Hale surprised by Pac-12 offer
Naijiel Hale had not been talking much to Arizona so when his coach at Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco told him the Wildcats offered it was a complete shock.
"It was a total surprise," Hale said. "I wasn't even talking to them and then my coach told me they wanted to offer me. I didn't even know this was coming.
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"They also have the old Michigan coaching staff and my cousin went there. He gave me a call earlier and was telling me how they run things."
Hale's cousin is Jonas Mouton of the San Diego Chargers and the St. John Bosco cornerback said he's only heard good things about Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez and his coaching style.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound cornerback who finished with 50 tackles and four interceptions in his junior season said he's taking what Mouton said about Rodriguez into serious consideration in his recruitment.
It's still too early to make any decisions but Arizona looks good.
"He just said they work really hard," Hale said.
"He doesn't know too many people who work like him. He said they didn't win too many games when he was there but they run things a great way and not too many people run things the way he does."
Hale's recruitment has been busier with new offers from Arizona and Boise State.
Oregon continues to show interest every day, Northwestern could be close to an offer and Hale said Arizona State is also reaching out.
As this off-season continues, Hale said even more programs could get involved.
"It seems like more and more colleges are coming in and seeing about us," Hale said.