C.J. Cox, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound three-star safety from North Garland High School in Garland, Texas, committed to UNLV on Dec. 19 over Oklahoma State and Purdue.
"I took my official visit to UNLV the weekend before and was really impressed with them," Cox said. "I loved the coaches and players and they are recruiting me for running back and not safety like everybody else.
"They need help on offense and they think I might be able to play early. When I was there it just felt right. The campus is unbelievable and everything is brand new. Plus it's not too big and the football facilities are top of the line too.
"I talked to my family about it after I got back home and we felt it was the right thing to do," said Scout.com's No. 46 safety. "I've got a lot of family out in California and a cousin in Las Vegas. Plus I really wanted to play running back. That was a main thing for me. I didn't really get a chance to play running back this year because they needed me at safety, but I like carrying the ball."
Cox didn't take any other official visits and doesn’t plan to. "Purdue offered me a visit, but not a scholarship," he said. "I was gonna visit them in January, but I'm done now. I'm not visiting anybody else."
Cox claims to have offers from Oklahoma State, Rice, Utah, Wisconsin and Nebraska, although he hasn't heard from the Huskers in over a month. "Since coach Bill Callahan was fired I stopped hearing from them."
He finished his season (1-9) with 70 tackles and one fumble caused.
He reports a 3.0 core GPA, 20 ACT and 960 SAT.