An official visitor is leaving in basketball and three are arriving in football. Some thoughts on that and much more in this week's GOAZCATS.com War Rom. FYI, with football Signing Day on Wednesday, all our resources this week will go to that and our next scheduled War Room will be on 2/12.
Basketball:
Leaving early this morning from his official visit is 6-foot-8, 210-pound 2010 New York Rice forward Kadeem Jack.
The word is that Jack's visit went well and, as planned, he'll go home and discuss the trip with his family and coaches before making the next move in his recruitment.
We’ll obviously get more into Jack’s visit as soon as we can, but for now, getting a commitment from Jack would set Arizona up to be successful in the frontcourt indefinitely.
And considering that the last decade of UA basketball wasn’t “Point Guard U” as much as it was “Why Can’t We Get A Fricking Big Man U,” those aren’t words you can just throw around to a fan base which has been begging for more than one good post player on the same team for years.
But in this case it’s true. We’ll start by looking at Arizona’s 2010-11 frontcourt, should Jack commit:
PF: Jamelle Horne (Sr.), Derrick Williams (So.), Kadeem Jack (Fr.)
C: Derrick Williams (So.), Kyryl Natyazhko (So.), Alex Jacobson (Jr.)
And that’s assuming the Wildcats don’t land junior college post Jesse Perry, who would also be expected to compete for minutes next season. Dwayne Polee is another 2010 UA recruit on the board that could factor into the future of the Wildcats’ front court, although landing Jack might make Polee less of a target.
Moving past 2010-11, it will all depend on what Williams decides to do. If Williams develops at the same rate he has been, you can say whatever you want about his size and position, he’s going to at least consider entering the NBA Draft.
Until then, all we can do is speculate, so for now I’ll just speculate the 2011-12 frontcourt if Williams does and doesn’t go pro, not including Perry and Polee, both of which are still candidates to join the UA’s roster.
With Williams:
PF: Derrick Williams (Jr.), Kadeem Jack (So.), Sidiki Johnson (Fr.)
C: Kyryl Natyazhko (Jr.), Derrick Williams (Jr.), Alex Jacobson (Sr.)
The lineup somewhat changes because I believe by his junior year, Natyazhko will be ready to play significant minutes at center, allowing Williams to slide over to the four, should he be around still.
If Williams goes pro, here’s another look at the frontcourt, again not including Perry and Polee’s possible additions:
PF: Kadeem Jack (So.), Sidiki Johnson (Fr.)
C: Kyryl Natyazhko (Jr.), Kadeem Jack (So.), Alex Jacobson (Sr.)
Obviously, this wouldn’t be Arizona’s final frontcourt one way or the other because UA is likely to add another frontcourt prospect in 2010 besides Jack (should he commit) and then there’s whoever else the Wildcats get in 2011.
But even in a very worst case scenario, if the Wildcats do get Jack (or someone else) and Williams leaves, that’s still a frontcourt which should be more than respectable, assuming Jack and Natyazhko develop as one would expect them to.
Add Williams and anyone to that lineup, and Arizona has one of the best frontcourts in the country.
Which goes back to the point we’ve made 1000 times around here already: the Wildcats are a good point guard away from being, at the minimum, a Pac-10 title contender indefinitely, but you should get it by now.
* Speaking of UA guard recruits, Doron Lamb now says he’s down to Arizona, Kentucky, Kansas and West Virginia.
However, he remains pretty far off from a decision.
"I just want to get better," Lamb told Rivals.com. "From now on, I'm putting full focus on my game and making my grades. Then I'll make a decision in April."
Football:
* We’ll start again with the 2010 recruiting breakdown.
Arizona is now sitting at 20 commitments (including former walk-on Lyle Brown). Here's how UA looks at every position. I expect UA to add three or four more players, total.
Quarterback: 0-1 Total, 0-1 Left
Running Back: 0 Total
Wide Receiver: 4 Total, 0 Left (Garic Wharton, Tyler Slavin, Dexter Ransom, Austin Hill committed)
Offensive Line: 5 Total, 1 Left (Mickey Baucus, Matt Jakubiec, Carter Lees, Trent Spurgeon committed)
Tight End: 0 Total
Defensive Line: 4-5 Total, 0-1 Left (Willie Mobley, Mohammed Usman, Dan Pettinato, Kirfi Taula committed)
Linebacker: 3-4 Total, 0-1 Left (Paul Vassallo, Derek Earls, Kyle Benson committed)
Defensive Back: 4-5 Total, 0-1 Left (Jourdon Grandon, Josh Robbins, Marquis Flowers, Lyle Brown committed)
Long Snapper: 1 Total, 0 Left (Chase Gorham committed)
Here are some, but definitely not all, of the remaining targets on both sides of the ball:
Offense:
Arizona would still accept a commitment from an offensive lineman and a quarterback:
Munchie Legauxhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Munchie-Legaux-85730, QB (visited 1/15)
Fabbians Ebbellehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Fabbians-Ebbele-97279, OT (visited 1/15)
Giovanni Di Poalohttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=73698, OL (visited 1/15)
Defense:
Arizona will likely take two of the following recruits:
Corey Cooperhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Corey-Cooper-82549, S (visited on 11/20)
Josh Shirleyhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Josh-Shirley-81108, LB (visited on 11/6)
Sani Fuimaonohttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Sani-Fuimaono-95286, DT (visited on 11/20)
Anthony Jeffersonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Anthony-Jefferson-89762, CB (visited on 1/22)
Tre’Vante Porterhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Tre'Vante-Porter-72198, CB (visiting this weekend)
Jonathan McKnighthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Jonathan-McKnight-75052, CB (visiting this weekend)
* Last week we talked about the Wildcats’ drastic need for defensive ends. Another position of need for Arizona in 2010 will be cornerbacks. Here’s the Wildcats depth chart at the position in 2011:
Trevin Wade, Sr.
Lyle Brown, Sr.
Derrick Rainey, So.
Jourdon Grandon, RS Fr.
That’s it, unless you were to move Robert Golden to corner for his senior season. So it goes without saying that the Wildcats badly need either another cornerback in 2010 or at least a few in 2011.
* With the decommitment of Matt Brown, another serious position of need is quarterback. A week ago, UA was set at the position, but now here’s that the Wildcats look like in 2011:
Nick Foles, Sr.
Matt Scott, Sr.
Bryson Beirne, Sr.
Richard Morrison, So.
It should be noted that Morrison is considered a candidate to move to inside wide receiver, so even that’s up in the air, depending on what Morrison, the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach decide to do.
Arizona will try to add another 2010 quarterback and also someone in 2011, so this depth chart will change, but it’s obviously very important to get capable QB’s in both this class in the next. Brown, with the timing of his decommitment, didn’t give UA much time to accomplish that in 2010.
UA will take a 2010 quarterback if it can find someone good enough, but with half of Arizona's offensive coordinator position still be filled, as well as the Wildcats having no quarterbacks coach, it will be tough to take a QB at this time.
* As for the offensive coordinator situation, Bill Bedenbaugh will take one half of the job, with UA looking to hire another co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Mike Stoops is in the process of interviewing candidates, and at this time it doesn't appear that anyone has secured the job.
* Word got out earlier this week that UA recruiting coordinator Bill Baker has left the program. I’ve had several questions about what this means for the Wildcats’ recruiting and I think the role of the recruiting coordinator position should be made clear.
While the recruiting coordinator does help coordinate the coaches’ travel schedules, monitor the recruiting board in the football offices, gather information and help out during unofficial and official visits, among other roles, it’s a position that is mostly administrative and for the most part plays a very minor role in any one player choosing Arizona.
It's without question an important position, but when you lose a recruiting coordinator, it's rare that you see any kind of impact on recruiting, one way or the other.
Baker has been rumored to be on his way out over throughout the past year, and his departure doesn’t come to much of a surprise by those around the program.
Regardless, Arizona has found his replacement and it is Dave Emerick, who previously served as the recruiting coordinator at Texas Tech. Emerick was well-regarded at Tech and he should be a good addition to the UA football program. (JG)
* Back to recruiting for Jason Scheer's weekly update:
The news of the 2010 recruiting cycle is getting smaller due to the fact that most players have made their choices by now. However, there are still some remaining targets and the coaching staff gets to focus on them harder than ever.
* 6-foot-1, 185-pound Allen (Texas) quarterback Matt Brownhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Matt-Brown-83132 made the switch to TCU this past weekend.
While Arizona fans can dwell on it all they want, the coaching staff has seemingly moved on. Much of the talk has been about 6-foot-4, 185-pound New Orleans Edna Karr signal caller Munchie Legauxhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Munchie-Legaux-85730. However, he may not be much of a priority as he once was now that some other targets have emerged.
At this point, the most likely of those targets is 6-foot-2, 195-pound Anaheim (Calif.) Servite quarterback Cody Fajardohttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Cody-Fajardo-96669.
There is a chance that Fajardo will visit Arizona this weekend and, if he does, his recruitment could come to an end as he may have future teammates in Kirifi Taulahttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Kirifi-Taula-95620 and Matthew Jakubiec likely heading to Arizona.
"I have my officials so I might as well use as many as I can," Fajardo said. "That could be big just to have someone (at Arizona) from your high school that you're pretty close friends with so we could go together."
* One of Fajardo’s teammates is 6-foot-3, 269-pound defensive tackle Kirifi Taula, whose commitment to Arizona is on shaky ground.
The best way we can explain his situation is that he gave his verbal to Washington last weekend. However, the word is that he did it without talking to anybody in his family and due in large part to a major push by the UW coaching staff.
Arizona was able to do an in-home and will have him on campus this weekend. In this type of situation, it is definitely a good sign that Taula is still visiting and it will be his last official.
This recruitment is not over by any means and the coaching staff has a legitimate chance of keeping Taula at Arizona, especially if his father continues to want him to wind up as a Wildcat.
* The likeliest commitment for Arizona in this late recruiting period seems to be 6-foot-8, 295-pound Chicago Simeon offensive lineman Fabbians Ebbele.
Ebbele will be visiting Kansas this weekend and we should have an answer on his recruitment when he gets back. At this time, Arizona likely has a solid lead over Illinois and considering that Bill Bedenbaugh is staying, it is hard to imagine the Wildcats losing any ground.
Unless the visit to Kansas is truly remarkable and Ebbele sees it as a better fit, the UA seems to be the heavy favorites in this one at this time.
* 6-foot-2, 173-pound Los Angeles Cathedral cornerback Anthony Jefferson has moved Arizona into his top schools with UCLA and Oregon.
"It was a good trip, better than what I expected," Jefferson tells Rivals.com. "What attracted me was the new defensive coordinator, coach Brown. I really like his philosophy on defense and they're doing good stuff over there so it would be a good opportunity for me.
"He's a new coordinator and he really knows what he's talking about so everybody gets the same opportunity, the guys coming in and the guys already there.
"Everybody is new to him. There is no favoritism and it would be a great opportunity to play early seeing that they're low on corners right now and they need corners."
Arizona went in-home with Jefferson earlier in the week and is making a very hard push for the four-star prospect. At this point, UCLA is definitely the favorite. However, the word is that the UA has made an impression and there have definitely been surprises on Signing Day in the past.
* 6-foot-0, 185-pound Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert athlete Tre’Vante Porter will be in town this weekend and he could be another player that Arizona has a solid chance of landing.
Texas Tech has been on him for a while, so Porter may be difficult to get away from the Red Raiders. However, his interest in the Wildcats is obvious and getting him on campus is a big deal in terms of possibly being able to land him.
Porter believes he will have a decision on Monday night and often times, the last visit has an advantage. It will be interesting to see just how much of an impact the UA coaching staff can make on him.
* 6-foot-2, 225-pound Fontana (Calif.) Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley is headed to Miami this weekend and will be announcing on Signing Day.
The Wildcats are continuing to pursue him aggressively, but they certainly have their work cut out for them. At this point, USC is considered to be the favorite and USC coach Lane Kiffin has been going hard after every recruit.
Arizona was in Shirley’s house earlier in the week trying to make an impression one last time. There are definitely positives and negatives with each school, although Arizona definitely has the best available playing time to sell to Shirley.
* Arizona biggest prize this past week may have been the transfer of Texas wide receiver Dan Buckner. Buckner’s transfer to Arizona allowed it to move on from recruiting another offensive player and gives the Wildcats a major player in 2011.
Buckner is a player that is too big for a cornerback to cover and too fast and athletic for a linebacker. He's a huge addition to UA, considering he was the national runner-up Texas' third-leading receiver in 2009.
This post was edited on 2/1 11:09 AM by Josh Gershon
Basketball:
Leaving early this morning from his official visit is 6-foot-8, 210-pound 2010 New York Rice forward Kadeem Jack.
The word is that Jack's visit went well and, as planned, he'll go home and discuss the trip with his family and coaches before making the next move in his recruitment.
We’ll obviously get more into Jack’s visit as soon as we can, but for now, getting a commitment from Jack would set Arizona up to be successful in the frontcourt indefinitely.
And considering that the last decade of UA basketball wasn’t “Point Guard U” as much as it was “Why Can’t We Get A Fricking Big Man U,” those aren’t words you can just throw around to a fan base which has been begging for more than one good post player on the same team for years.
But in this case it’s true. We’ll start by looking at Arizona’s 2010-11 frontcourt, should Jack commit:
PF: Jamelle Horne (Sr.), Derrick Williams (So.), Kadeem Jack (Fr.)
C: Derrick Williams (So.), Kyryl Natyazhko (So.), Alex Jacobson (Jr.)
And that’s assuming the Wildcats don’t land junior college post Jesse Perry, who would also be expected to compete for minutes next season. Dwayne Polee is another 2010 UA recruit on the board that could factor into the future of the Wildcats’ front court, although landing Jack might make Polee less of a target.
Moving past 2010-11, it will all depend on what Williams decides to do. If Williams develops at the same rate he has been, you can say whatever you want about his size and position, he’s going to at least consider entering the NBA Draft.
Until then, all we can do is speculate, so for now I’ll just speculate the 2011-12 frontcourt if Williams does and doesn’t go pro, not including Perry and Polee, both of which are still candidates to join the UA’s roster.
With Williams:
PF: Derrick Williams (Jr.), Kadeem Jack (So.), Sidiki Johnson (Fr.)
C: Kyryl Natyazhko (Jr.), Derrick Williams (Jr.), Alex Jacobson (Sr.)
The lineup somewhat changes because I believe by his junior year, Natyazhko will be ready to play significant minutes at center, allowing Williams to slide over to the four, should he be around still.
If Williams goes pro, here’s another look at the frontcourt, again not including Perry and Polee’s possible additions:
PF: Kadeem Jack (So.), Sidiki Johnson (Fr.)
C: Kyryl Natyazhko (Jr.), Kadeem Jack (So.), Alex Jacobson (Sr.)
Obviously, this wouldn’t be Arizona’s final frontcourt one way or the other because UA is likely to add another frontcourt prospect in 2010 besides Jack (should he commit) and then there’s whoever else the Wildcats get in 2011.
But even in a very worst case scenario, if the Wildcats do get Jack (or someone else) and Williams leaves, that’s still a frontcourt which should be more than respectable, assuming Jack and Natyazhko develop as one would expect them to.
Add Williams and anyone to that lineup, and Arizona has one of the best frontcourts in the country.
Which goes back to the point we’ve made 1000 times around here already: the Wildcats are a good point guard away from being, at the minimum, a Pac-10 title contender indefinitely, but you should get it by now.
* Speaking of UA guard recruits, Doron Lamb now says he’s down to Arizona, Kentucky, Kansas and West Virginia.
However, he remains pretty far off from a decision.
"I just want to get better," Lamb told Rivals.com. "From now on, I'm putting full focus on my game and making my grades. Then I'll make a decision in April."
Football:
* We’ll start again with the 2010 recruiting breakdown.
Arizona is now sitting at 20 commitments (including former walk-on Lyle Brown). Here's how UA looks at every position. I expect UA to add three or four more players, total.
Quarterback: 0-1 Total, 0-1 Left
Running Back: 0 Total
Wide Receiver: 4 Total, 0 Left (Garic Wharton, Tyler Slavin, Dexter Ransom, Austin Hill committed)
Offensive Line: 5 Total, 1 Left (Mickey Baucus, Matt Jakubiec, Carter Lees, Trent Spurgeon committed)
Tight End: 0 Total
Defensive Line: 4-5 Total, 0-1 Left (Willie Mobley, Mohammed Usman, Dan Pettinato, Kirfi Taula committed)
Linebacker: 3-4 Total, 0-1 Left (Paul Vassallo, Derek Earls, Kyle Benson committed)
Defensive Back: 4-5 Total, 0-1 Left (Jourdon Grandon, Josh Robbins, Marquis Flowers, Lyle Brown committed)
Long Snapper: 1 Total, 0 Left (Chase Gorham committed)
Here are some, but definitely not all, of the remaining targets on both sides of the ball:
Offense:
Arizona would still accept a commitment from an offensive lineman and a quarterback:
Munchie Legauxhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Munchie-Legaux-85730, QB (visited 1/15)
Fabbians Ebbellehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Fabbians-Ebbele-97279, OT (visited 1/15)
Giovanni Di Poalohttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=73698, OL (visited 1/15)
Defense:
Arizona will likely take two of the following recruits:
Corey Cooperhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Corey-Cooper-82549, S (visited on 11/20)
Josh Shirleyhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Josh-Shirley-81108, LB (visited on 11/6)
Sani Fuimaonohttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Sani-Fuimaono-95286, DT (visited on 11/20)
Anthony Jeffersonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Anthony-Jefferson-89762, CB (visited on 1/22)
Tre’Vante Porterhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Tre'Vante-Porter-72198, CB (visiting this weekend)
Jonathan McKnighthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Jonathan-McKnight-75052, CB (visiting this weekend)
* Last week we talked about the Wildcats’ drastic need for defensive ends. Another position of need for Arizona in 2010 will be cornerbacks. Here’s the Wildcats depth chart at the position in 2011:
Trevin Wade, Sr.
Lyle Brown, Sr.
Derrick Rainey, So.
Jourdon Grandon, RS Fr.
That’s it, unless you were to move Robert Golden to corner for his senior season. So it goes without saying that the Wildcats badly need either another cornerback in 2010 or at least a few in 2011.
* With the decommitment of Matt Brown, another serious position of need is quarterback. A week ago, UA was set at the position, but now here’s that the Wildcats look like in 2011:
Nick Foles, Sr.
Matt Scott, Sr.
Bryson Beirne, Sr.
Richard Morrison, So.
It should be noted that Morrison is considered a candidate to move to inside wide receiver, so even that’s up in the air, depending on what Morrison, the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach decide to do.
Arizona will try to add another 2010 quarterback and also someone in 2011, so this depth chart will change, but it’s obviously very important to get capable QB’s in both this class in the next. Brown, with the timing of his decommitment, didn’t give UA much time to accomplish that in 2010.
UA will take a 2010 quarterback if it can find someone good enough, but with half of Arizona's offensive coordinator position still be filled, as well as the Wildcats having no quarterbacks coach, it will be tough to take a QB at this time.
* As for the offensive coordinator situation, Bill Bedenbaugh will take one half of the job, with UA looking to hire another co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Mike Stoops is in the process of interviewing candidates, and at this time it doesn't appear that anyone has secured the job.
* Word got out earlier this week that UA recruiting coordinator Bill Baker has left the program. I’ve had several questions about what this means for the Wildcats’ recruiting and I think the role of the recruiting coordinator position should be made clear.
While the recruiting coordinator does help coordinate the coaches’ travel schedules, monitor the recruiting board in the football offices, gather information and help out during unofficial and official visits, among other roles, it’s a position that is mostly administrative and for the most part plays a very minor role in any one player choosing Arizona.
It's without question an important position, but when you lose a recruiting coordinator, it's rare that you see any kind of impact on recruiting, one way or the other.
Baker has been rumored to be on his way out over throughout the past year, and his departure doesn’t come to much of a surprise by those around the program.
Regardless, Arizona has found his replacement and it is Dave Emerick, who previously served as the recruiting coordinator at Texas Tech. Emerick was well-regarded at Tech and he should be a good addition to the UA football program. (JG)
* Back to recruiting for Jason Scheer's weekly update:
The news of the 2010 recruiting cycle is getting smaller due to the fact that most players have made their choices by now. However, there are still some remaining targets and the coaching staff gets to focus on them harder than ever.
* 6-foot-1, 185-pound Allen (Texas) quarterback Matt Brownhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Matt-Brown-83132 made the switch to TCU this past weekend.
While Arizona fans can dwell on it all they want, the coaching staff has seemingly moved on. Much of the talk has been about 6-foot-4, 185-pound New Orleans Edna Karr signal caller Munchie Legauxhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Munchie-Legaux-85730. However, he may not be much of a priority as he once was now that some other targets have emerged.
At this point, the most likely of those targets is 6-foot-2, 195-pound Anaheim (Calif.) Servite quarterback Cody Fajardohttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Cody-Fajardo-96669.
There is a chance that Fajardo will visit Arizona this weekend and, if he does, his recruitment could come to an end as he may have future teammates in Kirifi Taulahttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Kirifi-Taula-95620 and Matthew Jakubiec likely heading to Arizona.
"I have my officials so I might as well use as many as I can," Fajardo said. "That could be big just to have someone (at Arizona) from your high school that you're pretty close friends with so we could go together."
* One of Fajardo’s teammates is 6-foot-3, 269-pound defensive tackle Kirifi Taula, whose commitment to Arizona is on shaky ground.
The best way we can explain his situation is that he gave his verbal to Washington last weekend. However, the word is that he did it without talking to anybody in his family and due in large part to a major push by the UW coaching staff.
Arizona was able to do an in-home and will have him on campus this weekend. In this type of situation, it is definitely a good sign that Taula is still visiting and it will be his last official.
This recruitment is not over by any means and the coaching staff has a legitimate chance of keeping Taula at Arizona, especially if his father continues to want him to wind up as a Wildcat.
* The likeliest commitment for Arizona in this late recruiting period seems to be 6-foot-8, 295-pound Chicago Simeon offensive lineman Fabbians Ebbele.
Ebbele will be visiting Kansas this weekend and we should have an answer on his recruitment when he gets back. At this time, Arizona likely has a solid lead over Illinois and considering that Bill Bedenbaugh is staying, it is hard to imagine the Wildcats losing any ground.
Unless the visit to Kansas is truly remarkable and Ebbele sees it as a better fit, the UA seems to be the heavy favorites in this one at this time.
* 6-foot-2, 173-pound Los Angeles Cathedral cornerback Anthony Jefferson has moved Arizona into his top schools with UCLA and Oregon.
"It was a good trip, better than what I expected," Jefferson tells Rivals.com. "What attracted me was the new defensive coordinator, coach Brown. I really like his philosophy on defense and they're doing good stuff over there so it would be a good opportunity for me.
"He's a new coordinator and he really knows what he's talking about so everybody gets the same opportunity, the guys coming in and the guys already there.
"Everybody is new to him. There is no favoritism and it would be a great opportunity to play early seeing that they're low on corners right now and they need corners."
Arizona went in-home with Jefferson earlier in the week and is making a very hard push for the four-star prospect. At this point, UCLA is definitely the favorite. However, the word is that the UA has made an impression and there have definitely been surprises on Signing Day in the past.
* 6-foot-0, 185-pound Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert athlete Tre’Vante Porter will be in town this weekend and he could be another player that Arizona has a solid chance of landing.
Texas Tech has been on him for a while, so Porter may be difficult to get away from the Red Raiders. However, his interest in the Wildcats is obvious and getting him on campus is a big deal in terms of possibly being able to land him.
Porter believes he will have a decision on Monday night and often times, the last visit has an advantage. It will be interesting to see just how much of an impact the UA coaching staff can make on him.
* 6-foot-2, 225-pound Fontana (Calif.) Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley is headed to Miami this weekend and will be announcing on Signing Day.
The Wildcats are continuing to pursue him aggressively, but they certainly have their work cut out for them. At this point, USC is considered to be the favorite and USC coach Lane Kiffin has been going hard after every recruit.
Arizona was in Shirley’s house earlier in the week trying to make an impression one last time. There are definitely positives and negatives with each school, although Arizona definitely has the best available playing time to sell to Shirley.
* Arizona biggest prize this past week may have been the transfer of Texas wide receiver Dan Buckner. Buckner’s transfer to Arizona allowed it to move on from recruiting another offensive player and gives the Wildcats a major player in 2011.
Buckner is a player that is too big for a cornerback to cover and too fast and athletic for a linebacker. He's a huge addition to UA, considering he was the national runner-up Texas' third-leading receiver in 2009.
This post was edited on 2/1 11:09 AM by Josh Gershon
