Mario Alford

The drama between Arizona and West Virginia has intensified after recruits Brandon Golson and Mario Alford switched on Signing Day and sent in letters-of-intent to the Mountaineers.

Golson and Alford were teammates at Georgia Military Academy.

The dominoes were set in motion by safeties coach Tony Gibson, who left Arizona last month to return to West Virginia, where he coached under Rich Rodriguez. Gibson was the lead recruiter at Arizona on both prospects … and he got them to flip.

Golson is a three-star outside linebacker who originally signed with South Carolina out of high school. His loss is particularly significant, considering he was going to fill a position of need.

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Mario Alford

When Arizona Wildcats safeties coach Tony Gibson left earlier this month for West Virginia, he tried to bring a couple of recruits along with him.

Gibson was the lead recruiter on a pair of Arizona recruits from Georgia Military College — linebacker Brandon Golson and running back Mario Alford. Despite being committed to the Wildcats, they each took an official visit to the campus in Morgantown, W.Va., last weekend.

The one Arizona apparently has to worry about is Alford, rated the 11th-best junior college recruit in the country by 247Sports.

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The Arizona Wildcats’ big recruiting weekend, and the team’s 39-36 upset of USC, netted a commitment from a junior college speedster.

Mario Alford, a versatile offensive skill player from Georgia Military College, committed before he returned home with three of his teammates who also were on official visits. One of those, linebacker Brandon Golson, said earlier this month he would be a Wildcat (more on him below).

Alford (5-9, 170) was timed in 4.43 seconds for 40 yards at the Atlanta MVP Camp in April 2010.

“He has been exceptional any time we get the ball in his hands — out of the backfield, as a receiver, on reverses, on sweeps,” GMC offensive coordinator Ross Robinson said Monday morning.

“From everything I have been told, Arizona is going to use him like we use him, as a ‘package’ guy. We use him in all different ways.”

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The Arizona Wildcats’ defense is young, thin and small. Sounds like a perfect opportunity for a junior college transfer to make an impact.

Brandon Golson … come on down.

Golson, an outside linebacker and former South Carolina signee, committed to Arizona on Monday morning, according to multiple recruiting services. He has said in previous interviews that he will graduate in December and be a mid-year transfer.

Golson (6-3, 230) is rated as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, 247Sports and FoxSportsNext.com (formerly Scout.com). He is considered the 33rd-best junior college prospect in the country, according to 247Sports.

Golson, from Calhoun County High School in South Carolina, signed with the Gamecocks in 2010, but didn’t qualify. He then attended Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, signed with Louisville in February 2011 and went through spring ball before being ruled a partial qualifier.

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