What Marquis Flowers Commitment Means For Arizona

The best high school player in the state of Arizona is staying home.

At the US Army All-American Game, Marquis Flowers picked up the blue University of Arizona cap to announce he will play college football for the Wildcats.

Flowers is the unanimous top high school football player in Arizona. He played running back, receiver, linebacker, and safety for Millennium High School.

The 6'3" 210 lb. Flowers will come to Arizona and start out at safety. While he has the frame to put on another 20 pounds, and possibly move to linebacker, Flowers will likely stay at safety.

Having watched Flowers play in person, he is the real deal.

He covered the entire half of the field and rarely had the ball thrown to his side of the field. He's also not afraid to get up near the line of scrimmage in order to help his team in run support.

This commitment is big for Arizona because, after finding previous success with less-heralded recruits, Stoops and company are proving they're able to lure in big recruits with their new-found success.

It has been years since Arizona landed the top recruit in the state and with many highly-regarded recruits in next year's class, Flowers commitment will raise some interest within those recruits.

Flowers turned down scholarships to more successful and higher rated teams in order to play for Arizona. His commitment showed that he believes in what Stoops is building and that he wants to be part of it.

Flowers will likely compete for a starting spot immediately at safety. Both safety spots could be open, as Cam Nelson has graduated and with Robert Golden possibly moving back to cornerback. Flowers will likely compete against Adam Hall and Joe Perkins for one of the starting positions.

The program is benefiting from a Holiday Bowl appearance and their best season in a decade. Grabbing commitments from big name in-state players, like Flowers and last year's recruit Adam Hall, will help Arizona lure future players in the state of Arizona.

(photo by Rivals.com)