With the ASU game on Saturday, it's an important weekend for the UA basketball team, and there continues to be plenty going on with the football program.
Basketball:
There's no one in the national media better plugged into Arizona basketball than Jeff Goodman, the Senior College Basketball Writer for FoxSports.com.
The 1994 Arizona graduate will make his way back to Tucson this weekend to cover a UA game for his first time as a professional.
GOAZCATS.com caught up with Goodman to discuss his plans in Tucson, his thoughts on the UA basketball program, and more.
GOAZCATS.com: You'll be in town for Saturday's UA/ASU game. Since you've had this job, how many times have you been able to come back and cover an Arizona game?
Jeff Goodman: How about this, this will be the first time I've ever professionally covered a U of A home game, which is pretty amazing and that's part of the reason why I'm doing it. Part of it is, it's still a good story checking into where the program is at right now, and part of it is selfish. I'd like to go back and cover a game professionally.
I never thought I'd have this job when I was at Arizona as a student. I never imagined I'd have this job; this is basically my dream job. What's better than to go back to school and cover a game from a professional standpoint? The last time I even sat on press row was when I was an intern with the Sports Information Department my first year there. I didn't even take that job seriously.
I've grown up a lot since I left there; I didn't have the greatest work ethic back in college. But I am excited to come back from that standpoint, as well as seeing the team and seeing where they're at.
GOAZCATS.com: Any plans for what you'll do while you're in Tucson?
Jeff Goodman: I'm going to meet with Lute (Olson) for lunch on Friday afternoon and I'll watch practice. I think you can get a lot more done watching practice sometimes than you can in games, in terms of evaluating players in their work ethic, etc.
I'm looking forward to the whole deal. I'll see Gene Edgerson at some point Saturday. It will be good to see a lot of people. It will be good to see coach Olson and see how he's doing. He sounds pretty good on the phone and I've heard some good things about him from people who have seen him recently.
GOAZCATS.com: The last time we did an interview was at the end of Arizona's coaching search. What's your impression of what Sean Miller has done at Arizona so far?
Jeff Goodman: I'm impressed. Shoot, he's got Nick Johnson and Josiah Turner coming in. That's a pretty darn good backcourt in this day and age. What he inherited was a situation that was unenviable. It's going to take time but he ran into some luck getting Derrick Williams.
I just think a lot of the fans in Tucson were unrealistic and still continue to be a little bit unrealistic about where this program should be. They're much further ahead than say an Indiana or a Cincinnati, a couple programs who have had tough times rebuilding. As is the case with a lot of fan bases that have tradition and are used to winning, the expectation I think was that Sean Miller would come in and get it going right away, and that's just not the case.
I've said it over and over; point guard play is so important and I just don't think it's good enough. Certainly it's not by Arizona's standards and around the country. Now, in league play, I think they can actually be okay, really, because there aren't that many good point guards in the league this year when you talk about Isaiah Thomas being maybe the best point guard in the league, and he's just okay.
GOAZCATS.com: So you would look at any problems that Arizona has had this year, and you'd put that on guard play and definitely not put any blame on the coaches?
Jeff Goodman: Oh yeah, you can't blame coaching for what's going on at Arizona and the inconsistencies right now. Absolutely not, and anyone who does I don't think is very knowledgeable. Give them time.
MoMo Jones, I love him as a kid, I think he works hard and has gotten better, but for a good Arizona team, he's a backup, that's what he is. I think this is a team that is going to be a fringe NCAA tournament team up until the end. If they get into the tournament, that's a heck of a coaching job by these guys. And if they don't and they're an NIT team, oh well.
That's really what this team is, even with Derrick Williams, one of the top players in the country. He's got to get better defensively and I'm not sure he's a great leader, but I don't know who is a great leader right now. Again, it's going to take time. When Sean Miller got the job, he had nobody. It was a mess.
GOAZCATS.com: In a typical rebuilding job, where do you see Arizona right now compared to most programs at the same time?
Jeff Goodman: They're further ahead; they're further ahead. If Derrick Williams somehow comes back next year - I don't know if he will or not and I don't think anybody knows because of the potential NBA lockout - but if he somehow comes back, with Turner and Johnson, this team could be a team that wins multiple games in the NCAA tournament.
I don't want to say the words Final Four because they're not even close to that yet, but it would be a team that could hang with just about anyone next year, talent wise. The good thing is they'd still have some upperclassman, too.
That's the point right now. He's bringing in a couple really talented studs to go along with some veterans that are really good role guys. I mean Kyle Fogg is a role guy, period. Jamelle Horne is a role guy, on really good teams. I just think this backcourt has me excited about the next couple years.
If you don't keep Derrick Williams, the problem becomes that your two best players might be freshmen. Derrick Williams will really determine whether this team takes the next step and becomes a team that can make some noise in the NCAA tournament or, without him, they could be in the same situation next year, where they're fighting to get back in.
GOAZCATS.com: Two-part question. Are you surprised by how bad the Pac-10 is and what does the league being down mean for Sean Miller in terms of his timing taking over Arizona?
Jeff Goodman: I'm not surprised about this year because I think it's just a little better than it was last year. Not a whole lot, but a little bit. I follow recruiting, although I don't claim to be as knowledgeable about it as I once was, but I do enough to know that the talent level on the West Coast, especially in California, isn't what it once was back when I was really covering recruiting. I think that's hurt the Pac-10 overall.
Yeah, it was perfect timing for Sean Miller coming in, from the standpoint of the league is down. However, the hard part is to build it up nationally, you need players from the West Coast. He was able to get Josiah and Nick out of the West Coast, but now the pool is much smaller in terms of the elite level guys.
It's hard because kids these days don't think of Arizona as Point Guard U anymore. It's hard to sell that. Now they think of John Calipari, wherever he is, he's the guy who develops point guards. They've seen what happened with Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans and John Wall, so now the top point guards want to play for John Calipari, not Arizona.
Sean Miller has to reestablish the tradition, to some degree. It's going to take some time because Arizona was kind of off the map for a little bit. There wasn't a lot of stability and he's got to get that back. I just think that fans need to have patience; that's the number one word I would say.
Sean Miller is gonna get it done there, and I'm not just saying that because I'm an Arizona grad. If they hired the wrong guy, I would have crushed Jim Livengood, crushed him. I don't think Jim Livengood was a very good athletic director, but he lucked into a very good hire.
* It was a wild week for Josiah Turner, who missed a game for Sacramento High, decided to leave the school, and now apparently will stay there, according to The Sacramento Bee.
From what we've been told, the situation with Turner isn't a big concern for UA, as the five-star point guard signee just needs a qualifying test score to play for Arizona, and he has plenty of time to do it.
We've been told that whether or not Turner plays again for his school isn't a concern as long as he continues to work hard academically.
What this situation could mean, however, is that Turner is left out of the McDonald's game. Right now there are 50 candidates left on the ballot and if Turner doesn't step back on the court soon, it will likely lead to voters choosing someone else.
However, one McDonald's All-American voter told us that he hasn't changed his mind on voting in Turner.
"I'm voting for him until they tell me I can't," the voter said.
Football:
* Arizona's 2011 football team got a big boost this week with the announcement that wide receiver Juron Criner would return for his senior season.
We did a Q&A with offensive coordinator Seth Littrellhttp://arizona.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1175477 to discuss Criner's return and the future of UA's offense in general.
For more, we caught up with Criner's position coach, David Nichol.
GOAZCATS.com: What kind of impact does Criner's return have on your team next year?
David Nichol: It's really good. It gives us a big time weapon in our offense. I'm just excited to go to work. I want to go to work and get him better along with all the other receivers. He's got a great three years to build on but we've got to get to work.
GOAZCATS.com: He says he wants to be the best wide receiver in the country. What does he have to do to get there?
David Nichol: He needs to continue to be consistent. Obviously he was banged up last season. Nothing crazy or major but it kind of hindered him a little bit. I think if he has a good year health wise, being able to practice, that's the biggest thing, getting through the practices. If he's healthy and mature on a consistent basis, he'll be everything he wants to be.
GOAZCATS.com: How much does getting all those receivers back, along with the addition of Dan Buckner, help Criner?
David Nichol: I think it helps and it obviously helps our offense. What's good for our offense is good for him. That's something we always talk about. At the end of the day, you hope that we have enough guys where no one can get double covered.
If someone is getting double covered, we need to be able to do some things away from them and the numbers add up where we should have an advantage somewhere else. From that standpoint, it should be a good thing. But you know what, he's been a great teammate because of that. He's unselfish and that's what's great about him.
GOAZCATS.com: You have to be pretty confident about your group of receivers next year.
David Nichol: Yeah, I feel good. Like always, you want to stay healthy, but I'm excited. We've got to get better though. In the next six months, we have a lot to do to get better. I'm just excited to get to work with the off-season stuff.
GOAZCATS.com: You guys will apparently be running more of a Tech style offense next year. What's that mean for you as a coach and your wide receivers in the offense?
David Nichol: Well it's hard to say we'll put more emphasis on the receivers because that's a big part of our offense anyway. We just have to fine tune some stuff and I need to do a good job of getting all those guys ready to go.
We just need to get specific about what we want to do and fine tune some stuff within our scheme, although nothing crazy. I'd imagine we'll continue to lean on our wide receivers a bunch, but with all that responsibility, they'll have to step up.
GOAZCATS.com: Are you pretty confident that you guys will be able to make whatever improvements you're trying to make within the offense?
David Nichol: Yeah, we're all on the same page. We had a good offensive year statistically. Obviously there's things we have to work on, as is the case with everyone. That's what these next six months are for and I think we're all excited to get out and do it.
* Arizona will have a number of official visitors this weekend, including some to be named later, possibly as soon as Friday evening.
For now, here's the list of visitors we can name, all of which are currently committed to Arizona.
Jacob Arzoumanhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Jacob-Arzouman-100955, OL
Tre'Mayne Bonduranthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Tra'Mayne-Bondurant-115571, DB
Ka'Deem Careyhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Ka'Deem-Carey-100951, RB
Michael Cooperhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Michael-Cooper-96587, TE
Travis Feeneyhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Travis-Feeney-117331, DB
Reggie Gilberthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Reggie-Gilbert-108443, DE
* Jason Scheer's weekly recruiting breakdown:
* Joseph Carter http://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=110584 remains in constant contact with Nebraska and the Cornhuskers’ coaches took a visit this past week.
"I told him that I could be coming to Nebraska, but I just want to see how things develop. I'm really just playing it cool to see how things go,” he tells HuskersIllustrated.com.
"But it showed me a lot that Nebraska came all the way out to South Carolina and had my mom's spaghetti dinner with us. That meant a lot."
Arizona will make an in-home visit with Carter sooner than later and the UA is definitely not out of it yet.
In fact, it is intriguing that despite all the positive things Carter says about Nebraska, he has yet to make the decision to go there. Arizona is obviously doing something right and it seems that Carter is looking at all his options.
* Cornerback Tamani Carter http://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=107605 decided to go to Minnesota and it is not a surprise at all.
Carter was always looking for a reason to stay close at home and never simply had it. Once Minnesota started to recruit him again it seemed like a no-brainer because of the pressure he had to stay home.
Arizona put in a solid effort to get him, but it almost seemed like a waste of time, as evidenced by the fact that Carter even looked at Kent State.
* Since there is not a lot of news this week, we are going to look at each of Arizona’s remaining targets.
Junior Pomeehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Junior-Pomee-90067: Pomee has gone quiet in his recruit and Arizona is definitely still in the picture.
UCLA is not a likely destination and Florida and Oregon State are sticking around, but it looks like this will come down to Arizona and USC.
At this point, it is hard to say where Pomee is leaning, but the Wildcats have been recruiting him hard and he has a good relationship with Tim Kish.
* Patrick Onwuasorhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Patrick-Onwuasor-108482: Onwuasor is the type of player that is going to see his recruitment blow up late.
Miami has gotten involved and Arizona State is making up ground as well. Arizona and Nebraska are still the top two schools involved, but Onwuasor is truly staying open to the process.
One of the biggest factors in his decision will be what side of the ball he can play on. Onwuasor has made no secret of the fact he would like to play offense and there a few schools that are a little iffy on that subject.
It seems that Onwuasor will not have a decision until much closer to Signing Day, but we fully expect the Wildcats to be right there.
* Fou Fonotihttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Fou-Fonoti-117020: Fonoti has a visit planned to Rutgers and will likely make a decision soon after.
"I want to see the culture in the East, I want to see the atmosphere,” he tells ScarletNation.com.
“I'm excited to meet the current players. I want to see how their recruiting process went, what schools were recruiting them, why they chose Rutgers, and how they like the school and program."
Rutgers is making a major push for Fonoti due in large part to the fact that it has a few recruiting battles for linemen.
Arizona is right there with the other schools, although losing Mike Tuiasosopo and Bill Bedenbaugh definitely do not help matters in this case.
This could be one of the first tests for Joe Salavea, as his Polynesian connection will have to be used.
Fonoti will be at UCLA this weekend and the Bruins are definitely a school to watch. If Fonoti makes it out of these next two weeks without making a commitment, Arizona obviously has a legitimate shot.
* Paulay Asiatahttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Paulay-Asiata-100640: Honestly we are a little surprised that Asiata has not already committed to Washington.
He told us that the Huskies were the school to beat and although he liked the UA, Washington is going to be his most likely destination.
Weeks later, he still has not made a decision, which gives off the idea that Arizona is making somewhat of a push and there is word that Colorado is now trying to get involved as well.
* Lake Koa-Ka’ai[/URL]: In December, it seemed like Koa Ka’ai was relatively close to a decision.
“There have been a few times when I thought that I had a school picked out, but then another school would pop up in my mind and I would think, 'Well, what about this school?' There have been a couple different schools where I thought I could commit to them,” he tells HuskersIllustrated.
"It's ultimately going to be a gut feeling with me. I'll think that I want to go to this school for the better academics, but then I'll think this is better in tradition, this school has a better D-line coach, that one has better facilities, but this one has better weather and that one is closer in location. It's getting really frustrating right now.”
Koa’Ka’ai will visit Colorado next weekend and likely have a decision soon after unless he chooses to visit Stanford as well.
As of now, Arizona is in decent shape, but it would be a surprise if he went to the UA. Colorado is gaining ground and Nebraska has always been there as well.
Arizona is going to put in the effort, but we would call it somewhat of an upset if he winds up in Tucson.
* Christian Heywardhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Christian-Heyward-104599: With Brady Hoke leaving San Diego State, the Aztecs have seemingly lost its momentum.
That momentum was so great that we actually felt Heyward would go to SDSU but unless Rocky Long can keep that going, it now be an Arizona/UCLA battle.
The Bruins have been on and off with its recruitment of Heyward, but have always hung around. The UCLA visit is this weekend and Oregon will be next week.
We have not heard the Ducks are major players, but anything can happen when you get on that campus.
* Chris Bryant http://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=107605: Bryant has postponed his announcement, as he pushed it back a week.
"I will push that back to either the 28th or the 29th," Bryant tells TheWolverine.com "With all these coaching changes, my announcement is going to be pushed back a week just so I can get things straight and see who is landing where."
Unless Ohio State offers, it is still going to be Michigan or Arizona. The Wildcats are definitely in this and are in better position than some people probably think.
Our guess is that one of Hoke’s first recruiting calls is going to be to Bryant, but both programs have been recruiting him hard anyway.
Basketball:
There's no one in the national media better plugged into Arizona basketball than Jeff Goodman, the Senior College Basketball Writer for FoxSports.com.
The 1994 Arizona graduate will make his way back to Tucson this weekend to cover a UA game for his first time as a professional.
GOAZCATS.com caught up with Goodman to discuss his plans in Tucson, his thoughts on the UA basketball program, and more.
GOAZCATS.com: You'll be in town for Saturday's UA/ASU game. Since you've had this job, how many times have you been able to come back and cover an Arizona game?
Jeff Goodman: How about this, this will be the first time I've ever professionally covered a U of A home game, which is pretty amazing and that's part of the reason why I'm doing it. Part of it is, it's still a good story checking into where the program is at right now, and part of it is selfish. I'd like to go back and cover a game professionally.
I never thought I'd have this job when I was at Arizona as a student. I never imagined I'd have this job; this is basically my dream job. What's better than to go back to school and cover a game from a professional standpoint? The last time I even sat on press row was when I was an intern with the Sports Information Department my first year there. I didn't even take that job seriously.
I've grown up a lot since I left there; I didn't have the greatest work ethic back in college. But I am excited to come back from that standpoint, as well as seeing the team and seeing where they're at.
GOAZCATS.com: Any plans for what you'll do while you're in Tucson?
Jeff Goodman: I'm going to meet with Lute (Olson) for lunch on Friday afternoon and I'll watch practice. I think you can get a lot more done watching practice sometimes than you can in games, in terms of evaluating players in their work ethic, etc.
I'm looking forward to the whole deal. I'll see Gene Edgerson at some point Saturday. It will be good to see a lot of people. It will be good to see coach Olson and see how he's doing. He sounds pretty good on the phone and I've heard some good things about him from people who have seen him recently.
GOAZCATS.com: The last time we did an interview was at the end of Arizona's coaching search. What's your impression of what Sean Miller has done at Arizona so far?
Jeff Goodman: I'm impressed. Shoot, he's got Nick Johnson and Josiah Turner coming in. That's a pretty darn good backcourt in this day and age. What he inherited was a situation that was unenviable. It's going to take time but he ran into some luck getting Derrick Williams.
I just think a lot of the fans in Tucson were unrealistic and still continue to be a little bit unrealistic about where this program should be. They're much further ahead than say an Indiana or a Cincinnati, a couple programs who have had tough times rebuilding. As is the case with a lot of fan bases that have tradition and are used to winning, the expectation I think was that Sean Miller would come in and get it going right away, and that's just not the case.
I've said it over and over; point guard play is so important and I just don't think it's good enough. Certainly it's not by Arizona's standards and around the country. Now, in league play, I think they can actually be okay, really, because there aren't that many good point guards in the league this year when you talk about Isaiah Thomas being maybe the best point guard in the league, and he's just okay.
GOAZCATS.com: So you would look at any problems that Arizona has had this year, and you'd put that on guard play and definitely not put any blame on the coaches?
Jeff Goodman: Oh yeah, you can't blame coaching for what's going on at Arizona and the inconsistencies right now. Absolutely not, and anyone who does I don't think is very knowledgeable. Give them time.
MoMo Jones, I love him as a kid, I think he works hard and has gotten better, but for a good Arizona team, he's a backup, that's what he is. I think this is a team that is going to be a fringe NCAA tournament team up until the end. If they get into the tournament, that's a heck of a coaching job by these guys. And if they don't and they're an NIT team, oh well.
That's really what this team is, even with Derrick Williams, one of the top players in the country. He's got to get better defensively and I'm not sure he's a great leader, but I don't know who is a great leader right now. Again, it's going to take time. When Sean Miller got the job, he had nobody. It was a mess.
GOAZCATS.com: In a typical rebuilding job, where do you see Arizona right now compared to most programs at the same time?
Jeff Goodman: They're further ahead; they're further ahead. If Derrick Williams somehow comes back next year - I don't know if he will or not and I don't think anybody knows because of the potential NBA lockout - but if he somehow comes back, with Turner and Johnson, this team could be a team that wins multiple games in the NCAA tournament.
I don't want to say the words Final Four because they're not even close to that yet, but it would be a team that could hang with just about anyone next year, talent wise. The good thing is they'd still have some upperclassman, too.
That's the point right now. He's bringing in a couple really talented studs to go along with some veterans that are really good role guys. I mean Kyle Fogg is a role guy, period. Jamelle Horne is a role guy, on really good teams. I just think this backcourt has me excited about the next couple years.
If you don't keep Derrick Williams, the problem becomes that your two best players might be freshmen. Derrick Williams will really determine whether this team takes the next step and becomes a team that can make some noise in the NCAA tournament or, without him, they could be in the same situation next year, where they're fighting to get back in.
GOAZCATS.com: Two-part question. Are you surprised by how bad the Pac-10 is and what does the league being down mean for Sean Miller in terms of his timing taking over Arizona?
Jeff Goodman: I'm not surprised about this year because I think it's just a little better than it was last year. Not a whole lot, but a little bit. I follow recruiting, although I don't claim to be as knowledgeable about it as I once was, but I do enough to know that the talent level on the West Coast, especially in California, isn't what it once was back when I was really covering recruiting. I think that's hurt the Pac-10 overall.
Yeah, it was perfect timing for Sean Miller coming in, from the standpoint of the league is down. However, the hard part is to build it up nationally, you need players from the West Coast. He was able to get Josiah and Nick out of the West Coast, but now the pool is much smaller in terms of the elite level guys.
It's hard because kids these days don't think of Arizona as Point Guard U anymore. It's hard to sell that. Now they think of John Calipari, wherever he is, he's the guy who develops point guards. They've seen what happened with Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans and John Wall, so now the top point guards want to play for John Calipari, not Arizona.
Sean Miller has to reestablish the tradition, to some degree. It's going to take some time because Arizona was kind of off the map for a little bit. There wasn't a lot of stability and he's got to get that back. I just think that fans need to have patience; that's the number one word I would say.
Sean Miller is gonna get it done there, and I'm not just saying that because I'm an Arizona grad. If they hired the wrong guy, I would have crushed Jim Livengood, crushed him. I don't think Jim Livengood was a very good athletic director, but he lucked into a very good hire.
* It was a wild week for Josiah Turner, who missed a game for Sacramento High, decided to leave the school, and now apparently will stay there, according to The Sacramento Bee.
From what we've been told, the situation with Turner isn't a big concern for UA, as the five-star point guard signee just needs a qualifying test score to play for Arizona, and he has plenty of time to do it.
We've been told that whether or not Turner plays again for his school isn't a concern as long as he continues to work hard academically.
What this situation could mean, however, is that Turner is left out of the McDonald's game. Right now there are 50 candidates left on the ballot and if Turner doesn't step back on the court soon, it will likely lead to voters choosing someone else.
However, one McDonald's All-American voter told us that he hasn't changed his mind on voting in Turner.
"I'm voting for him until they tell me I can't," the voter said.
Football:
* Arizona's 2011 football team got a big boost this week with the announcement that wide receiver Juron Criner would return for his senior season.
We did a Q&A with offensive coordinator Seth Littrellhttp://arizona.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1175477 to discuss Criner's return and the future of UA's offense in general.
For more, we caught up with Criner's position coach, David Nichol.
GOAZCATS.com: What kind of impact does Criner's return have on your team next year?
David Nichol: It's really good. It gives us a big time weapon in our offense. I'm just excited to go to work. I want to go to work and get him better along with all the other receivers. He's got a great three years to build on but we've got to get to work.
GOAZCATS.com: He says he wants to be the best wide receiver in the country. What does he have to do to get there?
David Nichol: He needs to continue to be consistent. Obviously he was banged up last season. Nothing crazy or major but it kind of hindered him a little bit. I think if he has a good year health wise, being able to practice, that's the biggest thing, getting through the practices. If he's healthy and mature on a consistent basis, he'll be everything he wants to be.
GOAZCATS.com: How much does getting all those receivers back, along with the addition of Dan Buckner, help Criner?
David Nichol: I think it helps and it obviously helps our offense. What's good for our offense is good for him. That's something we always talk about. At the end of the day, you hope that we have enough guys where no one can get double covered.
If someone is getting double covered, we need to be able to do some things away from them and the numbers add up where we should have an advantage somewhere else. From that standpoint, it should be a good thing. But you know what, he's been a great teammate because of that. He's unselfish and that's what's great about him.
GOAZCATS.com: You have to be pretty confident about your group of receivers next year.
David Nichol: Yeah, I feel good. Like always, you want to stay healthy, but I'm excited. We've got to get better though. In the next six months, we have a lot to do to get better. I'm just excited to get to work with the off-season stuff.
GOAZCATS.com: You guys will apparently be running more of a Tech style offense next year. What's that mean for you as a coach and your wide receivers in the offense?
David Nichol: Well it's hard to say we'll put more emphasis on the receivers because that's a big part of our offense anyway. We just have to fine tune some stuff and I need to do a good job of getting all those guys ready to go.
We just need to get specific about what we want to do and fine tune some stuff within our scheme, although nothing crazy. I'd imagine we'll continue to lean on our wide receivers a bunch, but with all that responsibility, they'll have to step up.
GOAZCATS.com: Are you pretty confident that you guys will be able to make whatever improvements you're trying to make within the offense?
David Nichol: Yeah, we're all on the same page. We had a good offensive year statistically. Obviously there's things we have to work on, as is the case with everyone. That's what these next six months are for and I think we're all excited to get out and do it.
* Arizona will have a number of official visitors this weekend, including some to be named later, possibly as soon as Friday evening.
For now, here's the list of visitors we can name, all of which are currently committed to Arizona.
Jacob Arzoumanhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Jacob-Arzouman-100955, OL
Tre'Mayne Bonduranthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Tra'Mayne-Bondurant-115571, DB
Ka'Deem Careyhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Ka'Deem-Carey-100951, RB
Michael Cooperhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Michael-Cooper-96587, TE
Travis Feeneyhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Travis-Feeney-117331, DB
Reggie Gilberthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Reggie-Gilbert-108443, DE
* Jason Scheer's weekly recruiting breakdown:
* Joseph Carter http://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=110584 remains in constant contact with Nebraska and the Cornhuskers’ coaches took a visit this past week.
"I told him that I could be coming to Nebraska, but I just want to see how things develop. I'm really just playing it cool to see how things go,” he tells HuskersIllustrated.com.
"But it showed me a lot that Nebraska came all the way out to South Carolina and had my mom's spaghetti dinner with us. That meant a lot."
Arizona will make an in-home visit with Carter sooner than later and the UA is definitely not out of it yet.
In fact, it is intriguing that despite all the positive things Carter says about Nebraska, he has yet to make the decision to go there. Arizona is obviously doing something right and it seems that Carter is looking at all his options.
* Cornerback Tamani Carter http://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=107605 decided to go to Minnesota and it is not a surprise at all.
Carter was always looking for a reason to stay close at home and never simply had it. Once Minnesota started to recruit him again it seemed like a no-brainer because of the pressure he had to stay home.
Arizona put in a solid effort to get him, but it almost seemed like a waste of time, as evidenced by the fact that Carter even looked at Kent State.
* Since there is not a lot of news this week, we are going to look at each of Arizona’s remaining targets.
Junior Pomeehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Junior-Pomee-90067: Pomee has gone quiet in his recruit and Arizona is definitely still in the picture.
UCLA is not a likely destination and Florida and Oregon State are sticking around, but it looks like this will come down to Arizona and USC.
At this point, it is hard to say where Pomee is leaning, but the Wildcats have been recruiting him hard and he has a good relationship with Tim Kish.
* Patrick Onwuasorhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Patrick-Onwuasor-108482: Onwuasor is the type of player that is going to see his recruitment blow up late.
Miami has gotten involved and Arizona State is making up ground as well. Arizona and Nebraska are still the top two schools involved, but Onwuasor is truly staying open to the process.
One of the biggest factors in his decision will be what side of the ball he can play on. Onwuasor has made no secret of the fact he would like to play offense and there a few schools that are a little iffy on that subject.
It seems that Onwuasor will not have a decision until much closer to Signing Day, but we fully expect the Wildcats to be right there.
* Fou Fonotihttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Fou-Fonoti-117020: Fonoti has a visit planned to Rutgers and will likely make a decision soon after.
"I want to see the culture in the East, I want to see the atmosphere,” he tells ScarletNation.com.
“I'm excited to meet the current players. I want to see how their recruiting process went, what schools were recruiting them, why they chose Rutgers, and how they like the school and program."
Rutgers is making a major push for Fonoti due in large part to the fact that it has a few recruiting battles for linemen.
Arizona is right there with the other schools, although losing Mike Tuiasosopo and Bill Bedenbaugh definitely do not help matters in this case.
This could be one of the first tests for Joe Salavea, as his Polynesian connection will have to be used.
Fonoti will be at UCLA this weekend and the Bruins are definitely a school to watch. If Fonoti makes it out of these next two weeks without making a commitment, Arizona obviously has a legitimate shot.
* Paulay Asiatahttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Paulay-Asiata-100640: Honestly we are a little surprised that Asiata has not already committed to Washington.
He told us that the Huskies were the school to beat and although he liked the UA, Washington is going to be his most likely destination.
Weeks later, he still has not made a decision, which gives off the idea that Arizona is making somewhat of a push and there is word that Colorado is now trying to get involved as well.
* Lake Koa-Ka’ai[/URL]: In December, it seemed like Koa Ka’ai was relatively close to a decision.
“There have been a few times when I thought that I had a school picked out, but then another school would pop up in my mind and I would think, 'Well, what about this school?' There have been a couple different schools where I thought I could commit to them,” he tells HuskersIllustrated.
"It's ultimately going to be a gut feeling with me. I'll think that I want to go to this school for the better academics, but then I'll think this is better in tradition, this school has a better D-line coach, that one has better facilities, but this one has better weather and that one is closer in location. It's getting really frustrating right now.”
Koa’Ka’ai will visit Colorado next weekend and likely have a decision soon after unless he chooses to visit Stanford as well.
As of now, Arizona is in decent shape, but it would be a surprise if he went to the UA. Colorado is gaining ground and Nebraska has always been there as well.
Arizona is going to put in the effort, but we would call it somewhat of an upset if he winds up in Tucson.
* Christian Heywardhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Christian-Heyward-104599: With Brady Hoke leaving San Diego State, the Aztecs have seemingly lost its momentum.
That momentum was so great that we actually felt Heyward would go to SDSU but unless Rocky Long can keep that going, it now be an Arizona/UCLA battle.
The Bruins have been on and off with its recruitment of Heyward, but have always hung around. The UCLA visit is this weekend and Oregon will be next week.
We have not heard the Ducks are major players, but anything can happen when you get on that campus.
* Chris Bryant http://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=107605: Bryant has postponed his announcement, as he pushed it back a week.
"I will push that back to either the 28th or the 29th," Bryant tells TheWolverine.com "With all these coaching changes, my announcement is going to be pushed back a week just so I can get things straight and see who is landing where."
Unless Ohio State offers, it is still going to be Michigan or Arizona. The Wildcats are definitely in this and are in better position than some people probably think.
Our guess is that one of Hoke’s first recruiting calls is going to be to Bryant, but both programs have been recruiting him hard anyway.
