It's been another big week of news which leads to another expanded edition of the GOAZCATS.com War Room.
Basketball:
With it being a light week, having no game until Lipscomb on Dec. 21, the Arizona coaches have hit the road recruiting.
James Whitford was in Phoenix to check out 6-foot-6 2012 wing Demarquise Johnson before taking a flight to Portland to see some younger prospects and travelling to Detroit for Ray McCallum, amongst others.
Archie Miller was in SoCal and saw 2011 wing Wesley Saunders and some other younger recruits, and on Thursday he arrived in Florida to watch Sidiki Johnson, Nick Johnson, Dwayne Polee and others.
Book Richardson headed east and word is two of the players he checked out were Josh Selby and Quinn Cook.
Even Sean Miller will make a rare in-season trip to go recruiting over the weekend.
* Speaking of Selby, he's set up an official visit to Arizona on Jan. 9, and you can read an interview Rahsaan Gethers did with his mother, Maeshon Weatherspoon, herehttp://arizona.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1028854.
I also had the chance to speak with Weatherspoon this week, and she told me that her and Josh are looking forward to the visit.
"Sean Miller is a good coach with what he's done at Xavier," Weatherspoon said. "They run an offense that's conducive to an NBA offense. That's one of the key things. Once we go on the visit, we'll be able to learn more in depth about Arizona, and right now we're going off of what we know from talking to Book."
Book and Weatherspoon go way back, and the UA assistant is by far the driving force behind Arizona possibly landing Rivals.com's 4th ranked prospect in 2010.
"I've known Book for several years, since he coached the Gauchos," Weatherspoon said. "We've supported each other for a long time. He's an outstanding guy. He's an all-around good guy. I definitely trust him but just because I know him doesn't mean he'll be the deciding factor. But I do like Book."
Weatherspoon followed up on the fact that her relationship with Book won't be the reason her son goes to Arizona, if he does.
"It plays a part but it's not going to be the deciding factor," she said. "I have a relationship with Steve Forbes at Tennessee but I'm not going to send my son to Tennessee just for that reason. It's a part but it's not decisive, like we have to go there because of that relationship."
Arizona's need for a point guard could also play a factor, but again, it won't be the only factor if UA lands Selby.
"Most of the schools that are recruiting him have an open spot at point guard," Weatherspoon said." When we go out there, we're gonna see the city, see the campus and get a feel for the players. Josh is a kid that likes to talk to the players so that's gonna be a big thing, what the players tell him."
While Selby's list of schools hasn't been publicly narrowed down, word is that the Wildcats have made up significant ground and are one of the top two or three teams on his list.
* On the visit with Selby that weekend most likely will be five-star combo guard Doron Lamb (read my interview with Doron's father, Calvin Lamb, herehttp://arizona.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1029072).
Besides what's in that interview, I asked Calvin about the potential of his son playing with Selby together at Arizona, and he said they've known each other for a while.
"They know each other," Lamb said. "They played against each other in the Elite 24, they went to Kansas together and know each other pretty well."
But would they be interested in playing together in college?
"I can't answer that, that's between them," Lamb said. "I don't know, he's never said anything to me. Can they play together? I think they can. If you're a player, you should be able to play with just about anybody."
Weatherspoon also said that Doron's recruitment won't play a negative role in UA's pursuit of her son.
"Josh isn't worried about Doron Lamb," she said. "Josh and Doron like each other."
* Josh Selby and Doron Lamb aren't the only two five-star 2010 prospects that Arizona is involved with.
UA is trying to pick it up again with 6-foot-7, 205-pound Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Christian Academy power forward C.J. Leslie.
I talked to the mother of Rivals.com's 14th ranked 2010 prospect, Lisa Leslie (no relation to the former WNBA player), who said that she's been in contact with Book Richardson.
"They're still offering the scholarship and they want to come down the first chance they get to watch him play in a game. Everything is going pretty well," Lisa said.
In her last conversation with Book, the UA assistant talked about the main benefits in playing for Arizona.
"We went into the academics," Lisa said. "He told me they've produced 31 pros since 1989. He was telling me the relationship they have with the players, how they have an up-tempo game. He also told me that C.J. would be a key player to their program that would be a missing piece to the puzzle.
"He said they've had a lot of turnover with coaches but that they're building the program and they feel like they're on the right track. They're just looking to add the missing piece to the puzzle."
Lisa says that C.J. remains open to officially visiting Arizona, although nothing is expected to be confirmed in the near future.
"All of his options are open," she said. "He hasn't limited to anyone, he's just making sure that he's able to sit down and take his official visits and then he'll take it from there. He's still open and he's interested in Arizona.
"We'll take it to the next level once his high school season is over. They have so many games and it's kind of hard to get out and do official visits. He'll start taking them at the end of February. There's four more visits because he's already taken a visit to Kentucky."
Athletic Director:
This is going in the middle because it will transition into football.
Jim Livengood landed the athletic director position at UNLV on Thursday, meaning that UA president Robert Shelton will immediately assume responsibility for hiring Livengood's replacement.
In the early afternoon we'll release our first version of the GOAZCATS.com Athletic Director Hot Board, but to start I just wanted to touch on how important of a hire this is for UA.
Livengood made numerous mistakes while at Arizona, but his plans to upgrade the facilities at UA in the coming years absolutely need to be carried through, and it's going to take an excellent fundraiser at athletic director in order to do it.
That won't be an easy task with the economy in such bad shape, and making good decisions within the athletic department will be even more difficult with budget problems increasing.
The new athletic director could very well be responsible for hiring Arizona's next coaches in both basketball and football, and he'll have a lot of work to do to get UA once again consistently competitive towards the top of the NACDA Directors' Cup (formally Sears Cup) standings.
On top of that, while Arizona's academic situation inside the athletic department has significantly improved, there is still plenty of work to be done.
Arizona has two up and coming head coaches in football and basketball, who will undoubtedly have opportunities to leave UA in the coming years if their programs go in the direction they're expected to. If the coaches don't like the new athletic director, will they be so inclined to stay?
And if the new athletic director is the type, as many often are, to feel a need to bring in his own coaches, will he make the jobs of some currently successful coaches more difficult than he should?
Beyond all that, how will the new athletic director do when it comes to standing up to the power struggle within the Arizona Board of Regents, trying to limit athletics spending?
So with all these reasons outlined, and not even mentioning several others, it's very clear that Shelton has to get this hire right.
We could sit here all day and outline all the mistakes Livengood made while at Arizona, but at the same time, while Livengood was far from perfect, he could have been worse and UA could certainly hire someone who makes more mistakes than he did.
To put it simply, this is an extremely important hire and Arizona can't screw it up.
Football:
* With Livengood gone to UNLV, rumors have and will continue to swirl that he's going to take UA offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes with him to be the Rebels' head football coach.
First of all, before Livengood became a serious candidate for the UNLV job, there were several rumors, some from very good sources, that Dykes was a legitimate candidate for that position.
With that said, Livengood has told people both privately and publicly that he'd prefer to hire someone with head coaching experience, which would eliminate Dykes from contention.
If Livengood is in fact making the hire, as you would assume, then Dykes most likely will not be getting the job. If the UNLV president or others are heavily involved, then maybe Dykes is more of a candidate, although he denied it to the media on Thursday.
As it stands now, you have to assume that it's Livengood's hire, and if that's the case then Dykes probably isn't going to UNLV.
Ex-ASU head coach Dirk Koetter is privately campaigning for the job and he appears to be a more likely candidate at this juncture.
* Arizona signed three midyear guys on Wednesday in linebackers Derek Earls and Paul Vassallo and nickelback Eddie Elder.
I spoke with UA linebackers coach Tim Kish about the two incoming linebackers.
"I'm excited to have two midyear guys coming into the program to help with depth and I anticipate both of them being able to compete for the three starting jobs being open right away," Kish said. "They aren't guaranteed anything; they'll have to earn their way onto the field.
"Both of them have good size, they're mature players having the two years of junior college under their belt, and it doesn't guarantee anything but it certainly bodes well for them coming in and competing right away."
Over the summer, Kish evaluated several JUCO linebackers who would be able to transfer in before spring practice. He eventually narrowed his target list down to two.
"I had a handful guys I looked at and I narrowed it down to players who fit the criteria that I was looking for and they were two of the best players I found who were going to be available midyear," Kish said. "I put my full attention on those two and I was fortunate to get both of them."
With three graduating senior linebackers, Kish said it was imperative that he was able to have two more players in the spring to work with.
"You can't put a price on it," he said. "It's going to be critical for them to be involved in the spring. That was the focus of getting two midyear guys."
Of course, like the rest of the linebackers on the team, Earls and Vassallo will have to earn their playing time.
"I'm excited to see how they're going be able to develop this spring," Kish said. "We're going to throw everybody in the mix and see how it shakes itself out. I think we have some quality young players and I'm excited to see how they develop in the spring. The best three guys that come out of the spring are going to be the three guys who we put on the field to start in the fall."
* It's beginning to get difficult to provide an accurate recruiting breakdown. The reason for that is there are currently 19 public commitments, along with Lyle Brown, who was awarded a ride during Fall Camp, giving the Wildcats 20 scholarships accounted for.
With that said, there are players committed to Arizona who are questionable academically, and that could make the class bigger than initially expected.
Here's our attempt at an updated scholarship breakdown, but this is definitely subject to change:
Quarterback: 1-2 Total, 0-1 Left (Matt Brown committed)
Running Back: 0-1 Total
Wide Receiver: 5 Total, 2 Left (Garic Wharton, Tyler Slavin, Dexter Ransom committed)
Offensive Line: 5 Total, 1 Left (Mickey Baucus, Matt Jakubiec, Carter Lees, Trent Spurgeon committed)
Tight End: 0-1 Total
Defensive Line: 6 Total, 2 Left (Willie Mobley, Mohammed Usman, Dan Pettinato, Dominique Jones committed)
Linebacker: 4 Total, 2 Left (Paul Vassallo, Derek Earls committed)
Defensive Back: 6 Total, 1 Left (J.J. Whittaker, Jourdan Grandon, Josh Robbins, Eddie Elder, Lyle Brown committed)
Long Snapper: 1 Total, 0 Left (Chase Gorham committed)
That leaves two wide receivers, one offensive lineman, two defensive linemen, two linebackers and one defensive back and possibly a quarterback, running back or tight end. Now, it's very doubtful UA fills out all those positions, but those are current goals.
I'd say it's most likely Arizona hands out about six more scholarships, but that's a very loose estimate right now.
Things should be sorted out over the next few weeks and in the next War Room or so we'll have an updated target list, by position.
* Arizona will have just one official visitor this weekend in 6-foot-3, 210-pound Goodyear (Ariz.) Millennium athlete Marquis Flowershttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Marquis-Flowers-89765.
Originally, UA was going to bring in several visitors, however the coaches will instead focus on locking down their top 2010 target and then try to finish off the class by bringing in numerous recruits for officials in January.
* Future UA defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator Greg Brown was in town on Thursday and watched the Wildcats practice. (JG)
On to Jason Scheer's weekly recruiting update:
* Arizona received a commitment from 6-foot-4, 217-pound Brenham (Texas) Blinn Community College Dexter Ransomhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=90050 earlier in the week.
"They supported me," Ransom said. "They said they've always been committed to me. The injury didn't change anything with them; they've been with me since day one, and that was a big thing for me."
Ransom, should he make the necessary academic progress and qualify for UA, would be likely to step in and contribute right away. Figuring he is able to get healthy, many consider him to be among the top two or three junior college prospects in the nation.
* The second commitment the Wildcats received this week was 6-foot-3, 185-pound Oro Valley (Ariz.) Canyon del Oro safety Josh Robbinshttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=97504.
"I just had to assure myself of everything I've been around, of the campus, and make sure I'd be comfortable there,” Robbins said. “I feel that the U of A is a good school. I finally took the next step.”
It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Robbins would eventually commit to Arizona, but he finally made the move this past weekend. Robbins is an Arizona legacy and while he may not contribute right away, he has the physical tools to be a major player down the road.
* The Wildcats got yet another commit with 6-foot-0, 190-pound College of San Mateo (Calif.) nickel back Eddie Elderhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=105740.
"I really liked the players and the coaches," he said. "I thought I fit in well. The atmosphere of the weather was nice."
Elder is a ball hawk by nature and could play sooner than later. While he is somewhat under the radar, Elder had legit offers coming out of high school and seems to be the type of player that the UA succeeds with.
* Chicago St. Rita defensive tackle Bruce Gastonhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=96398 continues to shuffle his recruitment around.
"I need to change my official visit date with Arizona,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “I was going to visit this coming weekend but I also have final exams coming up and I need time to study for my finals. I just talked with my recruiting coach at Arizona (Bill Bedenbaugh) and I'm going to visit Arizona on January 8th instead. I'm also going to set up two more official visits for January over the next week or two."
Nothing has really changed with Gaston beyond his visit dates, as he continues to mostly look at the Big Ten and Arizona. The Wildcats definitely have a chance and need for Gaston, so it should be interesting to see how this one plays out.
* 5-foot-9, 175-pound Fountain Valley (Calif.) running back Kyle Middlebrookshttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Kyle-Middlebrooks-89759 has narrowed his school choices down to three.
"Arizona, ASU, and Utah,” he tells UteZone.com. “That's what I've narrowed it down to. I went up to Washington [in October] and ASU last weekend. I'm going to take one more [visit] to Arizona in January.”
It remains to be seen how eager Arizona is to land Middlebrooks, but it continues to recruit him. Utah could be the best fit in terms of playing time, but obviously Arizona and Arizona State offer a bit more in other regards.
* Arizona currently has one more spot for a receiver and one possibility is 6-foot-6, 197-pound San Diego Lincoln receiver Victor Deanhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Victor-Dean Jr-103054.
"I like Fresno State and Arizona but I've only taken three visits so far," he said. "At the beginning of all this I said I was going to wait until late December but now I'm not really sure. I'm going to talk to my family about it and go from there."
With time running out, it will be interesting to see what Dean does in terms of making a decision. Arizona as him as one of the top priorities, but certainly would not turn down Bud Sasser or Austin Hill.
* 6-foot-2, 212-pound Tempe (Ariz.) Corona del Sol linebacker Kyle Bensonhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=77608 is officially down to two schools.
"Everything is going good. I am visiting Colorado next week and Arizona after the holidays," he said. "I have narrowed it down to those two, so whichever one I like more on the trip I will commit to."
Other than those two schools, Benson tends to keep his recruitment quiet. Arizona is in there strong, but Colorado has been around for a while as well. The recruitment could come down to which school can convince Benson that it offers more playing time right away.
* 6-foot-4, 280-pound Carson (Calif.) offensive lineman Wade Yandallhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=89794 is down to three schools and moving closer to a decision.
"I got along with the players real well, especially Conan Amituanai,” Yandall said. “He just told me how good it was and how they'll help you. "I liked the players there. There are a lot of Poly guys there and I got along with them real well."
With Yandall also loving Arizona State and UCLA, it would not be a surprise to see this recruitment drag out a bit.
Basketball:
With it being a light week, having no game until Lipscomb on Dec. 21, the Arizona coaches have hit the road recruiting.
James Whitford was in Phoenix to check out 6-foot-6 2012 wing Demarquise Johnson before taking a flight to Portland to see some younger prospects and travelling to Detroit for Ray McCallum, amongst others.
Archie Miller was in SoCal and saw 2011 wing Wesley Saunders and some other younger recruits, and on Thursday he arrived in Florida to watch Sidiki Johnson, Nick Johnson, Dwayne Polee and others.
Book Richardson headed east and word is two of the players he checked out were Josh Selby and Quinn Cook.
Even Sean Miller will make a rare in-season trip to go recruiting over the weekend.
* Speaking of Selby, he's set up an official visit to Arizona on Jan. 9, and you can read an interview Rahsaan Gethers did with his mother, Maeshon Weatherspoon, herehttp://arizona.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1028854.
I also had the chance to speak with Weatherspoon this week, and she told me that her and Josh are looking forward to the visit.
"Sean Miller is a good coach with what he's done at Xavier," Weatherspoon said. "They run an offense that's conducive to an NBA offense. That's one of the key things. Once we go on the visit, we'll be able to learn more in depth about Arizona, and right now we're going off of what we know from talking to Book."
Book and Weatherspoon go way back, and the UA assistant is by far the driving force behind Arizona possibly landing Rivals.com's 4th ranked prospect in 2010.
"I've known Book for several years, since he coached the Gauchos," Weatherspoon said. "We've supported each other for a long time. He's an outstanding guy. He's an all-around good guy. I definitely trust him but just because I know him doesn't mean he'll be the deciding factor. But I do like Book."
Weatherspoon followed up on the fact that her relationship with Book won't be the reason her son goes to Arizona, if he does.
"It plays a part but it's not going to be the deciding factor," she said. "I have a relationship with Steve Forbes at Tennessee but I'm not going to send my son to Tennessee just for that reason. It's a part but it's not decisive, like we have to go there because of that relationship."
Arizona's need for a point guard could also play a factor, but again, it won't be the only factor if UA lands Selby.
"Most of the schools that are recruiting him have an open spot at point guard," Weatherspoon said." When we go out there, we're gonna see the city, see the campus and get a feel for the players. Josh is a kid that likes to talk to the players so that's gonna be a big thing, what the players tell him."
While Selby's list of schools hasn't been publicly narrowed down, word is that the Wildcats have made up significant ground and are one of the top two or three teams on his list.
* On the visit with Selby that weekend most likely will be five-star combo guard Doron Lamb (read my interview with Doron's father, Calvin Lamb, herehttp://arizona.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1029072).
Besides what's in that interview, I asked Calvin about the potential of his son playing with Selby together at Arizona, and he said they've known each other for a while.
"They know each other," Lamb said. "They played against each other in the Elite 24, they went to Kansas together and know each other pretty well."
But would they be interested in playing together in college?
"I can't answer that, that's between them," Lamb said. "I don't know, he's never said anything to me. Can they play together? I think they can. If you're a player, you should be able to play with just about anybody."
Weatherspoon also said that Doron's recruitment won't play a negative role in UA's pursuit of her son.
"Josh isn't worried about Doron Lamb," she said. "Josh and Doron like each other."
* Josh Selby and Doron Lamb aren't the only two five-star 2010 prospects that Arizona is involved with.
UA is trying to pick it up again with 6-foot-7, 205-pound Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Christian Academy power forward C.J. Leslie.
I talked to the mother of Rivals.com's 14th ranked 2010 prospect, Lisa Leslie (no relation to the former WNBA player), who said that she's been in contact with Book Richardson.
"They're still offering the scholarship and they want to come down the first chance they get to watch him play in a game. Everything is going pretty well," Lisa said.
In her last conversation with Book, the UA assistant talked about the main benefits in playing for Arizona.
"We went into the academics," Lisa said. "He told me they've produced 31 pros since 1989. He was telling me the relationship they have with the players, how they have an up-tempo game. He also told me that C.J. would be a key player to their program that would be a missing piece to the puzzle.
"He said they've had a lot of turnover with coaches but that they're building the program and they feel like they're on the right track. They're just looking to add the missing piece to the puzzle."
Lisa says that C.J. remains open to officially visiting Arizona, although nothing is expected to be confirmed in the near future.
"All of his options are open," she said. "He hasn't limited to anyone, he's just making sure that he's able to sit down and take his official visits and then he'll take it from there. He's still open and he's interested in Arizona.
"We'll take it to the next level once his high school season is over. They have so many games and it's kind of hard to get out and do official visits. He'll start taking them at the end of February. There's four more visits because he's already taken a visit to Kentucky."
Athletic Director:
This is going in the middle because it will transition into football.
Jim Livengood landed the athletic director position at UNLV on Thursday, meaning that UA president Robert Shelton will immediately assume responsibility for hiring Livengood's replacement.
In the early afternoon we'll release our first version of the GOAZCATS.com Athletic Director Hot Board, but to start I just wanted to touch on how important of a hire this is for UA.
Livengood made numerous mistakes while at Arizona, but his plans to upgrade the facilities at UA in the coming years absolutely need to be carried through, and it's going to take an excellent fundraiser at athletic director in order to do it.
That won't be an easy task with the economy in such bad shape, and making good decisions within the athletic department will be even more difficult with budget problems increasing.
The new athletic director could very well be responsible for hiring Arizona's next coaches in both basketball and football, and he'll have a lot of work to do to get UA once again consistently competitive towards the top of the NACDA Directors' Cup (formally Sears Cup) standings.
On top of that, while Arizona's academic situation inside the athletic department has significantly improved, there is still plenty of work to be done.
Arizona has two up and coming head coaches in football and basketball, who will undoubtedly have opportunities to leave UA in the coming years if their programs go in the direction they're expected to. If the coaches don't like the new athletic director, will they be so inclined to stay?
And if the new athletic director is the type, as many often are, to feel a need to bring in his own coaches, will he make the jobs of some currently successful coaches more difficult than he should?
Beyond all that, how will the new athletic director do when it comes to standing up to the power struggle within the Arizona Board of Regents, trying to limit athletics spending?
So with all these reasons outlined, and not even mentioning several others, it's very clear that Shelton has to get this hire right.
We could sit here all day and outline all the mistakes Livengood made while at Arizona, but at the same time, while Livengood was far from perfect, he could have been worse and UA could certainly hire someone who makes more mistakes than he did.
To put it simply, this is an extremely important hire and Arizona can't screw it up.
Football:
* With Livengood gone to UNLV, rumors have and will continue to swirl that he's going to take UA offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes with him to be the Rebels' head football coach.
First of all, before Livengood became a serious candidate for the UNLV job, there were several rumors, some from very good sources, that Dykes was a legitimate candidate for that position.
With that said, Livengood has told people both privately and publicly that he'd prefer to hire someone with head coaching experience, which would eliminate Dykes from contention.
If Livengood is in fact making the hire, as you would assume, then Dykes most likely will not be getting the job. If the UNLV president or others are heavily involved, then maybe Dykes is more of a candidate, although he denied it to the media on Thursday.
As it stands now, you have to assume that it's Livengood's hire, and if that's the case then Dykes probably isn't going to UNLV.
Ex-ASU head coach Dirk Koetter is privately campaigning for the job and he appears to be a more likely candidate at this juncture.
* Arizona signed three midyear guys on Wednesday in linebackers Derek Earls and Paul Vassallo and nickelback Eddie Elder.
I spoke with UA linebackers coach Tim Kish about the two incoming linebackers.
"I'm excited to have two midyear guys coming into the program to help with depth and I anticipate both of them being able to compete for the three starting jobs being open right away," Kish said. "They aren't guaranteed anything; they'll have to earn their way onto the field.
"Both of them have good size, they're mature players having the two years of junior college under their belt, and it doesn't guarantee anything but it certainly bodes well for them coming in and competing right away."
Over the summer, Kish evaluated several JUCO linebackers who would be able to transfer in before spring practice. He eventually narrowed his target list down to two.
"I had a handful guys I looked at and I narrowed it down to players who fit the criteria that I was looking for and they were two of the best players I found who were going to be available midyear," Kish said. "I put my full attention on those two and I was fortunate to get both of them."
With three graduating senior linebackers, Kish said it was imperative that he was able to have two more players in the spring to work with.
"You can't put a price on it," he said. "It's going to be critical for them to be involved in the spring. That was the focus of getting two midyear guys."
Of course, like the rest of the linebackers on the team, Earls and Vassallo will have to earn their playing time.
"I'm excited to see how they're going be able to develop this spring," Kish said. "We're going to throw everybody in the mix and see how it shakes itself out. I think we have some quality young players and I'm excited to see how they develop in the spring. The best three guys that come out of the spring are going to be the three guys who we put on the field to start in the fall."
* It's beginning to get difficult to provide an accurate recruiting breakdown. The reason for that is there are currently 19 public commitments, along with Lyle Brown, who was awarded a ride during Fall Camp, giving the Wildcats 20 scholarships accounted for.
With that said, there are players committed to Arizona who are questionable academically, and that could make the class bigger than initially expected.
Here's our attempt at an updated scholarship breakdown, but this is definitely subject to change:
Quarterback: 1-2 Total, 0-1 Left (Matt Brown committed)
Running Back: 0-1 Total
Wide Receiver: 5 Total, 2 Left (Garic Wharton, Tyler Slavin, Dexter Ransom committed)
Offensive Line: 5 Total, 1 Left (Mickey Baucus, Matt Jakubiec, Carter Lees, Trent Spurgeon committed)
Tight End: 0-1 Total
Defensive Line: 6 Total, 2 Left (Willie Mobley, Mohammed Usman, Dan Pettinato, Dominique Jones committed)
Linebacker: 4 Total, 2 Left (Paul Vassallo, Derek Earls committed)
Defensive Back: 6 Total, 1 Left (J.J. Whittaker, Jourdan Grandon, Josh Robbins, Eddie Elder, Lyle Brown committed)
Long Snapper: 1 Total, 0 Left (Chase Gorham committed)
That leaves two wide receivers, one offensive lineman, two defensive linemen, two linebackers and one defensive back and possibly a quarterback, running back or tight end. Now, it's very doubtful UA fills out all those positions, but those are current goals.
I'd say it's most likely Arizona hands out about six more scholarships, but that's a very loose estimate right now.
Things should be sorted out over the next few weeks and in the next War Room or so we'll have an updated target list, by position.
* Arizona will have just one official visitor this weekend in 6-foot-3, 210-pound Goodyear (Ariz.) Millennium athlete Marquis Flowershttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Marquis-Flowers-89765.
Originally, UA was going to bring in several visitors, however the coaches will instead focus on locking down their top 2010 target and then try to finish off the class by bringing in numerous recruits for officials in January.
* Future UA defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator Greg Brown was in town on Thursday and watched the Wildcats practice. (JG)
On to Jason Scheer's weekly recruiting update:
* Arizona received a commitment from 6-foot-4, 217-pound Brenham (Texas) Blinn Community College Dexter Ransomhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=90050 earlier in the week.
"They supported me," Ransom said. "They said they've always been committed to me. The injury didn't change anything with them; they've been with me since day one, and that was a big thing for me."
Ransom, should he make the necessary academic progress and qualify for UA, would be likely to step in and contribute right away. Figuring he is able to get healthy, many consider him to be among the top two or three junior college prospects in the nation.
* The second commitment the Wildcats received this week was 6-foot-3, 185-pound Oro Valley (Ariz.) Canyon del Oro safety Josh Robbinshttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=97504.
"I just had to assure myself of everything I've been around, of the campus, and make sure I'd be comfortable there,” Robbins said. “I feel that the U of A is a good school. I finally took the next step.”
It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Robbins would eventually commit to Arizona, but he finally made the move this past weekend. Robbins is an Arizona legacy and while he may not contribute right away, he has the physical tools to be a major player down the road.
* The Wildcats got yet another commit with 6-foot-0, 190-pound College of San Mateo (Calif.) nickel back Eddie Elderhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=105740.
"I really liked the players and the coaches," he said. "I thought I fit in well. The atmosphere of the weather was nice."
Elder is a ball hawk by nature and could play sooner than later. While he is somewhat under the radar, Elder had legit offers coming out of high school and seems to be the type of player that the UA succeeds with.
* Chicago St. Rita defensive tackle Bruce Gastonhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=96398 continues to shuffle his recruitment around.
"I need to change my official visit date with Arizona,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “I was going to visit this coming weekend but I also have final exams coming up and I need time to study for my finals. I just talked with my recruiting coach at Arizona (Bill Bedenbaugh) and I'm going to visit Arizona on January 8th instead. I'm also going to set up two more official visits for January over the next week or two."
Nothing has really changed with Gaston beyond his visit dates, as he continues to mostly look at the Big Ten and Arizona. The Wildcats definitely have a chance and need for Gaston, so it should be interesting to see how this one plays out.
* 5-foot-9, 175-pound Fountain Valley (Calif.) running back Kyle Middlebrookshttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Kyle-Middlebrooks-89759 has narrowed his school choices down to three.
"Arizona, ASU, and Utah,” he tells UteZone.com. “That's what I've narrowed it down to. I went up to Washington [in October] and ASU last weekend. I'm going to take one more [visit] to Arizona in January.”
It remains to be seen how eager Arizona is to land Middlebrooks, but it continues to recruit him. Utah could be the best fit in terms of playing time, but obviously Arizona and Arizona State offer a bit more in other regards.
* Arizona currently has one more spot for a receiver and one possibility is 6-foot-6, 197-pound San Diego Lincoln receiver Victor Deanhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Victor-Dean Jr-103054.
"I like Fresno State and Arizona but I've only taken three visits so far," he said. "At the beginning of all this I said I was going to wait until late December but now I'm not really sure. I'm going to talk to my family about it and go from there."
With time running out, it will be interesting to see what Dean does in terms of making a decision. Arizona as him as one of the top priorities, but certainly would not turn down Bud Sasser or Austin Hill.
* 6-foot-2, 212-pound Tempe (Ariz.) Corona del Sol linebacker Kyle Bensonhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=77608 is officially down to two schools.
"Everything is going good. I am visiting Colorado next week and Arizona after the holidays," he said. "I have narrowed it down to those two, so whichever one I like more on the trip I will commit to."
Other than those two schools, Benson tends to keep his recruitment quiet. Arizona is in there strong, but Colorado has been around for a while as well. The recruitment could come down to which school can convince Benson that it offers more playing time right away.
* 6-foot-4, 280-pound Carson (Calif.) offensive lineman Wade Yandallhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=89794 is down to three schools and moving closer to a decision.
"I got along with the players real well, especially Conan Amituanai,” Yandall said. “He just told me how good it was and how they'll help you. "I liked the players there. There are a lot of Poly guys there and I got along with them real well."
With Yandall also loving Arizona State and UCLA, it would not be a surprise to see this recruitment drag out a bit.
