Wildcats land top-notch OL
The Arizona Wildcats have landed one of the West Coast’s top offensive linemen. The Wildcats under the Mike Stoops regime is becoming a school that other Pac-10 schools will have to reckon with on the recruiting trail.
The Wildcats have landed Eben Britton (6-6 ½, 280, 5.0) from Burbank (Calif.) Burroughs.
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Britton camped at Arizona this weekend and obviously he liked what he saw.
“After seeing Arizona State I knew that everything would be nice everywhere but absolutely everything was a perfect fit for me at Arizona,” Britton said. “The coaching staff, the school, the facilities, everything was perfect for me.”
Arizona and Arizona State were the first schools to come out of the box with offers in March. They were quickly followed by offers from UCLA, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, San Diego State, Purdue and Oklahoma.
There would have been plenty more but Britton decided to end his recruitment early.
In an earlier interview with Rivals.com Burroughs coach Keith Knoop said. “We think Eben will end up the League Lineman MVP his senior season. I don’t see any other team in the league having a lineman like Eben.”
“Eben is a great kid and super motivated for football,” Knoop said. “He won the league in the shot put as a sophomore but he won’t participate in track because he wants to concentrate on football.”
“Eben is a very lean 280 pounds,” Knoop said. “He could possibly carry 315 pounds with out losing any quickness.”
“Eben has outstanding leadership skills,” Knoop said. “He has the respect of his teammates.”
“A lot of young guys are afraid to get after people if they aren’t doing things right because the peer pressure to be liked is so great,” Knoop said. “Not Eben he doesn't let things like that get in the way of the job at hand.
“Eben’s leadership is rubbing off on the other guys,” Knoop said. “His leadership skills should help him on the next level.”
Britton was selected all-league second-team as a junior.
This is the second big time recruit to say yes to Mike Stoops and company for the class of 2005. Britton follows top-flight quarterback prospect Willie Tuitama (6-3, 210, 4.8) from Stockton (Calif.) St. Mary’s in helping the Arizona get off to a very fine start.