Scottsdale Saguaro LB Tristan Monday commits to Arizona Wildcats

Saguaro defensive end Tristan Monday during practice at Saguaro High.

Arizona picked up another commitment for its 2022 recruiting class, when three-star Phoenix-area outside linebacker Tristan Monday pledged to the Wildcats on, well, Monday. 

{{tncms-inline account=”MondayTristan” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Staying Home!!!🌵 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BearDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BearDown</a> 🐻⬇️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ItsPersonal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ItsPersonal</a> <a href="https://t.co/heWwZvTV5P">pic.twitter.com/heWwZvTV5P</a></p>— Tristan Monday (@MondayTristan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MondayTristan/status/1374133798057603074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2021</a></blockquote>” id=”1374133798057603074″ type=”twitter”}}

The 6-foot-4-inch, 240-pound Monday, who is a junior at state powerhouse Scottsdale Saguaro High School, selected the UA over Florida State, Baylor, Colorado and Idaho. Monday is rated by 247 Sports as the 11th-best prospect from Arizona, and the No. 58 outside linebacker nationally. 

Corralling players from top in-state high school football programs has been a revolving battle for the Wildcats in recent years, but has evidently been a priority for first-year head coach Jedd Fisch, with the addition of Monday and three-star Chandler Hamilton offensive lineman Grayson Stovall, who is the first Husky to commit to the UA since cornerback Malcolm Holland in 2015. The Wildcats also attracted former Chandler standouts, running back Drake Anderson and safety Gunner Maldonado, through the NCAA’s transfer portal. 

Monday became the first Saguaro Sabercat to commit to the UA in at least 20 years. 

Over the last three recruiting cycles alone, the Sabercats, winners of six-straight state championships between 2014-19 under head coach Jason Mohns, have pumped out numerous big-time football prospects, including star cornerback Kelee Ringo (Georgia), cornerback Jacobe Covington (Washington), linebacker Damian Sellers (UCLA), defensive back Denzel Burke (Ohio State), offensive tackle Bram Walden (Oregon), defensive end Quinton Somerville (UCLA), offensive tackle Jaylan Jeffers (Oregon), wide receiver Matt Polk (Oklahoma State), linebacker Will Shaffer (Arizona State), kicker Parker Lewis (USC) and linebacker Connor Soelle (ASU). 

Monday’s commitment put an end to the Saguaro-to-Tucson drought. And the Wildcats could add more, if three-star guard Parker Brailsford joins the Wildcats’ ’22 recruiting class over USC, Oregon State, San Diego State, Colorado, Michigan State and Boise State, among others. 

Currently, Arizona has five commits for its 2022 recruiting class: Monday, Stovall, three-star running back Jonah Coleman, Long Beach, Calif. cornerback Tacario Davis and Massachusetts defensive end Jermaine Wiggins Jr., who committed to the Wildcats on Friday. 

Wildcats begin their month-long spring football camp on Tuesday.