Arizona Wildcats Star Playmaker Receives Major Praise From Rival Big 12 Coach
The 2024 college football season has not been a successful one for the Arizona Wildcats.
After winning 10 games during the 2023 campaign, they are going to be lucky to get invited to a bowl game this year. They are currently 3-6, riding a five-game losing streak and looking like a team that has thrown in the towel.
Ahead of their bye week, the Wildcats were destroyed by the UCF Knights, 56-12.
There hasn’t been much to get excited about in Tucson recently, as the team isn’t consistently playing well in any facet, however, they do have a few standout individual performers who are garnering some positive headlines.
One of them is star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
He is a one-man wrecking crew on offense, single-handily responsible for any success the team finds moving the ball through the air.
Through nine games, he has caught 63 passes for 1,066 yards and six touchdowns.
The yardage currently leads the Big 12 and is third in the country. He is tied for ninth nationally and fourth in the conference in receptions.
McMillan has picked up right where he left off in 2023, when he caught 90 passes for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns in 13 games. He was right there with Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze and Marvin Harrison Jr. for production last season, and all three went inside the top 10 of the 2024 NFL draft.
The Arizona record book could be rewritten by the end of the year.
If he opts to return to the Wildcats for his senior season, he would take down every statistical record in program history.
Coaches in the Big 12 certainly hope that he forgoes his eligibility and enters the 2025 NFL draft.
One coach in the conference, speaking to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, believes that the star pass catcher is the best non-quarterback in the league.
"He's the best we've played against, a stud," they said. "He'll be a top-10 or 15 [NFL draft] pick."
The first two names that come up when asked that question are McMillan and Colorado Buffaloes two-way star Travis Hunter.
Both are near the top of big boards in the upcoming draft, as they will almost certainly be the first two wide receivers selected. Some recent mock drafts have the Wildcats star even pushing into the top five.
Given the early projections, opposing Big 12 coaches may get their wish and not have to game plan against him in 2025.
