Arizona Making Progress With Talented 2027 Defensive Lineman

• “I continue to be grateful for the ones that believes in me,” Paiva wrote. “Blessings. Thank you [Coach Salave’a] for making the trip to meet me in person. I am extremely excited to announce, I have earned a P4 scholarship offer with the wildcats.”

Since offering him, the Wildcats have made significant progress in his recruitment. While several schools are actively pursuing Paiva, Rivals’ Marcus Benjamin recently highlighted a few programs that stand out to the three-star defensive lineman and reported that he plans to visit Arizona and Penn State this spring.

• “Arizona, Boise State, FIU, Penn State, San Diego State, and UNLV are all in contact and hoping to get the 6-foot-3, 300-pounder on campus for a spring visit,” Benjamin wrote. “Plans are underway to set visit dates with the Wildcats and Nittany Lions.”

Although he’s only a Junior at Skyline, Paiva already has the size to play at the Power Four level, standing 6’3” and weighing 300 pounds. He’s also a talented prospect, and his recruitment has gained momentum over the past few months.

Paiva would be a welcome addition to the Wildcats' 2027 class, with 247Sports’ composite rankings listing him as the No. 828 overall player in the country, the No. 9 defensive lineman, and the No. 11 prospect from Utah.

As of now, there’s no clear frontrunner in Paiva’s recruitment, and several programs are pursuing the young defensive lineman, making solidifying a visit with him all the more crucial for Brennan and his staff.

While the Wildcats will face competition from several schools for Paiva, if they can continue making progress with him over the next few months and impress him during his visit to Tucson this spring, Arizona should be very much in the mix for one of the top defensive linemen in the 2027 class. 

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