The new staff of the Arizona Wildcat under Brent Brennan has prioritized some states in its recruiting, including California, Texas and Hawaii. But that doesn't mean they've neglected their own backyard.

The Wildcats have done a good job of recruiting in the state and have the state’s best passer in Lukas Haugo last month. And on Thursday they picked up another top-20 player in Arizona and the third-best receiver, Chandler Basha, playmaker Gio Richardson has announced that he will play college football in Tucson.

The 6'1″, 175-pound Richardson made a splash as a junior last season. In 12 games, he rushed for 893 yards on 55 catches with 10 touchdowns. He also rushed for 101 yards on five carries with one TD. He's a true slot player with a quick start and good top end speed. He's also twitchy and agile… a nightmare for opponents in the slot.

Arizona secured his commitment after he took an official visit to Tucson in June. He chose the Cats despite offers from Arizona State, Kansas State, Boise State, Bowling Green, Northern Arizona, Central Michigan and San Diego State. ASU and K-State were his other finalists.

Richardson is rated as a 3-star player in 247's internal and composite rankings. Internally, 247 has him as the No. 214 wide receiver and the 18th best player in the state. Nationally, he is the No. 1,247 player, No. 181 receiver and the 11th best player in Arizona in the composite.

An interesting note: Richardson was one of the first out-of-state players offered by Brennan's team after it established itself in Tucson.

You can see his junior highlights below.

Richardson is Arizona's 18th commitment in the 2025 recruiting class, the fourth commitment from the state and the third receiver as the Wildcats will need at least two new starters next year. Tetairoa McMillan is expected to become a professional and Montana Lemonious Craig Diploma.