Cameron Denson is part of an elite group of in-state recruits in the 2014 class. Photo by Andy Morales, TucsonCitizen.com

Emptying the football notebook after last week’s Signing Day and looking ahead …

The Arizona Wildcats have one committed player for their 2014 class — Salpointe Catholic receiver/defensive back Cameron Denson. Based on the early rankings, he could be the highest-rated recruit of the still-young Rich Rodriguez era.

The major recruiting websites have checked in with their 2014 lists, so let’s have a look.

Denson is:

–41st nationally by 247Sports

–51st by Scout.com

–64th by Rivals.com

Denson is a great start for Arizona as it tries to build its brand in-state. Arizona State, with its third-year coach, Todd Graham, is trying to do the same.

Each coach talks about owning the state in recruiting — “we don’t want just a couple of them; we want them all,” Rodriguez said of the best prospects — but neither program has secured the borders in recent years.

Arizona and Arizona State each signed just one of the state’s top 10 recruits, as ranked by Rivals.com. Linebacker Chans Cox (No. 3) is a Sun Devil; linebacker DeAndre Miller is a Wildcat.

UCLA signed three of the state’s top 10 recruits.

While Arizona and ASU have had key in-state recruiting wins recently — Ka’Deem Carey to Arizona; D.J. Foster to ASU; Marquis Flowers to Arizona; Jaxon Hood to ASU — but there hasn’t been enough of them.

In the past four recruiting classes, the Wildcats and Sun Devils have each signed just five top 10 players in the state. So, 75 percent of the top talent in Arizona has gone elsewhere in the past four years.

Now is the time for Arizona and/or Arizona State to make a move. The state is brimming with elite talent this season, with Rivals.com ranking five players in the national 100 — and seven in the top 150.

* * *

The number of recruits rated a three-star prospect by a particular recruiting service is usually between 1,300 and 1,400. From that pack, Scout.com picked 15 “who could star at the next level.”

One of those was Arizona signee Zachary Green, a running back from Ventura, Calif.

Wrote Brandon Huffman for Scout: “The most productive college running back in the country this year was Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey, once a three-star recruit. Green can be that same type of back for head coach Rich Rodriguez’s offense, and if Carey leaves after his 2013 season, Green may have a chance to do it even earlier than expected.”

Green and Pierre Cormier — a four-star recruit by Scout.com — are a nice combination. Either could push for playing time in 2013. Backup Daniel Jenkins transferred to Washington State as a graduate student.

There’s little experience behind Carey: Senior Kylan Butler, sophomore Jared Baker and redshirt freshman J.T. Washington.

“Zach is kind of a workhorse type, a big guy,” Rodriguez said.

“He runs hard. He has great short-area quickness; good feet. Very strong. Pierre is maybe more of a home-run guy. He has outstanding speed.

“I think tailback depth is an issue for us. Ka’Deem had a lot of carries, but we like to play more than just two guys. I would like to have three or four guys in a rotation because we do play two at the same time a lot.”

Signees T.J. Johnson and Mauriece Lee can also play running back, but are projected as receivers. Rodriguez said Johnson might be the fastest player in this class.

* * *

Two Arizona players, both interior defensive linemen, are in the middle of their Mormon mission — Aiulua Fanene and Saneilia Fuimaono — and could return for the 2014 spring semester.

Will they be back? Hard to say right now. Rodriguez is a new coach to them.

“There has been communication and I’m happy to welcome them back to the program,” said Rodriguez, adding he gets an e-mail from them perhaps once a week.

Fanene and Fuimaono each played as freshmen in 2011, combining for 11 tackles and three starts. Each played at about 300 pounds, and their size is something Arizona could use in 2014.

* * *

Arizona’s 2012 recruiting class was mostly done before the start of last season. The Wildcats received only five commitments after mid-August, and a couple of those were needed only after UA lost a couple of committed recruits.

The early commitments weren’t necessarily a blueprint for future classes; it just worked out that way.

“I think it’s an anomaly, personally,” said Matt Dudek, the program’s director of on-campus recruiting and player personnel.

“Would we love to have it done early? Absolutely. I think this year was just one of those years that was done early, and every class will be different.”

Mauriece Lee ran for 8.2 yards per carry last season for Marcos de Niza. Photo by Pat Shanahan, The Arizona Republic

As of late last week, the Arizona Wildcats football team had offered scholarships to about 110 high school juniors.

Coach Rich Rodriguez turned two of those offers into player commitments on Saturday, according to multiple reports.

Those two players are running backs – Mauriece Lee from Tempe Marcos de Niza High School and Zachary Green from St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura, Calif.

They were on campus visits this weekend, able to watch the team scrimmage Friday night.

Both are considered three-star prospects by 247Sports.com.

Lee (5-7, 170) ran for 722 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, averaging 8.2 yards per carry. He also caught 23 passes for 405 yards. The Wildcats might hope he holds some sway with his teammate Priest Willis, a five-star cornerback who holds dozens of scholarship offers, including from LSU, USC, Michigan, Notre Dame, Arkansas and Arizona.

(Willis’ stepfather told the Arizona Republic that Lee’s commitment will be a “non-factor.”)

Green (5-10, 210) last week earned the running back MVP award at the Nike Football Training Camp. Arizona was the first to offer him a scholarship and got his commitment before other schools could turn up the heat. USC and Alabama have been among those interested in Green.

Green rushed 133 times for 1,050 yards as a junior.

These are the first players in the Class of 2013 to commit to Rodriguez. Arizona also has a commitment from offensive lineman Logan Stott from St. George, Utah. He committed to the former UA coaching staff last May and is still planning to sign with the Wildcats.

I asked Rodriguez last week about what he thought would be a good number of commitments to have this summer.

“I’ve thought about it quite a bit because it seems like there are more and more early commitments now than ever before,” he said. “It seems like some guys have 13 and 15. That’s great for them. I think it’s more important to have the right guys.

“I would expect us to have a handful, maybe half a dozen by the end of summer. But in a way, I don’t want to fill up too much because there are a lot of guys who emerge as seniors or get overlooked a little bit. In their senior years, they get bigger, stronger and show they can play.”

Rodriguez’s first class included a couple of those late-blooming type of players, including quarterback Javelle Allen and receiver Trey Griffey.

“I think sometimes you can take a guy too early,” Rodriguez said.

“But we have a lot of offers out there, and there are a whole bunch of guys that if they called up and said, ‘I want to come,’ I’d say, ‘OK.’”

He happily said “OK” twice on Saturday.