It will be a busy two days for UA basketball and football with the basketball team taking on Santa Clara and Kansas in Las Vegas, and the football team taking on top-ranked Oregon in Eugene. Make sure to check our Story Index to catch up on coverage of both teams.
Basketball:
* Some notes on Arizona’s 4-0 basketball team, which takes on Santa Clara tonight in Las Vegas at 8:30pm MST.
- The biggest concern of the team through four games has been the play at point guard. MoMo Jones, while not a pure point guard, is a better player than he’s shown thus far through four games.
As confident of a kid as Jones is, the belief is that his slow start has been more mental than anything else, and that’s what he’s trying to overcome right now.
The good news is that Arizona doesn’t need Jones to be outstanding for the Wildcats to be good; as long as he runs the offense, limits turnovers, plays good defense, etc. UA has enough scoring options to be successful.
- While MoMo has been better in practice than games, Jordin Mayes has been better in games than practice, which hasn’t helped his playing time, although he’s certainly doing plenty in games to earn a bigger role on the team.
- Early on it looks like there’s been pretty significant improvement by several of the UA players, but Kyle Fogg’s step forward in his passing and defense might be most impressive.
Fogg already has 22 assists in four games. He didn’t hit 22 assists last year until his 14th game of the season - Jan. 2 against UCLA. He also has 9 steals, a total he didn’t hit last season until that same UCLA game.
- Kyryl Natyazhko’s improvement has also been impressive. He currently has 18 rebounds, well over half of the entire number of boards (31) that he had in all 19 Pac-10 games last season. His four blocks double the total of two he had in Pac-10 play last year.
- Brendon Lavender has finally translated his practice play into games, where he’s hit 9 three-pointers so far this season. He didn’t hit his 9th three-pointer last year until Jan. 8 against Washington State.
* Arizona hosted 2013 top-five prospect Chris Thomas on an unofficial visit last weekend. The elite guard has been a top target of the Wildcats since last April and UA being the first school seriously involved in the recruitment gave Arizona the opportunity to make a big impact on him early.
We caught up with Thomas’ AAU coach, Greg Willis, to find out more about how the visit went and the recruitment in general.
“He said that he had a good visit and that he enjoyed himself,” Willis said. “The coaches are great at Arizona. Everyone around Chris likes them. They like the University of Arizona; they like the campus and they like the coaches.”
Being a sophomore in high school, it’s early into Thomas’ recruiting process, but UA has done a good job to date.
“It’s still early but he likes Arizona a lot,” Willis said. “A lot of schools call but he likes Arizona.
“He just wants things to go smooth and easy. The family wants him to have a commitment by his senior season. They’d like the recruiting process to stop around then; he’ll probably verbal around then is what I’m thinking.”
While Thomas is hearing from several programs right now, UA has definitely made an early impact.
“There’s a lot of schools trying to recruit him,” Willis said. “But he did that visit to Arizona and he liked everything he saw. He liked the city, the campus, the game; he just liked everything about Arizona. We’re trying to keep things close knit with him in the recruiting process, but I can tell you that everybody likes Arizona.”
* It’s still early into the season, but Nick Johnson is making a great case to make the McDonald’s All-American game. Johnson has gone from a role player on Findlay Prep last season to the best player on the best high school team in the country.
Through the first six games, he was averaging 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.5 steals, shooting 53.3% from three and 68% from the field.
What Johnson has done in now seven wins has people in the Findlay program comparing his production to that of Avery Bradley and Cory Joseph, who both starred at Findlay before joining Texas.
* Grant Jerrett’s coach, Eric Cooper, gave an update on his recruitment to CarolinaBlue.com, North Carolina’s Rivals.com website.
"Everyone has either offered or told Grant that they want him to play for their school," said Cooper. "From schools like Kentucky, UNC and Duke in the east to UCLA, USC, Arizona and UNLV in the west…
"I would assume that he's going to stay out west, but that's something that Grant has to figure out…
"Most West Coast kids that go east find out that it's just such a different lifestyle out there when you think about the rain and the culture. It's just a different life out there.
"I think he (Jerrett) needs to figure out what region he wants to play in, because he can go anywhere and play. I think he wants to know about the style of play and what suits him the best.
"He also wants a program that is on the rise and not the decline. Coaching staff and academics are certainly important, but here's the thing with coaches -- you're not going to hang out with them.
"You just want to make sure that you go to a place that the coaching staff has some integrity. A place where the coaches are going to teach you how to be a better basketball player. A place that is going to help you develop your game. And I think that's what is important to him.
Cooper told the site that he felt Arizona, UCLA, UNLV and Washington have been most aggressive in recruiting Jerrett.
Football:
* Rivals.com’s latest bowl projectionshttp://arizona.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1156897 have Arizona taking on Oklahoma in the Holiday Bowl in a battle between Mike Stoops and Bob Stoops.
It seems increasingly likely that, unless UA loses both of its next two games, the Holiday Bowl would be Arizona’s destination.
If Arizona loses to Oregon and beats ASU, Holiday would definitely be most likely, unless Oregon and Stanford both make BCS games, in which case UA could move up to the Alamo Bowl.
If Arizona loses out, the Sun Bowl or Las Vegas Bowl could be destinations, depending on what other Pac-10 teams become bowl eligible.
There’s also the possibility that the Holiday Bowl works out a trade with another bowl, such as the Sun, since UA played there last year. (JG)
Jason Scheer’s weekly recruiting update:
* Denver East safety Ezekiel Bishophttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Ezekiel-Bishop-113486 has been consistently recruited by Colorado, but it now seems that Arizona is definitely where he is headed.
"Arizona is nice,” Bishop tells BuffStampede.com. “They have a lovely campus, it is gorgeous. Their coaches are down to earth. [Defensive backs] coach [Greg] Brown is a great guy.
“All the players had nothing but great things to say about him. [Head] coach [Mike] Stoops is very intense, I kind of like that."
* Arizona has offered Scottsdale Community College punter Josh Hubnerhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=120238 and it seems that it will come down to Arizona and Arizona State.
"ASU offered right on the heels of U of A," Hubner tells ASUDevils.com. "ASU is close to home, I love it here.
“UofA has a very solid program but I believe ASU may have the upper hand next year. It's going to be a hard decision, because I don't want to disappoint anyone.”
In an interesting twist, Hubner may actually decide based on which team wins the game between the two next week.
"More or less I'm going to make a decision once I visit the two schools," Hubner said. "I like both in-state schools and I very well might make my decision based off of who wins that game."
Hubner is considered to be one of the better punters in the country and, considering Arizona’s special teams’ issues, would be a relatively big get for the Wildcats.
* Corona (Calif.) defensive end DeVante Wilsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-DeVante-Wilson-97772 is rounding out his recruitment and we had a chance to speak to him about where Arizona stands.
“I am ready for my USC visit so I can compare and then make my decision,” he said. “I am still pretty open with the three schools. It will come down to where I am most comfortable at and the feeling I get when I am there.”
Wilson admits that Arizona may have a leg up in the sense that it can offer immediate playing time.
“Tim Kish tells me they can use my speed coming off the end because they are losing their top three guys and I have a chance to play early and do big things,” Wilson said.
“I think it is real important to be able to play early because I want to play as soon as I can and that is good. I think Arizona is recruiting me a little harder and that is also definitely something I keep in mind.”
* There is not much new with Chicago (Ill.) Simeon four-star senior offensive guard prospect Chris Bryanthttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=107605.
"I have official visits set for Arizona (December 3rd) and to Michigan (December 10th) and I'm looking forward to those visits,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “I'm also going to set an official visit to Illinois next.
“I'm not sure on the date but I'm guessing they will want me to make an official visit in early January. I know that a lot of schools will be on winter break after that second official visit weekend and the last thing I want to do is make an official visit when all the students are gone."
Bryant knows he will take at least those three official visits, but admits that his recruitment could come to an end before he takes two more.
"I have five official visits I can take and I'm considering taking three visits and then seeing how everything feels,” he said. “If I need to take the final two visits I will but for now I want to take the three official visits and see how things seem.
“If I need to take the other two visits I will but for now I'll take visits to Arizona, Michigan and Illinois."
Arizona remains in good shape for Bryant and the general belief is that Michigan and Arizona are the two schools to beat, although there is pressure for Bryant to stay close to home and attend Illinois.
* Arizona continues to recruit junior offensive lineman Mac Longhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=114581.
He has offers from Texas Tech and Houston and the UA coaching staff is keeping tabs on him.
"I'm also hearing from Nebraska and I sent a little clip to Arizona and a coach said he liked what he saw," he tells PurpleMenace.com. "Nobody else has got really close to offering yet, I haven't talked to a lot of people on the phone. I've just been getting a lot of letters."
Although Long does not claim a favorite school yet, he has a good idea of what he will be looking for as he goes through the recruiting process.
"I don't want to be really too far from the house," he said. "But that's not really a huge deal. I want to have good coaches and a family atmosphere, kind of like a small town college feeling because I'm from a real small school."
* It now appears as though Glendale (Ariz.) Cactus offensive lineman Ryan Nowickihttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=108338 could be leaning towards leaving Arizona.
He claims a top four of USC, Washington, Oregon State, and Penn State and will likely take an official visit to each.
Nowicki is quiet on favorites, but the overall atmosphere of each school should play a large role in his decision.
"I want to see how together the team is," Nowicki tells USCFootball.com. "Is it a family or just a bunch of individuals? I really like the whole family setting where everybody gets along and works as a team. Hopefully I get to see that."
It does not seem like Nowicki will take an official visit to Arizona and Arizona State, but that does not necessarily mean that either school is out of it at this time.
* 6-foot-5, 290-pound Glendora (Calif.) Citrus Community College offensive lineman Addison Bachmanhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Addison-Bachman-109172 has been offered by Memphis, but says Arizona is still the leader.
“Arizona has the lead, but nothing is for sure,” Bachman said. “I will commit to the team that I like when I feel I have to.”
Bachman is taking an unofficial visit to USC this weekend and will follow with a trip to Arizona next week and one to Memphis the following week.
Figuring Bachman does not get an offer from USC and the Arizona offer stands, the Wildcats are likely the heavy favorites in this one.
This post was edited on 11/26 1:02 AM by Josh Gershon
Basketball:
* Some notes on Arizona’s 4-0 basketball team, which takes on Santa Clara tonight in Las Vegas at 8:30pm MST.
- The biggest concern of the team through four games has been the play at point guard. MoMo Jones, while not a pure point guard, is a better player than he’s shown thus far through four games.
As confident of a kid as Jones is, the belief is that his slow start has been more mental than anything else, and that’s what he’s trying to overcome right now.
The good news is that Arizona doesn’t need Jones to be outstanding for the Wildcats to be good; as long as he runs the offense, limits turnovers, plays good defense, etc. UA has enough scoring options to be successful.
- While MoMo has been better in practice than games, Jordin Mayes has been better in games than practice, which hasn’t helped his playing time, although he’s certainly doing plenty in games to earn a bigger role on the team.
- Early on it looks like there’s been pretty significant improvement by several of the UA players, but Kyle Fogg’s step forward in his passing and defense might be most impressive.
Fogg already has 22 assists in four games. He didn’t hit 22 assists last year until his 14th game of the season - Jan. 2 against UCLA. He also has 9 steals, a total he didn’t hit last season until that same UCLA game.
- Kyryl Natyazhko’s improvement has also been impressive. He currently has 18 rebounds, well over half of the entire number of boards (31) that he had in all 19 Pac-10 games last season. His four blocks double the total of two he had in Pac-10 play last year.
- Brendon Lavender has finally translated his practice play into games, where he’s hit 9 three-pointers so far this season. He didn’t hit his 9th three-pointer last year until Jan. 8 against Washington State.
* Arizona hosted 2013 top-five prospect Chris Thomas on an unofficial visit last weekend. The elite guard has been a top target of the Wildcats since last April and UA being the first school seriously involved in the recruitment gave Arizona the opportunity to make a big impact on him early.
We caught up with Thomas’ AAU coach, Greg Willis, to find out more about how the visit went and the recruitment in general.
“He said that he had a good visit and that he enjoyed himself,” Willis said. “The coaches are great at Arizona. Everyone around Chris likes them. They like the University of Arizona; they like the campus and they like the coaches.”
Being a sophomore in high school, it’s early into Thomas’ recruiting process, but UA has done a good job to date.
“It’s still early but he likes Arizona a lot,” Willis said. “A lot of schools call but he likes Arizona.
“He just wants things to go smooth and easy. The family wants him to have a commitment by his senior season. They’d like the recruiting process to stop around then; he’ll probably verbal around then is what I’m thinking.”
While Thomas is hearing from several programs right now, UA has definitely made an early impact.
“There’s a lot of schools trying to recruit him,” Willis said. “But he did that visit to Arizona and he liked everything he saw. He liked the city, the campus, the game; he just liked everything about Arizona. We’re trying to keep things close knit with him in the recruiting process, but I can tell you that everybody likes Arizona.”
* It’s still early into the season, but Nick Johnson is making a great case to make the McDonald’s All-American game. Johnson has gone from a role player on Findlay Prep last season to the best player on the best high school team in the country.
Through the first six games, he was averaging 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.5 steals, shooting 53.3% from three and 68% from the field.
What Johnson has done in now seven wins has people in the Findlay program comparing his production to that of Avery Bradley and Cory Joseph, who both starred at Findlay before joining Texas.
* Grant Jerrett’s coach, Eric Cooper, gave an update on his recruitment to CarolinaBlue.com, North Carolina’s Rivals.com website.
"Everyone has either offered or told Grant that they want him to play for their school," said Cooper. "From schools like Kentucky, UNC and Duke in the east to UCLA, USC, Arizona and UNLV in the west…
"I would assume that he's going to stay out west, but that's something that Grant has to figure out…
"Most West Coast kids that go east find out that it's just such a different lifestyle out there when you think about the rain and the culture. It's just a different life out there.
"I think he (Jerrett) needs to figure out what region he wants to play in, because he can go anywhere and play. I think he wants to know about the style of play and what suits him the best.
"He also wants a program that is on the rise and not the decline. Coaching staff and academics are certainly important, but here's the thing with coaches -- you're not going to hang out with them.
"You just want to make sure that you go to a place that the coaching staff has some integrity. A place where the coaches are going to teach you how to be a better basketball player. A place that is going to help you develop your game. And I think that's what is important to him.
Cooper told the site that he felt Arizona, UCLA, UNLV and Washington have been most aggressive in recruiting Jerrett.
Football:
* Rivals.com’s latest bowl projectionshttp://arizona.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1156897 have Arizona taking on Oklahoma in the Holiday Bowl in a battle between Mike Stoops and Bob Stoops.
It seems increasingly likely that, unless UA loses both of its next two games, the Holiday Bowl would be Arizona’s destination.
If Arizona loses to Oregon and beats ASU, Holiday would definitely be most likely, unless Oregon and Stanford both make BCS games, in which case UA could move up to the Alamo Bowl.
If Arizona loses out, the Sun Bowl or Las Vegas Bowl could be destinations, depending on what other Pac-10 teams become bowl eligible.
There’s also the possibility that the Holiday Bowl works out a trade with another bowl, such as the Sun, since UA played there last year. (JG)
Jason Scheer’s weekly recruiting update:
* Denver East safety Ezekiel Bishophttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Ezekiel-Bishop-113486 has been consistently recruited by Colorado, but it now seems that Arizona is definitely where he is headed.
"Arizona is nice,” Bishop tells BuffStampede.com. “They have a lovely campus, it is gorgeous. Their coaches are down to earth. [Defensive backs] coach [Greg] Brown is a great guy.
“All the players had nothing but great things to say about him. [Head] coach [Mike] Stoops is very intense, I kind of like that."
* Arizona has offered Scottsdale Community College punter Josh Hubnerhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=120238 and it seems that it will come down to Arizona and Arizona State.
"ASU offered right on the heels of U of A," Hubner tells ASUDevils.com. "ASU is close to home, I love it here.
“UofA has a very solid program but I believe ASU may have the upper hand next year. It's going to be a hard decision, because I don't want to disappoint anyone.”
In an interesting twist, Hubner may actually decide based on which team wins the game between the two next week.
"More or less I'm going to make a decision once I visit the two schools," Hubner said. "I like both in-state schools and I very well might make my decision based off of who wins that game."
Hubner is considered to be one of the better punters in the country and, considering Arizona’s special teams’ issues, would be a relatively big get for the Wildcats.
* Corona (Calif.) defensive end DeVante Wilsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-DeVante-Wilson-97772 is rounding out his recruitment and we had a chance to speak to him about where Arizona stands.
“I am ready for my USC visit so I can compare and then make my decision,” he said. “I am still pretty open with the three schools. It will come down to where I am most comfortable at and the feeling I get when I am there.”
Wilson admits that Arizona may have a leg up in the sense that it can offer immediate playing time.
“Tim Kish tells me they can use my speed coming off the end because they are losing their top three guys and I have a chance to play early and do big things,” Wilson said.
“I think it is real important to be able to play early because I want to play as soon as I can and that is good. I think Arizona is recruiting me a little harder and that is also definitely something I keep in mind.”
* There is not much new with Chicago (Ill.) Simeon four-star senior offensive guard prospect Chris Bryanthttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=107605.
"I have official visits set for Arizona (December 3rd) and to Michigan (December 10th) and I'm looking forward to those visits,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “I'm also going to set an official visit to Illinois next.
“I'm not sure on the date but I'm guessing they will want me to make an official visit in early January. I know that a lot of schools will be on winter break after that second official visit weekend and the last thing I want to do is make an official visit when all the students are gone."
Bryant knows he will take at least those three official visits, but admits that his recruitment could come to an end before he takes two more.
"I have five official visits I can take and I'm considering taking three visits and then seeing how everything feels,” he said. “If I need to take the final two visits I will but for now I want to take the three official visits and see how things seem.
“If I need to take the other two visits I will but for now I'll take visits to Arizona, Michigan and Illinois."
Arizona remains in good shape for Bryant and the general belief is that Michigan and Arizona are the two schools to beat, although there is pressure for Bryant to stay close to home and attend Illinois.
* Arizona continues to recruit junior offensive lineman Mac Longhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=114581.
He has offers from Texas Tech and Houston and the UA coaching staff is keeping tabs on him.
"I'm also hearing from Nebraska and I sent a little clip to Arizona and a coach said he liked what he saw," he tells PurpleMenace.com. "Nobody else has got really close to offering yet, I haven't talked to a lot of people on the phone. I've just been getting a lot of letters."
Although Long does not claim a favorite school yet, he has a good idea of what he will be looking for as he goes through the recruiting process.
"I don't want to be really too far from the house," he said. "But that's not really a huge deal. I want to have good coaches and a family atmosphere, kind of like a small town college feeling because I'm from a real small school."
* It now appears as though Glendale (Ariz.) Cactus offensive lineman Ryan Nowickihttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=108338 could be leaning towards leaving Arizona.
He claims a top four of USC, Washington, Oregon State, and Penn State and will likely take an official visit to each.
Nowicki is quiet on favorites, but the overall atmosphere of each school should play a large role in his decision.
"I want to see how together the team is," Nowicki tells USCFootball.com. "Is it a family or just a bunch of individuals? I really like the whole family setting where everybody gets along and works as a team. Hopefully I get to see that."
It does not seem like Nowicki will take an official visit to Arizona and Arizona State, but that does not necessarily mean that either school is out of it at this time.
* 6-foot-5, 290-pound Glendora (Calif.) Citrus Community College offensive lineman Addison Bachmanhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Addison-Bachman-109172 has been offered by Memphis, but says Arizona is still the leader.
“Arizona has the lead, but nothing is for sure,” Bachman said. “I will commit to the team that I like when I feel I have to.”
Bachman is taking an unofficial visit to USC this weekend and will follow with a trip to Arizona next week and one to Memphis the following week.
Figuring Bachman does not get an offer from USC and the Arizona offer stands, the Wildcats are likely the heavy favorites in this one.
This post was edited on 11/26 1:02 AM by Josh Gershon
