Arizona will host five visitors in basketball to go with one for football, making this a relatively big Homecoming weekend, and of course giving us more to write about in War Room.
Basketball:
On top of committed 2011 forward Sidiki Johnson taking an official visit, Arizona will host two five-star recruits and two others this weekend, and they'll all be in attendance for Sunday's Red/Blue scrimmage.
One of the five-star recruits will be 6-foot-7, 180-pound La Verne (Calif.) Lutheran 2012 power forward Grant Jerretthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/basketball/recruiting/player-Grant-Jerrett-111330, Rivals.com's 12th ranked prospect in his class.
Jerrett will be making the trip with his teammate in 2013 point guard E.J. Cooper and his coach, Eric Cooper, Sr.
Cooper, Sr. told us that Jerrett's school list is still extensive.
"It's pretty big," he said "It's a wide range of schools from Duke and Kentucky to Arizona and UCLA."
The Wildcats were on Jerrett early and have continued to make headway with the SoCal standout.
"Arizona is great," Cooper, Sr. said. "They're doing a good job; they're definitely doing a good job."
UA's successful three-man 2011 class has only helped Arizona in its pursuit of Jerrett.
"That helps everything," Cooper, Sr. said. "It's not the deal-breaker but it's good to see they're continuing with their ways with how they were at Xavier, by getting good kids in there. They're doing a good job."
That said, Jerrett is still going through the recruiting process and doesn't appear close to a decision.
"We don't really know (about a timetable)," Cooper, Sr. said. "We haven't thought about it too much. We're going through the process.
"We haven't really got to the part of who to pick, but right now we're going through the part of how to deal with all the phone calls, how to go to school and play basketball and deal with all the distractions that come with being a high level athlete.
* The other five-star recruit will be 6-foot-4, 180-pound San Diego Lincoln 2013 shooting guard Tyrel Robinsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/basketball/recruiting/player-Tyrel-Robinson-111902.
We caught up with Tyree, and Rivals.com's 13th ranked prospect in the 2013 class claims offers from Arizona, San Diego State, New Mexico, UCLA, Tennessee and Texas.
Heading into his trip to Tucson, he has some schools that he seems to favor.
"Arizona stands out a lot; I really like them," Robinson said. "Kansas, UCLA, UNLV... I like all schools but I'm really liking Arizona the most.
"They've always had a good program with guards. My cousin Jamelle (Horne) goes there and he told me that Arizona is a good fit for him. I talked to Nick Johnson and he said Arizona is a good fit. I'm hoping to have a good experience when I go out there this weekend."
Despite his tumultuous career at Arizona, Horne has put in a good word for the UA program to Robinson.
"(Jamelle) said that Arizona is good, the coaches are good, and they push you to work harder and get better. He told me it's a good fit," Robinson said.
Robinson also expanded on the advice he's gotten from Nick Johnson.
"I know (Nick) from playing Winston Shepard since he goes to Findlay with him," Robinson said. "He told me that Arizona is a good spot and I want to stay close to San Diego anyway. I think Arizona would be a good fit."
The relationship between Robinson and Sean Miller is another thing going for the Wildcats in this recruitment.
"I don't have a relationship with any other coaches like I do with coach Miller," Robinson said. "I can call coach Miller and talk to him about anything. I call him and talk to him every week. I think me and him have a good connection and he really stands out."
The Robinson twins are two-sports stars who also could get recruited at a high level in football, but are both planning on sticking with football.
"My brother is going to play basketball and where we're going is going to be a package deal," Tyree said.
While we didn't talk with Tyrel, Tyree says that the two of them share the same opinion about Arizona.
"We both like Arizona and Arizona has offered both of us," Tyree said.
Also of note in this recruitment is that despite being a sophomore, Robinson doesn't really want to wait very long before making a decision.
"It will probably be around the end of my basketball season and the beginning of summer basketball," Robinson said. "I just feel like I want to get it over with. I feel like I know where I want to go. Me and my brother have been talking about it every day."
* While this weekend will be big for recruiting, it will also be an opportunity to see the actual team in action - albeit a scrimmage - for the first time since last year's Pac-10 Tournament.
The team has been busy practicing and after hearing rave reviews about the play of Solomon Hill, we asked strength coach Chris Rounds about the impact his improved body has had on his game.
"Solomon's approach has been so much better," Rounds said. "He really tries to improve even when we ride the bike, when we run our track workouts and when we practice. He's taken his effort level to a different place. It definitely will be evident in how he plays, for sure."
When we caught up with Rounds in September, he said Hill's body fat was between 11 to 12 percent, but the sophomore has worked hard to change that.
"Solomon is down to just under 10 percent," Rounds said. "He's about 225 pounds, which is by far the best he's been. By the middle of the summer he was up to about 250 but he really decided to bite the bullet and start to take care of himself. Since then he's been outstanding.
"I'd like to see his body fat go down a little more. If he can drop to 7 to 8%, that would be ideal for him, but he's right on track to be at that point once we start to play games."
* Rounds says the entire team continues to improve its strength and conditioning, but identified as a freshman who has come a long way.
"Solomon sticks out the most because he had the most to gain by really taking care of himself, but I think everyone has really made improvements, especially the guys who have been here the course of the entire summer," Rounds said.
"Daniel Bejarano has actually gained 20 pounds of muscle in five months or so, which is hard to do without absolutely fantastic genetics. I would expect him to be a little more physical than he was in high school.
"The rest of the guys are all doing what they're supposed to do and I would expect then all to take it to the next level in terms of physicality, but until you start to play other people it's hard to say."
* Rounds tested the team in several areas about two weeks ago, including vertical, bench press, body fat, height and wingspan.
Some notes from those tests:
- Kyle Fogg had the highest tested vertical on the team at 37 inches, and has improved his vertical 4 to 4 1/2 inches since last season.
- Jamelle Horne, Jesse Perry and Brendon Lavender were close behind Fogg. Lavender had the highest tested vertical last year but Rounds called it an "inaccurate test."
- The vertical tested is measured from one step, and of course isn't necessarily an indication of how high players can jump with a running start.
"There's guys that can really take off when running," Rounds said.
- The only player who failed the Riley Test - six sprints the length of the court that players usually need to complete in around a minute, depending on position - was Jordin Mayes, who passed it on the second try.
"He missed it by three seconds over the course of six sprints," Rounds said. "It's kind of an average, so he was really close the first time."
- The team's improved strength and conditioning has helped the players defensively.
"I think the coaches are really happy with the first practices," Rounds said. "The first practices always focus on defense more than offense so I think the additional size and strength has helped them do different things.
"They actually understand what's being asked of them after being in the program for a year so the combination of the size and strength to go with the better understanding of the program combines to make them better."
- Overall, Rounds was really impressed by how the team fared in conditioning.
"They've all really improved strength-wise," Rounds said. "They've all really gotten a lot better. They're all in great shape."
Football:
* Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott announced Pac-12 football divisions on Thursday, and the conference will be split into two. The Pac-12 South will include Arizona, Arizona State, USC, UCLA, Colorado and Utah, with the Pac-12 North including Stanford, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
Every year, each Pac-12 team will play everyone in its division, as well as four cross-divisional games.
The inaugural Pac-12 Championship game in 2011 will be held at the home stadium of the team with the best overall conference record.
Also, the Pac-12 will have an equal revenue sharing plan, which could give Arizona around $7 million extra when it goes into effect in 2012-13.
Some thoughts from UA athletic director Greg Byrne regarding Thursday's announcement.
On the extra revenue for Arizona:
"It will be a significant help for us but what it will do is solidify us in many aspects for the future. We're still going to be as aggressive as we can with ticket prices and such but knowing that there's going to be other sources (of income), that's less that you have to pass along to the consumer.
"Knowing there's some of these sources, hopefully there's some things that we can put into our facility infrastructure because we all know there are so many issues we have to face there. It will help us stay competitive from a salary standpoint and we've got coaches and staff that we want to make sure we keep here because we have some great people here. I'm sure some of that will be put that way.
"Just as importantly, we saw what happened with Cal this year (cutting programs) and we feel terribly for everyone involved in that. From the student-athletes to the coaches. That helps us support our 19 sports and 500 student-athletes going forward."
On being in the division with UCLA and USC:
"Obviously L.A. is a very valuable market for us, from an alumni standpoint, from a recruiting standpoint and from a proximity standpoint for us to get to easily. That was one of my arguments, from a travel standpoint, what allows our fans to see us play the most.
"If we're playing in Seattle or L.A. more, obviously that's a much easier place for our folks to get to. Just like with the Northwest schools, they can drive back and forth and have fan attendance...
"There was a lot of support amongst our coaches. And that obviously makes sense because in so many sports we recruit the area. The good thing for the league is that everyone is still going to get to L.A. Some schools won't get there quite as much but they're still going to get there a regular amount."
On the Pac-12 title game being at the conference winner's home field:
"We felt this was a good model. I think it will be great enthusiasm, whoever the home team is. At the same time, this model has worked very well in the NFL over the years, so we're going to give this model a try. I commend Commissioner Scott for saying 'hey, we don't necessarily have to do the same model that everyone else is doing.'
"The atmosphere will be there, the ticket sales will be there. If you're playing in some of the smaller venues in the league, it may not have the same economic impact, but there's also some very big venues in our league, so that could be a great impact. We hope it's in Tucson, Arizona as much as possible."
* Arizona will of course be without Nick Foles this weekend, who is recovering from a dislocated knee cap that he suffered against Washington State. He's believed to be recovering quickly and shouldn't be out long.
Justin Washington (knee) is doubtful, while Trevin Wade (thigh), Bug Wright (shoulder) and Juron Criner (foot) are expected to play. Vaughn Dotsy (back) and Richard Morrison (shoulder) are expected out.
* We're only anticipating one official visitor this weekend, in 5-foot-10, 182-pound Denver East cornerback Ezekiel Bishophttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Ezekiel-Bishop-113486, who is committed to Arizona.
Jason Scheer's weekly recruiting update:
* , 6-foot-4, 230-pound Corona (Calif.) defensive end DeVante Wilsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-DeVante-Wilson-97772 continues to go through his recruitment despite being offered by one of his dream schools in USC.
Wilson visited Nebraska this past weekend and the Cornhuskers now solidify his top three schools.
"I'd say Nebraska was a 9-10 up there,” Wilson tells HuskersIllustrated.com. “I'd say it's like the same rating with Arizona. Arizona and Nebraska are neck and neck, and USC comes after them. Yes, they're my top three."
Wilson still maintains that he likes Arizona, as the Wildcats have been recruiting him for quite some time now.
"I liked the players there,” he said. “They're real chill, and the coaches are really sincere and care about the players. They don't feed you a bunch of BS. It's just like it is here at Nebraska too."
Wilson will be visiting USC for the Notre Dame game and there is a good chance a decision will not be too far off after that. The UA is in very good position, but the Trojans could be difficult to beat.
* 6-foot-3, 210-pound Moreno Valley (Calif.) Rancho Verde athlete Junior Pomeehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Junior-Pomee-90067 is still unsure where he will be going to college.
"I don't even know where I want go to," Pomee tells Rivals.com. "I thought I wanted to go (to UCLA) and then obviously not and then my parents were talking to me.
"Everybody is trying to talk to me about going someplace else. I really don't know where I'm going to go. My mind is just undecided. I don't know when I'm going to commit. It's probably just going to come up at a random time."
There are rumors that USC and Arizona have emerged as the clear favorites, but Pomee denies that.
He still plans on taking visits and while the Wildcats remain in decent shape, it seems that this recruitment can take another turn at any moment.
* 6-foot-5, 325-pound Glendora (Calif.) Citrus Community College offensive lineman Jason Peacockhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Jason-Peacock-109167 is seeing his recruitment take off a bit more.
Peacock has already visited Houston and will likely visit Arizona. The Wildcats may have some ground to make up, however, as Peacock seems to have really enjoyed the Houston visit.
"To be honest I really don't have any favorites right now," Peacock tells BulldogBlitz.com. "I'm still open and want to go on some visits to see where I fit in. Houston has raised the bar to the point where it's probably going to be hard to top. I actually went on a visit there and they showed me a good time.
“I got a chance to kick it with the players and get a feel of the school. The atmosphere was great and as of this point if I wouldn't take any more visits then I would probably go to Houston but that's just because I took a visit there."
While there is pressure on Peacock to move closer to home, it will likely not be the main factor in a decision.
"To be honest my mom, my dad and my whole family would love for me to come back home," Peacock said. "That's a key thing for me to go back close to home but it also comes down to where I fit best. Just say I go down to Mississippi State for a visit and hate it and it's not the place for me and can't see myself there then I'm not going to put myself somewhere that I can't get on the field, can't get an education and get the help that I need.
“I have to look at all of that and not just how far away from home it is. Trust me, being close to home is a great thing to be able to have your mom at the home games. I don't get to do that out here in California."
* Arizona could be close to offering Scottsdale Community College punter Josh Hubner.
Hubner is considered to be one of the better punters in the junior college ranks and has maintained contact with Jeff Hammerschmidt.
He is set for a visit on Dec. 3 and, should an offer come, is a very likely possibility for Arizona’s class.
Hubner is averaging 43.4 yards per punt and has punted 22 times, landing 11 inside the 20 yard line.
* At this point, it seems as if 6-foot-4, 215-pound Norwalk (Calif.) Cerritos Community College safety Keith McGillhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Keith-McGill-114179 is going to take a few more visits.
With that being said, Utah remains in the lead and could be difficult to get McGill away from.
The plan as of now is to visit Oregon State and possibly USC. Had Utah not gone to the Pac-10, there is a good chance that McGill would be much more open to other schools but considering that is one of his main goals and he likes Utah, other schools are going to have difficulty getting him away from the Utes.
McGill is going to graduate in December and Arizona is definitely not out of it, but it will take some more work to get him away from Utah.
* 6-foot-2, 198-pound Houston Klein Forest junior quarterback Matt Davishttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Matt-Davis-94383 is still being highly recruited despite working to get healthy.
"I haven't been talking to many schools lately, just concentrating on my rehab and trying to get back on the field as soon as I can," Davis tells redRaiderSports.com. "It's been going really well so far.
“We're ahead of schedule right now and I should start running next Friday, I think. It's been going smoothly and I'm feeling good about where I'm at with it."
Along with many of the top schools in the country, Arizona has offered and is working to get Davis on campus.
“I haven't taken any visits yet and I'm not sure when I will.,” he said. “My injury has slowed down that process a little bit. I'm also just a college football fan so I like to be at home watching all of those games on Saturdays. I like to get that remote and flip around through all of the different games going on.
“I may be taking some visits towards the end of the season, but I'm not sure yet. There may be a game or two that I'd like to go see. I don't have any specific teams in mind right now, but I know there will be a few options for me to look at when I get ready to do that."
Basketball:
On top of committed 2011 forward Sidiki Johnson taking an official visit, Arizona will host two five-star recruits and two others this weekend, and they'll all be in attendance for Sunday's Red/Blue scrimmage.
One of the five-star recruits will be 6-foot-7, 180-pound La Verne (Calif.) Lutheran 2012 power forward Grant Jerretthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/basketball/recruiting/player-Grant-Jerrett-111330, Rivals.com's 12th ranked prospect in his class.
Jerrett will be making the trip with his teammate in 2013 point guard E.J. Cooper and his coach, Eric Cooper, Sr.
Cooper, Sr. told us that Jerrett's school list is still extensive.
"It's pretty big," he said "It's a wide range of schools from Duke and Kentucky to Arizona and UCLA."
The Wildcats were on Jerrett early and have continued to make headway with the SoCal standout.
"Arizona is great," Cooper, Sr. said. "They're doing a good job; they're definitely doing a good job."
UA's successful three-man 2011 class has only helped Arizona in its pursuit of Jerrett.
"That helps everything," Cooper, Sr. said. "It's not the deal-breaker but it's good to see they're continuing with their ways with how they were at Xavier, by getting good kids in there. They're doing a good job."
That said, Jerrett is still going through the recruiting process and doesn't appear close to a decision.
"We don't really know (about a timetable)," Cooper, Sr. said. "We haven't thought about it too much. We're going through the process.
"We haven't really got to the part of who to pick, but right now we're going through the part of how to deal with all the phone calls, how to go to school and play basketball and deal with all the distractions that come with being a high level athlete.
* The other five-star recruit will be 6-foot-4, 180-pound San Diego Lincoln 2013 shooting guard Tyrel Robinsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/basketball/recruiting/player-Tyrel-Robinson-111902.
We caught up with Tyree, and Rivals.com's 13th ranked prospect in the 2013 class claims offers from Arizona, San Diego State, New Mexico, UCLA, Tennessee and Texas.
Heading into his trip to Tucson, he has some schools that he seems to favor.
"Arizona stands out a lot; I really like them," Robinson said. "Kansas, UCLA, UNLV... I like all schools but I'm really liking Arizona the most.
"They've always had a good program with guards. My cousin Jamelle (Horne) goes there and he told me that Arizona is a good fit for him. I talked to Nick Johnson and he said Arizona is a good fit. I'm hoping to have a good experience when I go out there this weekend."
Despite his tumultuous career at Arizona, Horne has put in a good word for the UA program to Robinson.
"(Jamelle) said that Arizona is good, the coaches are good, and they push you to work harder and get better. He told me it's a good fit," Robinson said.
Robinson also expanded on the advice he's gotten from Nick Johnson.
"I know (Nick) from playing Winston Shepard since he goes to Findlay with him," Robinson said. "He told me that Arizona is a good spot and I want to stay close to San Diego anyway. I think Arizona would be a good fit."
The relationship between Robinson and Sean Miller is another thing going for the Wildcats in this recruitment.
"I don't have a relationship with any other coaches like I do with coach Miller," Robinson said. "I can call coach Miller and talk to him about anything. I call him and talk to him every week. I think me and him have a good connection and he really stands out."
The Robinson twins are two-sports stars who also could get recruited at a high level in football, but are both planning on sticking with football.
"My brother is going to play basketball and where we're going is going to be a package deal," Tyree said.
While we didn't talk with Tyrel, Tyree says that the two of them share the same opinion about Arizona.
"We both like Arizona and Arizona has offered both of us," Tyree said.
Also of note in this recruitment is that despite being a sophomore, Robinson doesn't really want to wait very long before making a decision.
"It will probably be around the end of my basketball season and the beginning of summer basketball," Robinson said. "I just feel like I want to get it over with. I feel like I know where I want to go. Me and my brother have been talking about it every day."
* While this weekend will be big for recruiting, it will also be an opportunity to see the actual team in action - albeit a scrimmage - for the first time since last year's Pac-10 Tournament.
The team has been busy practicing and after hearing rave reviews about the play of Solomon Hill, we asked strength coach Chris Rounds about the impact his improved body has had on his game.
"Solomon's approach has been so much better," Rounds said. "He really tries to improve even when we ride the bike, when we run our track workouts and when we practice. He's taken his effort level to a different place. It definitely will be evident in how he plays, for sure."
When we caught up with Rounds in September, he said Hill's body fat was between 11 to 12 percent, but the sophomore has worked hard to change that.
"Solomon is down to just under 10 percent," Rounds said. "He's about 225 pounds, which is by far the best he's been. By the middle of the summer he was up to about 250 but he really decided to bite the bullet and start to take care of himself. Since then he's been outstanding.
"I'd like to see his body fat go down a little more. If he can drop to 7 to 8%, that would be ideal for him, but he's right on track to be at that point once we start to play games."
* Rounds says the entire team continues to improve its strength and conditioning, but identified as a freshman who has come a long way.
"Solomon sticks out the most because he had the most to gain by really taking care of himself, but I think everyone has really made improvements, especially the guys who have been here the course of the entire summer," Rounds said.
"Daniel Bejarano has actually gained 20 pounds of muscle in five months or so, which is hard to do without absolutely fantastic genetics. I would expect him to be a little more physical than he was in high school.
"The rest of the guys are all doing what they're supposed to do and I would expect then all to take it to the next level in terms of physicality, but until you start to play other people it's hard to say."
* Rounds tested the team in several areas about two weeks ago, including vertical, bench press, body fat, height and wingspan.
Some notes from those tests:
- Kyle Fogg had the highest tested vertical on the team at 37 inches, and has improved his vertical 4 to 4 1/2 inches since last season.
- Jamelle Horne, Jesse Perry and Brendon Lavender were close behind Fogg. Lavender had the highest tested vertical last year but Rounds called it an "inaccurate test."
- The vertical tested is measured from one step, and of course isn't necessarily an indication of how high players can jump with a running start.
"There's guys that can really take off when running," Rounds said.
- The only player who failed the Riley Test - six sprints the length of the court that players usually need to complete in around a minute, depending on position - was Jordin Mayes, who passed it on the second try.
"He missed it by three seconds over the course of six sprints," Rounds said. "It's kind of an average, so he was really close the first time."
- The team's improved strength and conditioning has helped the players defensively.
"I think the coaches are really happy with the first practices," Rounds said. "The first practices always focus on defense more than offense so I think the additional size and strength has helped them do different things.
"They actually understand what's being asked of them after being in the program for a year so the combination of the size and strength to go with the better understanding of the program combines to make them better."
- Overall, Rounds was really impressed by how the team fared in conditioning.
"They've all really improved strength-wise," Rounds said. "They've all really gotten a lot better. They're all in great shape."
Football:
* Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott announced Pac-12 football divisions on Thursday, and the conference will be split into two. The Pac-12 South will include Arizona, Arizona State, USC, UCLA, Colorado and Utah, with the Pac-12 North including Stanford, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
Every year, each Pac-12 team will play everyone in its division, as well as four cross-divisional games.
The inaugural Pac-12 Championship game in 2011 will be held at the home stadium of the team with the best overall conference record.
Also, the Pac-12 will have an equal revenue sharing plan, which could give Arizona around $7 million extra when it goes into effect in 2012-13.
Some thoughts from UA athletic director Greg Byrne regarding Thursday's announcement.
On the extra revenue for Arizona:
"It will be a significant help for us but what it will do is solidify us in many aspects for the future. We're still going to be as aggressive as we can with ticket prices and such but knowing that there's going to be other sources (of income), that's less that you have to pass along to the consumer.
"Knowing there's some of these sources, hopefully there's some things that we can put into our facility infrastructure because we all know there are so many issues we have to face there. It will help us stay competitive from a salary standpoint and we've got coaches and staff that we want to make sure we keep here because we have some great people here. I'm sure some of that will be put that way.
"Just as importantly, we saw what happened with Cal this year (cutting programs) and we feel terribly for everyone involved in that. From the student-athletes to the coaches. That helps us support our 19 sports and 500 student-athletes going forward."
On being in the division with UCLA and USC:
"Obviously L.A. is a very valuable market for us, from an alumni standpoint, from a recruiting standpoint and from a proximity standpoint for us to get to easily. That was one of my arguments, from a travel standpoint, what allows our fans to see us play the most.
"If we're playing in Seattle or L.A. more, obviously that's a much easier place for our folks to get to. Just like with the Northwest schools, they can drive back and forth and have fan attendance...
"There was a lot of support amongst our coaches. And that obviously makes sense because in so many sports we recruit the area. The good thing for the league is that everyone is still going to get to L.A. Some schools won't get there quite as much but they're still going to get there a regular amount."
On the Pac-12 title game being at the conference winner's home field:
"We felt this was a good model. I think it will be great enthusiasm, whoever the home team is. At the same time, this model has worked very well in the NFL over the years, so we're going to give this model a try. I commend Commissioner Scott for saying 'hey, we don't necessarily have to do the same model that everyone else is doing.'
"The atmosphere will be there, the ticket sales will be there. If you're playing in some of the smaller venues in the league, it may not have the same economic impact, but there's also some very big venues in our league, so that could be a great impact. We hope it's in Tucson, Arizona as much as possible."
* Arizona will of course be without Nick Foles this weekend, who is recovering from a dislocated knee cap that he suffered against Washington State. He's believed to be recovering quickly and shouldn't be out long.
Justin Washington (knee) is doubtful, while Trevin Wade (thigh), Bug Wright (shoulder) and Juron Criner (foot) are expected to play. Vaughn Dotsy (back) and Richard Morrison (shoulder) are expected out.
* We're only anticipating one official visitor this weekend, in 5-foot-10, 182-pound Denver East cornerback Ezekiel Bishophttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Ezekiel-Bishop-113486, who is committed to Arizona.
Jason Scheer's weekly recruiting update:
* , 6-foot-4, 230-pound Corona (Calif.) defensive end DeVante Wilsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-DeVante-Wilson-97772 continues to go through his recruitment despite being offered by one of his dream schools in USC.
Wilson visited Nebraska this past weekend and the Cornhuskers now solidify his top three schools.
"I'd say Nebraska was a 9-10 up there,” Wilson tells HuskersIllustrated.com. “I'd say it's like the same rating with Arizona. Arizona and Nebraska are neck and neck, and USC comes after them. Yes, they're my top three."
Wilson still maintains that he likes Arizona, as the Wildcats have been recruiting him for quite some time now.
"I liked the players there,” he said. “They're real chill, and the coaches are really sincere and care about the players. They don't feed you a bunch of BS. It's just like it is here at Nebraska too."
Wilson will be visiting USC for the Notre Dame game and there is a good chance a decision will not be too far off after that. The UA is in very good position, but the Trojans could be difficult to beat.
* 6-foot-3, 210-pound Moreno Valley (Calif.) Rancho Verde athlete Junior Pomeehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Junior-Pomee-90067 is still unsure where he will be going to college.
"I don't even know where I want go to," Pomee tells Rivals.com. "I thought I wanted to go (to UCLA) and then obviously not and then my parents were talking to me.
"Everybody is trying to talk to me about going someplace else. I really don't know where I'm going to go. My mind is just undecided. I don't know when I'm going to commit. It's probably just going to come up at a random time."
There are rumors that USC and Arizona have emerged as the clear favorites, but Pomee denies that.
He still plans on taking visits and while the Wildcats remain in decent shape, it seems that this recruitment can take another turn at any moment.
* 6-foot-5, 325-pound Glendora (Calif.) Citrus Community College offensive lineman Jason Peacockhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Jason-Peacock-109167 is seeing his recruitment take off a bit more.
Peacock has already visited Houston and will likely visit Arizona. The Wildcats may have some ground to make up, however, as Peacock seems to have really enjoyed the Houston visit.
"To be honest I really don't have any favorites right now," Peacock tells BulldogBlitz.com. "I'm still open and want to go on some visits to see where I fit in. Houston has raised the bar to the point where it's probably going to be hard to top. I actually went on a visit there and they showed me a good time.
“I got a chance to kick it with the players and get a feel of the school. The atmosphere was great and as of this point if I wouldn't take any more visits then I would probably go to Houston but that's just because I took a visit there."
While there is pressure on Peacock to move closer to home, it will likely not be the main factor in a decision.
"To be honest my mom, my dad and my whole family would love for me to come back home," Peacock said. "That's a key thing for me to go back close to home but it also comes down to where I fit best. Just say I go down to Mississippi State for a visit and hate it and it's not the place for me and can't see myself there then I'm not going to put myself somewhere that I can't get on the field, can't get an education and get the help that I need.
“I have to look at all of that and not just how far away from home it is. Trust me, being close to home is a great thing to be able to have your mom at the home games. I don't get to do that out here in California."
* Arizona could be close to offering Scottsdale Community College punter Josh Hubner.
Hubner is considered to be one of the better punters in the junior college ranks and has maintained contact with Jeff Hammerschmidt.
He is set for a visit on Dec. 3 and, should an offer come, is a very likely possibility for Arizona’s class.
Hubner is averaging 43.4 yards per punt and has punted 22 times, landing 11 inside the 20 yard line.
* At this point, it seems as if 6-foot-4, 215-pound Norwalk (Calif.) Cerritos Community College safety Keith McGillhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Keith-McGill-114179 is going to take a few more visits.
With that being said, Utah remains in the lead and could be difficult to get McGill away from.
The plan as of now is to visit Oregon State and possibly USC. Had Utah not gone to the Pac-10, there is a good chance that McGill would be much more open to other schools but considering that is one of his main goals and he likes Utah, other schools are going to have difficulty getting him away from the Utes.
McGill is going to graduate in December and Arizona is definitely not out of it, but it will take some more work to get him away from Utah.
* 6-foot-2, 198-pound Houston Klein Forest junior quarterback Matt Davishttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Matt-Davis-94383 is still being highly recruited despite working to get healthy.
"I haven't been talking to many schools lately, just concentrating on my rehab and trying to get back on the field as soon as I can," Davis tells redRaiderSports.com. "It's been going really well so far.
“We're ahead of schedule right now and I should start running next Friday, I think. It's been going smoothly and I'm feeling good about where I'm at with it."
Along with many of the top schools in the country, Arizona has offered and is working to get Davis on campus.
“I haven't taken any visits yet and I'm not sure when I will.,” he said. “My injury has slowed down that process a little bit. I'm also just a college football fan so I like to be at home watching all of those games on Saturdays. I like to get that remote and flip around through all of the different games going on.
“I may be taking some visits towards the end of the season, but I'm not sure yet. There may be a game or two that I'd like to go see. I don't have any specific teams in mind right now, but I know there will be a few options for me to look at when I get ready to do that."
