Juco QB hopes second time the charm

There's a ton of kids that end up playing junior college football across the country every year, but the reasons they end up at those schools often times aren't all that unique. For former University of Arizona quarterback Ryan O'Hara, however, he took a road far less traveled and now looks to regain his eligibility and get back to a major D-I school.

O'Hara enrolled at Pasadena City College and will play for the Lancers this season while trying to sort things out with the NCAA with a petition to regain a year lost. The 6-foot-6, 215 lb bounce-back left Arizona last fall after his younger brother experience some kidney problems and needed a transplant.

"He requested that he wanted me to be by his side," said O'Hara. "As a big brother and a guy that he has always looked up to, I thought it was something I should do."

O'Hara was a highly decorated quarterback from John Muir High School in Pasadena and had options galore to choose from when sorting through his mailbag. He played in the Cal/Florida Bowl and was a member of the Elite-11 quarterbacks. He eventually chose Arizona over Tennessee, Oregon and a number of other major colleges.

O'Hara now finds his future a bit less certain as he waits for the NCAA decision, but he would love to get back to playing at a major college.

"I wouldn't reject any opportunities at this point," said O'Hara.

Pasadena City has started to get some scouts on campus as San Diego State showed up last week and Texas A&M is scheduled to make an appearance next week. The Lancers have had a terrific history with quarterbacks in recent years as Darnell Lovett (Louisiana-Monroe), Luke Sniewski (Louisiana-Lafayette), John Rattay (Arizona) and Nathan Chandler (Iowa) all went through the Pasadena system before transferring out.

O'Hara likes the idea of playing closer to family and would love to get another opportunity to play in the Pac-10 if it reared its head.

"I'd love to play Pac-10 football again," said O'Hara. "I love the style of play because they throw it a lot."

O'Hara is a tremendous athlete that also had a brief stint with the basketball team at Arizona. He runs near 4.6 in the 40 and was once clocked at 3.97 in the 20-yard shuttle. He played in five games for the football team in 2003 as a red-shirt freshman, playing against UTEP, Purdue, Oregon, LSU and Arizona State.

"I'd say I'm a pro style quarterback that is probably a bit more mobile than most tall guys," said O'Hara.

O'Hara plans on graduating this August with an AA degree, and with the help of the NCAA would have two years left to play two.