, and he has grown a lot since then. He has three years of eligibility, and we feel like he will be a help this fall.

Ray Wells is a linebacker, and he is very fast. He reminds us some of the guys we have had who have played well at linebacker for us because he moves so well.

Tony Wingate was the first guy to commit to us, and he has outstanding size. He is somebody we recruited as a defensive back, and we think he has every opportunity to play there.

Ricky Williams is a very skilled receiver, and he was the receiver we liked the best. He is a tremendous guy because he has the size that we have not had as much of in recent years as we would have liked.

Ralph Zarate signed with Arizona State out of high school, and then he went to junior college. He changed his mind, and we are happy to have him. I think he will have a good college career.
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