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The UA football team has landed one of its biggest recruits.

Jarrell Barbour, a 6-foot-3-inch, 190-pound wide receiver and safety from Peoria Centennial High School, verbally committed to the Wildcats late Sunday night.

The Rivals.com recruiting network lists Barbour as a four-star prospect and the state’s second-best player heading into his senior season. Barbour chose Arizona over eight other schools, including Michigan, Oklahoma and Arizona State. He participated in junior-day camps at both the UA and ASU during the winter.

“My parents I were talking about it, and they said it was my choice to make,” Barbour said late Sunday from his home in Surprise. “(Arizona) just felt right, like a place where I can belong.”

Barbour’s junior year at Centennial was one to remember. He caught 24 passes for 505 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 418 yards and five touchdowns. Defensively, he registered 41 tackles, grabbed an interception and recovered two fumbles.

In December, Barbour caught five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown in Centennial’s 34-0 win over Sunnyside High School in the Class 5A-II state championship game. At the time, Barbour said he was considering the UA and Cal.

Barbour said he expects to play either outside receiver or slot receiver at the UA. He will likely be paired with Gerell Robinson, another one of the Cats’ top offensive recruits.

Robinson, a star at Chandler’s Hamilton High School, is being recruited as a quarterback and wide receiver. “I see me and Gerell Robinson doing big things on the offensive side of the ball,” he said. “It’s good that he’s coming, too.”

Barbour is the 13th player to commit to the Wildcats’ 2008 recruiting class. Barbour and Arizona’s other recruits can sign national letters of intent in February.