Arizona State has led the Pac-12 in national recruiting rankings for the past few weeks, but a big day for Arizona helped the Wildcats edge ahead of the Sun Devils with a month to go until Signing Day.
On Thursday, Arizona received verbal commitments from 5-star cornerback Jalen Tabor and 4-star offensive tackle Jordan Poland.
#ESPN300 #15 Jalen Tabor (#5 CB) verbally commits to @ArizonaFBall over @AlabamaFTBL @AllAmericaGame #UAALLAMERICA pic.twitter.com/eXTxHleKem
— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) January 2, 2014
Tabor is one of the top recruits in the country as Rivals.com ranks him as the 24th overall recruit and ESPN.com ranks him as the 15th best player in the class of 2014.
Jalen Tabor is the first five-star commit in the Pac-12 #Arizona
— Adam Gorney (@adamgorney) January 2, 2014
Tabor committed at the Under Armour All-America game on Thursday and chose the Wildcats over Alabama. SB Nation recruiting analyst Bud Elliot has scouted Tabor and says he's a press corner who should play immediately for the Wildcats next fall.
As for Poland, the La Jolla, Calif. native is the 14th ranked player in his home state as well as the 14th ranked offensive tackle in the country according to Rivals. Poland verbally committed to USC earlier in his recruiting process, but backed out and chose Arizona over offers from Arizona State, UCLA, and USC among others.
Jordan Poland has committed to Arizona
— Jason Scheer (@JasonScheer) January 2, 2014
At the beginning of the day on Thursday, Rivals.com ranked Arizona State 18th in its recruiting rankings. The 24th ranked Wildcats jumped to 17th with two impact recruits, which dropped the Sun Devils to 19th overall.
At the beginning of the day, Rivals had ASU 18th and UA 24th in its 2014 recruiting rankings. Now, UA is 17th and ASU is 19th.
— Shane Dale (@territorialcup) January 3, 2014
Scout.com ranked the Sun Devils 13th and the Wildcats 14th on Thursday morning, and the recruiting service has not updated its rankings for the two schools since the latest commitments.
According to 247Sports rankings, the Wildcats jumped nine places and now sit 15th nationally with the additions of Tabor and Poland to the class of 2014.
Both Rivals.com and Scout.com consider Arizona and Arizona State's current recruiting classes as the top two classes in the Pac-12 after Thursday's commitments.
Of course, the Sun Devils and the Wildcats still have plenty of work left to do with Signing Day just over a month away on Feb. 5.