Rushing On Arizona’s Mind

The best tailback on the Arizona roster may be Leon Callen, who was idled by a tardy academic clearance Monday on the first day of double practices at training camp.

“He will be out here when he can,” Arizona coach Dick Tomey said. “We are waiting for his transcripts. That is way out of our control.”

Callen, a freshman from Concord, Calif., rushed for 2,022 yards and scored 30 touchdowns last season.

The Wildcats are counting on Callen to improve their 1995 numbers - last in the Pac-10 in yards per carry, rushing touchdowns and yards per game. In the meantime, Gary Taylor, who started every game last year, is No. 1 on the tailback depth chart, followed by Kevin Schmidtke and Scooter Sprotte.

A fourth runner, Kelvin Eafon, received plenty of handoffs in the half-pad workouts.

Eafon, a reserve guard for the basketball team the past two years, has decided to concentrate on football.

“I am not missing basketball right now because I’m having so much fun coming out here, learning the plays and going against the first-team defense. This is fun,” said Eafon, who was recruited to play football by Florida State, Texas and Michigan after a standout career at Seagoville (Texas) High School.

Instead, he committed to a basketball scholarship at Arizona.

He appeared to have kept his football instincts.

“I still have it,” Eafon said. “I still have the quickness from playing basketball. I still have the conditioning and I still have the toughness.”