Raiden Vines-Bright always wondered if there would be a way to combine the best aspects of his recruiting journey.
”I was up in Seattle for the Apple Cup. The atmosphere was amazing,” he recalled. “But Arizona was my first offer and I have the best relationships with the coaches.”
Even after visiting a Notre Dame and Florida it would ultimately be Washington and Arizona vying for his pledge.
”Before the coaching changed my top 2 schools were U of A and Washington, he said.
He loved everything about Seattle but he had a better relationship with then-Arizona receivers coach Kevin Cummins.
“It was going to come down to Washington and Arizona,” Vines-Bright said.
And it wasn’t going to be an easy decision—until it was when Washington lost it’s coaching staff to Alabama and Arizona’s coaching staff moved up to Washington.
”It was like a perfect storm,” he said. “I loved everything about Washington’s campus and Seattle.”
His decision was going to come down relationship and he had built his strongest bond with Cummings.
“I didn’t talk to Coach (JaMarcus) Shephard nearly as much as KC,” he said. “Arizona was my first offer.”
And he had a few offers, to say the least.
He had 4 unofficial visits to UA and had set up his official visit to Arizona for June 21.
Then the storm hit and it began to rain—Purple Reign.
“Combining the two together, the great staff and the great atmosphere,” he said. “I fell in love with everything.”
He committed Saturday before heading back to IMG Academy in Florida.
”Coach KC has always been consistent in recruiting me,” he said of the biggest factor in his decision. “He’sa smart guy and he’s proven that with the developmental aspect of the receivers at U of A. I wasn’t in contact with Coach Shephard nearly as often.”
Cummings had help along the was in gaining Vines-Bright’s commitment.
”I have a relationship with Demond Williams,” the 4-star receiver said. “He’ll hit me once in a while and say
“I also know Audric Harris and Jonah Coleman for a while,” he said.
Between those players they have big plans.
”I want to help bring a National Championship back to U-Dub,” he said.
