Cameron Allerheiligen is a mystery, from his hard-to-pronounce last name to his low-profile status as a football recruit.
The Arizona Wildcats are hoping Allerheiligen (pronounced al-er-HIGH-luh-gun) can soon become a household name.
Allerheiligen committed to Arizona's quarterback-strapped 2010 recruiting class Sunday, 72 hours before national signing day. The Keller, Texas, native will fill the spot vacated by Matt Brown, who decommitted last week to sign with TCU.
Allerheiligen said Sunday night he is "ready to come in, get in the program and win some football games."
Allerheiligen, 18, said he wasn't deterred by the Wildcats' vacancy at offensive coordinator. Coach Mike Stoops told him the Wildcats would stick with the spread offense, the same attack Allerheiligen ran at Keller High School.
The senior threw for 2,535 yards and 23 touchdowns for a team that went 6-5 and advanced to the Class 5A playoffs. Maxpreps.com named Allerheiligen the District 5/5A Offensive Player of the Year.
Allerheiligen found exposure - and Division I scholarship offers - hard to come by. The Rivals.com recruiting service didn't profile, or rank, the 6-foot-3-inch, 185-pound quarterback.
Northern Illinois and Toledo offered scholarships, and Wyoming was interested. But the quarterback held out, hoping for better things.
His wish came true last week, when Arizona - hoping to replace Brown - called Allerheiligen to schedule an official visit. He came to Tucson on Friday. Stoops offered Allerheiligen a scholarship over breakfast on Sunday, and he quickly accepted.
The quarterback is expected to enroll this summer and serve as a backup to Nick Foles and Matt Scott this fall.
"It's been frustrating, nerve-racking … you kind of go through all the emotions," Allerheiligen said. "God's got a huge plan for me, and it happens to be in Tucson. Things fell my way. It happened to work out.
"I went from one school in the MAC to a BCS program. It's awesome."
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