Athlete Bryan Harper (Ontario, Calif./Colony) took an official visit to Arizona over the weekend and said the Cats impressed him a lot more than he envisioned.

Heading in to his visit with UA, Harper was a heavy UCLA lean with Oregon running second. The athlete said the Cats are now right there in the mix.

“It was a lot of fun, I had a great time with the other recruits there,” Harper said. “I spent a lot of time with this cat from Louisiana, Jarrell Bennett and he might have been the funniest guy I’ve ever hung out with. He had already committed to UA and was talking them up a lot and we got along really well. All the recruits got along great though, there’s a real sense of family at Arizona, and I liked that a lot.

“Coach Rodriguez, I just call him Coach Rod, he’s a real cool dude and down to earth. He seems like a fun coach to play for, and I like what he had to say. They like me for quarterback but said if I’m not playing in the rotation at quarterback, I’ll play receiver. I like corner and receiver, so I’m fine with either position. I think UCLA probably still has a slight lead right now, but Arizona is right behind them now.”

Harper will visit Oregon this weekend and UCLA on Jan. 27.

“I wanted to visit UCLA this weekend, because I know it’s their big recruiting week,” Harper said. “Demetrice Martin said no way, he wants to be my last visit and doesn’t want anyone to come after them. That’s fair, I guess, but it should be a fun couple of weeks for sure. I’ll make my final decision on signing day.”