Eric SorensonHollywood, CA — When Nate Phillips was offered a scholarship from the University of Arizona he promised himself he would make the most of the opportunity because that’s really all the former Basha Bears star wanted.
“They gave me a shot,” Phillips said from Pac-12 Media Day Thursday morning. “They saw what I could do and now it’s time to prove it.” Coming here they gave me the best opportunity.”
The so-called experts weren’t certain the five-seven, 186-pound two-star athlete had the “it” factor. Despite amassing over 3000 total yards and 31 touchdowns in high school, Phillips only other offers were Air Force, NAU and North Dakota. The intangibles, or supposed lack-there-of, didn’t seem to bother Rich Rodriguez and Wildcats offensive coordinator Calvin Magee who recruited Phillips to Tucson.
Three years later everyone’s happy as Phillips leads a seasoned group of wide receivers into fall camp.
Preview of what’s to come? pic.twitter.com/v49dBE9NHU
— Nate Phillips (@natephil6) July 14, 2016
“Coming here they gave me the best opportunity,” he explained. “And I capitalized on it.”
One of the bigger “questions” heading into the season is who will be throwing to Phillips, who caught 44 balls for 564 yards and four scores in 2015, and his posse: incumbent junior Anu Solomon or redshirt sophomore Brandon Dawkins who provided a spark last fall?
To Phillips it really doesn’t matter.
It’s just business as usual.
“Since my freshman year we’ve had a quarterback battle coming into fall camp and you’ve seen we’ve gone to three straight bowl games,” he said. “I don’t think it’s really going to matter…no matter who we play we’re going to [play] our game.”
Quiet confidence, one of Phillips’ best traits.
Not bad for a two-star recruit.
