Kyle Quinn was a two-year starter for Arizona. Photo by Matt Kartozian-USA Today Sports

Kyle Quinn won’t be one of those guys waiting nervously by his phone during the last rounds of the NFL Draft.

Maybe the former Arizona Wildcats center will get drafted. Probably not. No matter. Even as an undrafted free agent, he’s very likely to land in an NFL camp later this spring, and that’s all he wants. For now.

“I felt I moved my stock up a little bit today,” Quinn said after completing a workout at Arizona’s Pro Day that was closed to the media.

“But I’m not really concerned with that. I’m just looking to make a roster spot. That’s my goal. I don’t care about draft day. I’m not going to be on the emotional rollercoaster, like so many athletes are. It’s all about getting in the NFL and making it through camp and making a team roster.

“The draft stuff is just the fancy stuff. That’s stuff for TV and entertainment.”

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Juron Criner was the only all-conference player for Arizona from its 2008 recruiting class. Photo by Chris Morrison-USA Today Sports

The Arizona Wildcats football recruiting class of 2008 is in the books.

Arizona was coming off a 5-7 season in coach Mike Stoops fourth season and hadn’t had a winning record in nine seasons.

The Cats weren’t operating from a position of strength and finished 39th nationally in the recruiting rankings of Rivals.com and Scout.com, which put Arizona slightly below average among BCS conference teams.

So, how did Arizona do with its 2008 recruiting class?

Somewhere around average sounds about right.

The Cats hit on about half of the class, with “hit” defined as a starting player, but there wasn’t a lot of star power and not nearly enough defense.

Let’s take a look …

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Kyle Quinn leaves Monday morning for a week of practice and interviews at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. Photo by Matt Kartozian-USA Today Sports

About a week after the Arizona Wildcats’ win in the New Mexico Bowl, senior center Kyle Quinn got a call from a number he didn’t recognize. He answered anyway.

Hello?

“This is Coach Tomey.”

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,” Quinn said about hearing from Dick Tomey, the winningest coach in Arizona history.

“I got nervous. I actually got goosebumps. Just hearing from him with the amount of respect I have for him and the passion he has for this school and this city, it’s really amazing.”

There was a practical purpose for the call. Tomey, serving as a head coach and procurer of talent for the Casino Del Sol College All-Star Game, was inviting Quinn to participate in the game, which took place Friday at Kino Stadium.

Quinn and two other ex-Wildcats — fullback/defensive end Taimi Tutogi and defensive lineman Dominique Austin — helped the West squad to a 40-7 victory.

“I was really proud of all those guys,” Tomey said after the game. “Taimi was terrific. Kyle is a great leader.”

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Kyle Quinn works against Cal’s Aaron Tipoti in practice Monday. Photo courtesy of V. Valdez Photography

This isn’t Rich Rodriguez’s offense any more.

Former Arizona Wildcats center Kyle Quinn began the next stage of his football career Monday, practicing with the West squad in preparation for the Casino Del Sol College All-Star Game, which will be held Friday at Kino Stadium at 7 p.m.

“Now we get to huddle and snap under center,” he said after practice.

He did none of the former in his senior season in Rodriguez’s hurry-up scheme and only twice delivered the ball directly to the quarterback — in the victory formation at the end of games.

Quinn is working with the West team, getting offensive-line instruction from former Utah and Weber State head coach Ron McBride, also an ex-Arizona assistant coach under Dick Tomey. Tomey is the head coach of the West squad.

Quinn, a two-year starter at Arizona (although he missed four games this season because of an ankle injury), might be considered a late-round possibility, or at least a free-agent to bring into camp. Scouts have interest: He also is mulling a recent invitation to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, which will be held Jan. 19 in Los Angeles.

Here is a post-practice Q&A with Quinn:

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Kyle Quinn missed three games because of injury this season but was Arizona’s starting center for the past two years. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

Three Arizona Wildcats have accepted invitations to play in the Casino Del Sol College All-Star Game in Tucson next month.

Center Kyle Quinn, defensive lineman Dominique Austin and fullback/defensive end Taimi Tutogi will get a chance to interview and workout for scouts, and then play in front of UA fans one more time on Dec. 11.

The game will be played Jan. 11 at 7 p.m.

It will be interesting to how scouts evaluate Tutogi, who played both ways as a senior. He certainly has the body to be a situational NFL player on offense while being able to play on special teams. Austin missed the final seven games of the regular season because of a foot injury but came back to play in the New Mexico Bowl victory.

A list of 64 committed players released by bowl officials includes 13 from the Pac-12. Arizona State will send punter Josh Hubner, a Lindy’s third-team All-American.

One of the more intriguing players could be Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel, who decided to enter the draft and not try to seek a medical hardship season from earlier in his career.

Tuel spent part of his childhood in Tucson, attending Salpointe Catholic High School for a year before his family moved to Fresno, Calif.

More player announcements are expected in the next week or so. The game featured about 90 prospects last season.

Here is a list of the 64 players who accepted invitations:

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Nick Johnson celebrates a 3-point shot against Florida. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Solomon Hill finishing for two points. John Bonano kicking for one.

The basketball team forcing three turnovers in a 16-second span with less than a minute to play. The football team scoring 14 points in 27 seconds in the final minute.

Mark Lyons driving, undeterred and confident, for the game-winning basket. Matt Scott coolly connecting to Tyler Slavin for the game-winning 2-yard touchdown.

Nick Johnson proclaiming, “We’re the real deal.” Scott getting choked up, eyes red, when reflecting on his five seasons at Arizona.

It was one program, two teams and a pair of ridiculous comeback victories separated by less than eight hours and about 450 miles of driving distance on one glorious Saturday for the Arizona Wildcats.

Call it Bear Down Saturday.

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Matt Scott (right) and Austin Hill celebrate the New Mexico Bowl victory. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

ALBUQUERQUE — Kyle Quinn took a knee and bowed his head.

There was chaos everywhere. Teammates running around, screaming. Fans on the field. Season over. It all happened so fast, so improbably. It was overwhelming.

One moment Arizona was trailing Nevada by 10 points, with less than two minutes to go in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, and the Wolf Pack possessing the ball at the UA 7.

But here were the Wildcats, celebrating as they have not celebrated all season, the clock having hit 0:00 at University Stadium with Arizona having won 49-48, rejoicing in its most unlikely victory since Ortege Jenkins somersaulted into the end zone on a cold Seattle night at Husky Stadium in 1998.

Quinn, a senior center and a team captain, was a solitary figure near the sideline, on a knee, trying to make sense of the final two minutes:

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This season wouldn’t have been possible without the play and leadership of Matt Scott. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Soon after Arizona hired Rich Rodriguez, the seniors-to-be filed into his new office, one-by-one, to hear the same message.

Center Kyle Quinn remembers Rodriguez saying something like this:

“This is your team. It’s the seniors’ team. I may not have recruited you guys, and this is your last year, but I want you guys to have the best senior year possible. You’re my guys.”

This is always the worry with a coaching change — the tenuous relationship between the new coach and the old players. The guy with the long-term plan doesn’t always have use for the short-timers. The short-timers tune out the guy with the long-term plan.

“We really bought into his philosophy and his mindset,” Quinn said.

“We were eager to change,” said senior defensive lineman Chris Merrill. “We knew we had to buy in for change to be implemented.”

“It started with us,” added senior fullback/defensive end Taimi Tutogi. “We talked to the guys and said, ‘Look at this guy’s record; he’s done a lot of good things at previous schools.’ The guys followed their leaders.”

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This is what awaits Arizona center Kyle Quinn on Saturday night. Photo by Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

Quarterback Matt Scott should be back from a concussion. Running back Ka’Deem Carey is making a run at the national rushing title. Austin Hill is considered one of the top 10 receivers in the nation.

That’s all nice.

But you can make the case that the most important player on the Arizona Wildcats offense in the next two games is senior center Kyle Quinn.

Certainly, no one will have more demanding assignments.

Quinn has to take on Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound slice of the Wasatch Mountains, on Saturday and then turn around and try to handle Arizona State’s Will Sutton six days later in Tucson.

Sutton is light, quick and incredibly productive for an interior lineman, with 10.5 sacks among his 17 tackles for loss, despite missing nearly two full games because of a knee injury.

But one game at a time. Saturday, it’s Lotulelei, potentially the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

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Kyle Quinn is likely to play this week at UCLA after missing three full games. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats starting center Kyle Quinn, who has missed the past three-and-half games because of an ankle injury, has been upgraded to probable, according to the team’s injury report, issued Thursday afternoon.

Senior Addison Bachman has replaced Quinn in the lineup. With starting guard Trace Biskin having returned from injury last week, the rotation up front this week could feature eight players.

There are two Cats listed as questionable: Defensive lineman Kirifi Taula (shoulder) and a new name to the list — fullback/defensive end Taimi Tutogi (neck).

Tutogi isn’t racking up a lot of stats on either side of the ball, but his blocking is valuable on offense and he’s been able to help all season as a third-down pass rusher.

Two players are considered out: Dominique Austin (foot) and Terrence Miller (ankle). Austin said last week that Austin is out for the season; Miller has missed the past two games and four overall this season.