It was Mother’s Day, and Justin Belknap was in the car heading home from church when he received a phone call.
It was from an unfamiliar number, but Belknap recognized the Tucson area code, so he answered the call.
It was Rich Rodriguez.
“Is your mom there?” the Arizona head coach asked.
She was.
“Let me talk to her,” Rodriguez said.
Belknap passed the phone to his mom. She immediately started crying.
“I knew right away what it was,” Belknap recalled.
The Arizona Wildcats awarded the redshirt sophomore a full scholarship, rewarding him for his freshman season in which he started 11 games at defensive end.