Football
Late last week, I had the chance to talk on the phone with Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez about a number of topics - ranging from his reflection on last season, to the additions to the coaching staff, to what's to come in 2013.
* While last season was a good start, that's all RichRod sees when he thinks back to the 2012 season.
"I thought, as far as laying the foundation and to be successful going forward, I thought that was all established," Rodriguez said Friday.
"But it's a new year, and we're certainly not going to be satisfied with eight wins going forward."
* There have been plenty of changes this offseason, whether you're talking about the departure of running back Daniel Jenkins and safeties coach Tony Gibson or the addition of Jim Michalczik and promotion of Charlie Ragle.
Let's start with the coaching staff.
Although there will be a new offensive line coach, Rodriguez said it should be looked at no different than when Robert Anae had to be introduced to the system. In the grand scheme of things, blocking is still blocking.
"We lost a veteran coach in Robert, and he did a good job," Rodriguez said. "But we've got a veteran coach who I think will do a terrific job with our guys. Jim has been in our league, he's coached at the highest level, I think he's an outstanding technician. He's a great fit for our program.
"Jim's been in a lot of systems, and he's a very, very smart football guy. I think it will be a seamless transition."
As for Ragle, Rodriguez likes his familiarity with the state of Arizona after his time as the head coach at Phoenix (Ariz.) Chaparral.
In addition to tight end duties, Ragle also will have a large role in special teams.
"He'll bring a great energy and knowledge to our special teams - and we'll all be involved in it, but Charlie is going to coordinate all that," Rodriguez said. "He's very, very excited about doing that, so that's a big plus."
As for Gibson - who once played for him at Glenville State and was on coaching staffs at West Virginia and Michigan with not only Rodriguez, but several members of the staff - there was some level of shock for Rodriguez when he learned that the safeties coach would be headed back to Morgantown.
"It was a little bit of a surprise, but we've got a great place here," Rodriguez said. "I've purposely taken my time in hiring (a replacement), simply because I've been on the road recruiting.
"Once we get this class (signed), we'll have an outstanding coach to fill that role and we'll be in good shape."
Rodriguez is hopeful to have a replacement hired within the next two weeks.
* There also was change on the field - literally.
Athletic director Greg Byrne announced last week that Arizona Stadium will have FieldTurf installed, replacing the natural grass. Byrne said that the project will start "in the next few weeks" and that the target date of completion is Aug. 1.
The surface is familiar to Rodriguez, who had the product while at West Virginia.
"FieldTurf products have done so much for the game of football in the last 10 or 12 years," he said. "I think it's going to be certainly safe, I think it's going to be aesthetically pleasing.
"I don't think you can find a player in the country that hasn't played on FieldTurf or a FieldTurf-type product. It's everywhere. More have it than not, and the same is true in high school."
Rodriguez hinted that a few changes could be in store for the field, but nothing drastic.
"We may add a few things to it, we're still working with the company on that," Rodriguez said. "But it's not going to be anything overly extravagant. We're not going to have a red field and we're not going to have a blue field. But I think we can make it very, very attractive and fun to look at."
For the players, Rodriguez added that it should be no different than the old Jimenez football practice facility across from McKale Center.
Rodriguez said the team plans to practice in the stadium on Sundays and Thursdays.
* Last week, it also was announced that the team will scrimmage in Phoenix on March 29. Byrne told GOAZCATS.com that it will be a night scrimmage, and Rodriguez confirmed that.
Both said a location has yet to be finalized, but Rodriguez added that the program is "working on the details of which junior college we're going to put it at."
Last year, the scrimmage was at Glendale Community College.
Spring camp will open March 2, and the Wildcats will have a 34-day window to get in 15 days of practice, Rodriguez said. Spring break will fall in the middle of camp but will not count toward the window.
"It's going to be an important spring for a lot of guys to see if they've progressed and are ready to go," Rodriguez said.
Within the "next week or two," Arizona also plans to finalize the dates for fall camp. Rodriguez said the team will "for sure" return to Fort Huachuca, and camp should open around Aug. 1.[/B]
* Rodriguez wants depth and more true competition across the board this season. He expects that to be the case, even as early as the spring.
[/B]
Ideally, he would like to have four running backs he could use and have faith in three quarterbacks. And speaking of quarterbacks, Rodriguez said [/B]Josh Kern will battle at more than just quarterback.
It's clear Kern will not have a future at the position, but he did work at tight end in practices last year.
* Looking way ahead, Rodriguez remained hopeful that defensive linemen Aiulua Fanene and Saniela Fuimaono will return in 2014, thus counting toward that class.
Both are away on an LDS mission.
* Meanwhile, defensive lineman Willie Mobley is headed to New Mexico State to play his last season as a graduate transfer.
Basketball
* Arizona swept the Washington trip for the first time since 2005-06 and moved into a tie with Oregon for first place in the Pac-12 Conference.
After struggling to for most of the season against the 3-point shot, the Wildcats have allowed opponents to shoot just 25.4 percent (15 of 59) over the last four games.
* Arizona's nine turnovers marked just the fifth time this season that the Wildcats finished with fewer than 10 turnovers.
* The starting frontcourt had a great outing at Washington State. Solomon Hill, Kaleb Tarczewski and Brandon Ashley combined to make 61.9 percent (13 of 21) of their shots.
Hill's career-high six 3-pointers bumped his season mark to 42 percent and earned him UA's nomination for Pac-12 player of the week. That is good for fourth in the entire conference.
That's a long way coming for Hill, who made just four 3-pointers in his entire freshman year.
The senior will likely soon join elite company in Arizona's next game, Wednesday at home against Stanford. With just one more rebound, Hill will reach 700 for his career and become just the sixth player in the program in the last 16 years to score 1,200 points and grab 700 rebounds. On that list: Channing Frye, Michael Wright, Jordan Hill, Hassan Adams and Ivan Radenovic.
*With half of the Pac-12 slate now out of the way, NCAA tournament projections are now starting to get a bit more serious.
ESPN, Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News all had the Wildcats slotted as a No. 2 seed in the West Regional last week while Yahoo! and CBS gave them the No. 1 seed.
With the sweep, those projections should remain the same, if not improve.
But with Oregon claiming the tiebreaker, it will be tough to justify a No. 1 seed without a conference championship and/or a strong Pac-12 tournament run that produces a title game appearance for the automatic bid.
But, hey, it beats being on the bubble, right?
*Six of Arizona's nonconference opponents this season are in sole possession or tied atop their respective conferences. The six are: Miami (ACC), Charleston Southern (Big South), Long Beach State (Big West), Southern Miss (Conference USA), Oral Roberts (Southland) and Florida (SEC).
Last week, Arizona had the fourth-best RPI in the country.
* And now, here's the recruiting breakdown from Matt Moreno:
Well there are only a few more days to one of the biggest days of the year in recruiting with National Signing Day for football taking place on Wednesday. The Wildcats, of course, have a majority of their class filled but there are still a couple of uncertainties at this point. We'll have more on that this week as the big day grows closer.
With the 2013 class getting ready to make things official, things will begin to turn to the next group of recruits in the coming weeks. Arizona got a head start on Saturday as the Wildcats hosted a ton of recruits for their junior day.
There were no commitments to come out of the big day in Tucson, but one recruit was close. We'll all the latest on that big day as well this week.
On the basketball side of things, GOAZCATS.com was in attendance for the Nike Extravaganza in Santa Ana, Calif., and we got a look at plenty of Arizona recruits at the day-long event.
We'll have plenty of coverage throughout the week from the event, but we'll bring you some of the more important stuff in this week's War Room.
With so much going on over the last week and coming up this week, let's jump right into this week's recruiting breakdown.
Football recruiting
Well things will be coming to an end for many of Arizona's current commits as National Signing Day will signify the end of the recruiting process for the future Wildcats will sign their binding letter of intents to play for Rich Rodriguez's program next fall.
* There are still a couple uncertainties at this point with Brandon Golson and Mario Alford, who have yet to make their intentions public. The two current Arizona commits from Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, Ga., recently took a trip to West Virginia.
The plan was for Alford to make his decision known on Friday, but that didn't happen and there hasn't been any indication from the three-star prospect when a final choice will be made.
Both recruits are important for the Wildcats in the 2013 class, but because of the lack of depth at linebacker Golson could be even more important than Alford for this particular class.
Golson hasn't tipped his hand one way or the other and has pretty much gone silent. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few days, but things are definitely not settled with the duo as of now.
* As things wind down with the 2013 class with National Signing Day here in a couple days the Wildcats will really begin working on the next batch of recruits. Rodriguez and his staff have already gotten out to a good start with a commitment from Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe athlete recruit Cameron Denson.
Because things will begin rolling with the current junior class soon, the Wildcats hosted a ton of visitors for a junior day on Saturday. There were plenty of in-state prospects, but there was also a key out-of-state visitor who made the trip to Tucson as well.
Here's a closer look at some of the notable visitors and what they had to say about the trip to Tucson:
Although Denson is already committed to the 'Cats, there is another big-time recruit in Tucson who UA has been targeting for some time now. Sabino offensive tackle recruit Andrew Mike has held an offer from the Wildcats for a long time and he has visited the UA campus many times as well.
Even though he's already plenty familiar with UA and the current Wildcats' staff, it's always good to have recruit like Mike on campus. The continued attention from the UA staff seems to be having an effect as well.
"It boosted my opinion of U of A," Mike told Rivals.com. "My opinion is getting better. I liked it before, but with all the new stuff they're getting and the improvement to the program, I like it even more now. It was actually really cool."
If Mike were to eventually choose the hometown school, he would be playing along Jim Michalczik's offensive line unit. Meeting the Wildcats' newest coaching hire was a highlight of the trip for Mike.
"I think the best part was just hanging out with coach Michalczik was good," Mike said. "We talked for a while. I really liked spending time with him. We have a relationship.
"Nobody pressured me to commit. It was all real laid back."
* Mike wasn't the only notable in-state prospect in attendance at Arizona's junior day. There were numerous high-level prospects from within the state to visit Tucson on Saturday.
One other four-star offensive lineman to make the trip to UA was Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe recruit Natrell Curtis.
The big offensive line prospect has been warming up to both in-state schools as of late, and the Wildcats have continued to make a good impression on the 6-foot-3, 285-pounder.
"The trip didn't really change anything with me," Curtis told Rivals.com. "I've always liked U of A, so I feel the same way now as I did before. Nothing changed. It went well. I liked it. "
The different feel between Phoenix and Tucson is often a big part of what brings recruits from that area down to UA. With Curtis that is definitely something that stands out about the Wildcats' program and his experience down in Tucson.
"I love the atmosphere at U of A," Curtis said. "It's just something totally different. I can't describe it or really say what it is. It's just a feeling."
Both in-state offensive linemen are not close to making their decisions, but getting them in and having a positive experience on the junior day is certainly not a bad thing.
* Yet another high-ranking, in-state recruit who made the trip to Tucson on Saturday was Scottsdale (Ariz.) Desert Mountain wide receiver Mark Andrews. The four-star prospect made the trip with a few of his teammates, including fellow four-star recruit Kyle Allen - a quarterback recruit.
Both Andrews and Allen have a lot of the same offer and have talked about continuing to play together at the next level.
The 6-foot-6 prospect is another in-state recruit who's plenty familiar with UA, but he still found something different that he liked as well.
"That weight room was extremely intense," Andrews told Rivals.com. "The conditioning and weight, strength guys were very, very good. They were intense. I was very impressed by that. I was very impressed by them."
Andrews is another recruit who has really had to pay attention to the Wildcats with as much attention has been given to him by the UA staff. It's been said many times before, but Rodriguez and his staff have put plenty of emphasis on getting the attention of in-state prospects like Andrews.
So far it seems to be working.
"I don't have any favorites at all," Andrews said. "U of A and Arizona State have both been recruiting me very hard. Both in-state schools are going hard. They're home and in-state, and it's nice that they are home."
* One recruit felt so good about what he saw in Tucson he nearly pulled the trigger early in his recruitment. Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe defensive back Dominique Fenstermacher was on the trip with a couple of his teammates and the wheels started turning on what could be at UA.
"It was tempting to commit right there," Fenstermacher told Rivals.com. "I was talking to a few friends about it a lot. A lot of us kind of want to go down there and get a bunch of kids for 2014 and go somewhere and just dominate."
Fenstermacher is close with his teammates at Mountain Pointe and he's fully aware of what the Wildcats would like to accomplish in 2014 when it comes to in-state recruiting.
"The thing that shot out to me was how the coaches made it all about the players and how much they love in-state recruits," Fenstermacher said. "Everybody was really chill. They know when to mean business and when it's all serious. But, at the same time, they know that we are still kids. They know when to have fun."
With the junior day visit now in his rear-view mirror, Fenstermacher knows where the Wildcats stand in his recruitment.
"I'm about to get offered by Iowa State, Washington, UCLA and Oregon State," Fenstermacher said. "They have all come down to the school and I've talked to all of them personally.
"U of A is definitely going into my top-3 no matter what happens, though."
Along with the numerous in-state recruits on the UA campus over the weekend, there was a big-time prospect from California who made the trek from Fresno to Tucson. Four-star running back Nick Wilson has been looking forward to his UA visit for some time and it finally came to fruition on Saturday.
The talented running back has talked plenty about the similarities he sees between himself and current UA running back Ka'Deem Carey. Those talks and comparisons continued on his trip.
"It was really good," Wilson told Rivals.com. "I enjoyed myself, liked the campus, talked to coach Rodriguez and overall I had so much fun.
"I actually met Ka'Deem Carey and it was funny because the coaches were saying it looked like we were separated at birth.
"I really enjoyed myself for the most part. I met Ka'Deem, he's a nice guy, he's actually a really great guy, I met the whole coaching staff and the running backs coach. All the coaches were great."
Although he has plenty of interest in UA, Wilson isn't quite ready to make any decision just yet.
"(Arizona) has always been kind of up there in my top and they're still in my top three," Wilson said. "As of right now I don't think I'm going to make my commitment until I can take some official visits. I'm going to try to do that as early as possible."
Basketball recruiting
Sean Miller's Wildcats continue to play well on the court at McKale Center, but with college athletics it's always about who is coming next. Arizona has two recruits signed already for the 2013 class and five-star prospect Aaron Gordon continues to be the big target for the 'Cats.
Things were looking pretty good for the Wildcats with Gordon heading into the week, but a little bit of a surprise took place when the San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty added another school to his list.
Last week, Gordon decided to put Oregon back on his final list that had already been cut down to three schools. The Ducks joined Arizona, Washington and Kentucky on his list of finalists. Gordon has never been in a huge hurry to make his decision, and one of the reasons is that there is a lot that can happen over the course of the season.
One thing that has happened this year is that Oregon is having a good year as a team. Winning is one of the big factors in Gordon's recruitment and with Oregon being on the West Coast - where Gordon prefers to stay - it all fits together.
Up until the announcement that Oregon would be added back in, the general feeling is that Arizona was starting to build a lead on the other two schools. Now, things might be a little more up in the air.
The Wildcats continue to sit in a good spot for his commitment, but a deep run in the NCAA Tournament could have a big effect on his decision. Gordon isn't likely going to stick around long wherever he goes, so having the opportunity to compete for Final Fours early in his college career is going to be a big factor.
With Oregon making its way back in, things certainly will be a little more interesting in this recruitment going forward.
* GOAZCATS.com was in Santa Ana, Calif., for the Nike Extravaganza over the weekend and we saw plenty of Arizona targets. There will be plenty of coverage from the event throughout the week, but a couple of interesting things were said by some Arizona recruits during the interviews we did with them.
One thing that we discussed with five-star, 2014 target Stanley Johnson was the possibility of playing with other recruits like Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Justise Winslow at the next level. Johnson was very adamant that the discussions that the Arizona recruits have had about all playing college basketball together are very serious.
The Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei recruit said that playing with other elite players is really a big part of his recruitment.
Johnson said that he plans on having his list down to five schools by the start of his senior year so that he can then take official visits to those schools. However, he didn't completely rule out taking an official in the spring to a school he knows will be in his final five. Johnson also wants to start taking some unofficial visits to schools on the East Coast to change things up a bit, but he said he doesn't know where that will be just yet.
* Another interesting thing that came up with an Arizona recruit was what four-star point guard target Jordan McLaughlin had to say about Miller. The Etiwanda, Calif., standout said that knowing Miller played point guard himself in college really could be a big factor in his recruitment.
He said that having a head coach who played his same position should certainly be considered a positive for any program, including Arizona.
There is still plenty of time to go before either recruit makes their decision, but the Wildcats are definitely doing well with both.
We'll have plenty of coverage from the Nike Extravaganza throughout the week, so continue to check back for updates with the Arizona recruits we spoke with.[/B]
Late last week, I had the chance to talk on the phone with Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez about a number of topics - ranging from his reflection on last season, to the additions to the coaching staff, to what's to come in 2013.
* While last season was a good start, that's all RichRod sees when he thinks back to the 2012 season.
"I thought, as far as laying the foundation and to be successful going forward, I thought that was all established," Rodriguez said Friday.
"But it's a new year, and we're certainly not going to be satisfied with eight wins going forward."
* There have been plenty of changes this offseason, whether you're talking about the departure of running back Daniel Jenkins and safeties coach Tony Gibson or the addition of Jim Michalczik and promotion of Charlie Ragle.
Let's start with the coaching staff.
Although there will be a new offensive line coach, Rodriguez said it should be looked at no different than when Robert Anae had to be introduced to the system. In the grand scheme of things, blocking is still blocking.
"We lost a veteran coach in Robert, and he did a good job," Rodriguez said. "But we've got a veteran coach who I think will do a terrific job with our guys. Jim has been in our league, he's coached at the highest level, I think he's an outstanding technician. He's a great fit for our program.
"Jim's been in a lot of systems, and he's a very, very smart football guy. I think it will be a seamless transition."
As for Ragle, Rodriguez likes his familiarity with the state of Arizona after his time as the head coach at Phoenix (Ariz.) Chaparral.
In addition to tight end duties, Ragle also will have a large role in special teams.
"He'll bring a great energy and knowledge to our special teams - and we'll all be involved in it, but Charlie is going to coordinate all that," Rodriguez said. "He's very, very excited about doing that, so that's a big plus."
As for Gibson - who once played for him at Glenville State and was on coaching staffs at West Virginia and Michigan with not only Rodriguez, but several members of the staff - there was some level of shock for Rodriguez when he learned that the safeties coach would be headed back to Morgantown.
"It was a little bit of a surprise, but we've got a great place here," Rodriguez said. "I've purposely taken my time in hiring (a replacement), simply because I've been on the road recruiting.
"Once we get this class (signed), we'll have an outstanding coach to fill that role and we'll be in good shape."
Rodriguez is hopeful to have a replacement hired within the next two weeks.
* There also was change on the field - literally.
Athletic director Greg Byrne announced last week that Arizona Stadium will have FieldTurf installed, replacing the natural grass. Byrne said that the project will start "in the next few weeks" and that the target date of completion is Aug. 1.
The surface is familiar to Rodriguez, who had the product while at West Virginia.
"FieldTurf products have done so much for the game of football in the last 10 or 12 years," he said. "I think it's going to be certainly safe, I think it's going to be aesthetically pleasing.
"I don't think you can find a player in the country that hasn't played on FieldTurf or a FieldTurf-type product. It's everywhere. More have it than not, and the same is true in high school."
Rodriguez hinted that a few changes could be in store for the field, but nothing drastic.
"We may add a few things to it, we're still working with the company on that," Rodriguez said. "But it's not going to be anything overly extravagant. We're not going to have a red field and we're not going to have a blue field. But I think we can make it very, very attractive and fun to look at."
For the players, Rodriguez added that it should be no different than the old Jimenez football practice facility across from McKale Center.
Rodriguez said the team plans to practice in the stadium on Sundays and Thursdays.
* Last week, it also was announced that the team will scrimmage in Phoenix on March 29. Byrne told GOAZCATS.com that it will be a night scrimmage, and Rodriguez confirmed that.
Both said a location has yet to be finalized, but Rodriguez added that the program is "working on the details of which junior college we're going to put it at."
Last year, the scrimmage was at Glendale Community College.
Spring camp will open March 2, and the Wildcats will have a 34-day window to get in 15 days of practice, Rodriguez said. Spring break will fall in the middle of camp but will not count toward the window.
"It's going to be an important spring for a lot of guys to see if they've progressed and are ready to go," Rodriguez said.
Within the "next week or two," Arizona also plans to finalize the dates for fall camp. Rodriguez said the team will "for sure" return to Fort Huachuca, and camp should open around Aug. 1.[/B]
* Rodriguez wants depth and more true competition across the board this season. He expects that to be the case, even as early as the spring.
[/B]
Ideally, he would like to have four running backs he could use and have faith in three quarterbacks. And speaking of quarterbacks, Rodriguez said [/B]Josh Kern will battle at more than just quarterback.
It's clear Kern will not have a future at the position, but he did work at tight end in practices last year.
* Looking way ahead, Rodriguez remained hopeful that defensive linemen Aiulua Fanene and Saniela Fuimaono will return in 2014, thus counting toward that class.
Both are away on an LDS mission.
* Meanwhile, defensive lineman Willie Mobley is headed to New Mexico State to play his last season as a graduate transfer.
Basketball
* Arizona swept the Washington trip for the first time since 2005-06 and moved into a tie with Oregon for first place in the Pac-12 Conference.
After struggling to for most of the season against the 3-point shot, the Wildcats have allowed opponents to shoot just 25.4 percent (15 of 59) over the last four games.
* Arizona's nine turnovers marked just the fifth time this season that the Wildcats finished with fewer than 10 turnovers.
* The starting frontcourt had a great outing at Washington State. Solomon Hill, Kaleb Tarczewski and Brandon Ashley combined to make 61.9 percent (13 of 21) of their shots.
Hill's career-high six 3-pointers bumped his season mark to 42 percent and earned him UA's nomination for Pac-12 player of the week. That is good for fourth in the entire conference.
That's a long way coming for Hill, who made just four 3-pointers in his entire freshman year.
The senior will likely soon join elite company in Arizona's next game, Wednesday at home against Stanford. With just one more rebound, Hill will reach 700 for his career and become just the sixth player in the program in the last 16 years to score 1,200 points and grab 700 rebounds. On that list: Channing Frye, Michael Wright, Jordan Hill, Hassan Adams and Ivan Radenovic.
*With half of the Pac-12 slate now out of the way, NCAA tournament projections are now starting to get a bit more serious.
ESPN, Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News all had the Wildcats slotted as a No. 2 seed in the West Regional last week while Yahoo! and CBS gave them the No. 1 seed.
With the sweep, those projections should remain the same, if not improve.
But with Oregon claiming the tiebreaker, it will be tough to justify a No. 1 seed without a conference championship and/or a strong Pac-12 tournament run that produces a title game appearance for the automatic bid.
But, hey, it beats being on the bubble, right?
*Six of Arizona's nonconference opponents this season are in sole possession or tied atop their respective conferences. The six are: Miami (ACC), Charleston Southern (Big South), Long Beach State (Big West), Southern Miss (Conference USA), Oral Roberts (Southland) and Florida (SEC).
Last week, Arizona had the fourth-best RPI in the country.
* And now, here's the recruiting breakdown from Matt Moreno:
Well there are only a few more days to one of the biggest days of the year in recruiting with National Signing Day for football taking place on Wednesday. The Wildcats, of course, have a majority of their class filled but there are still a couple of uncertainties at this point. We'll have more on that this week as the big day grows closer.
With the 2013 class getting ready to make things official, things will begin to turn to the next group of recruits in the coming weeks. Arizona got a head start on Saturday as the Wildcats hosted a ton of recruits for their junior day.
There were no commitments to come out of the big day in Tucson, but one recruit was close. We'll all the latest on that big day as well this week.
On the basketball side of things, GOAZCATS.com was in attendance for the Nike Extravaganza in Santa Ana, Calif., and we got a look at plenty of Arizona recruits at the day-long event.
We'll have plenty of coverage throughout the week from the event, but we'll bring you some of the more important stuff in this week's War Room.
With so much going on over the last week and coming up this week, let's jump right into this week's recruiting breakdown.
Football recruiting
Well things will be coming to an end for many of Arizona's current commits as National Signing Day will signify the end of the recruiting process for the future Wildcats will sign their binding letter of intents to play for Rich Rodriguez's program next fall.
* There are still a couple uncertainties at this point with Brandon Golson and Mario Alford, who have yet to make their intentions public. The two current Arizona commits from Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, Ga., recently took a trip to West Virginia.
The plan was for Alford to make his decision known on Friday, but that didn't happen and there hasn't been any indication from the three-star prospect when a final choice will be made.
Both recruits are important for the Wildcats in the 2013 class, but because of the lack of depth at linebacker Golson could be even more important than Alford for this particular class.
Golson hasn't tipped his hand one way or the other and has pretty much gone silent. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few days, but things are definitely not settled with the duo as of now.
* As things wind down with the 2013 class with National Signing Day here in a couple days the Wildcats will really begin working on the next batch of recruits. Rodriguez and his staff have already gotten out to a good start with a commitment from Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe athlete recruit Cameron Denson.
Because things will begin rolling with the current junior class soon, the Wildcats hosted a ton of visitors for a junior day on Saturday. There were plenty of in-state prospects, but there was also a key out-of-state visitor who made the trip to Tucson as well.
Here's a closer look at some of the notable visitors and what they had to say about the trip to Tucson:
Although Denson is already committed to the 'Cats, there is another big-time recruit in Tucson who UA has been targeting for some time now. Sabino offensive tackle recruit Andrew Mike has held an offer from the Wildcats for a long time and he has visited the UA campus many times as well.
Even though he's already plenty familiar with UA and the current Wildcats' staff, it's always good to have recruit like Mike on campus. The continued attention from the UA staff seems to be having an effect as well.
"It boosted my opinion of U of A," Mike told Rivals.com. "My opinion is getting better. I liked it before, but with all the new stuff they're getting and the improvement to the program, I like it even more now. It was actually really cool."
If Mike were to eventually choose the hometown school, he would be playing along Jim Michalczik's offensive line unit. Meeting the Wildcats' newest coaching hire was a highlight of the trip for Mike.
"I think the best part was just hanging out with coach Michalczik was good," Mike said. "We talked for a while. I really liked spending time with him. We have a relationship.
"Nobody pressured me to commit. It was all real laid back."
* Mike wasn't the only notable in-state prospect in attendance at Arizona's junior day. There were numerous high-level prospects from within the state to visit Tucson on Saturday.
One other four-star offensive lineman to make the trip to UA was Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe recruit Natrell Curtis.
The big offensive line prospect has been warming up to both in-state schools as of late, and the Wildcats have continued to make a good impression on the 6-foot-3, 285-pounder.
"The trip didn't really change anything with me," Curtis told Rivals.com. "I've always liked U of A, so I feel the same way now as I did before. Nothing changed. It went well. I liked it. "
The different feel between Phoenix and Tucson is often a big part of what brings recruits from that area down to UA. With Curtis that is definitely something that stands out about the Wildcats' program and his experience down in Tucson.
"I love the atmosphere at U of A," Curtis said. "It's just something totally different. I can't describe it or really say what it is. It's just a feeling."
Both in-state offensive linemen are not close to making their decisions, but getting them in and having a positive experience on the junior day is certainly not a bad thing.
* Yet another high-ranking, in-state recruit who made the trip to Tucson on Saturday was Scottsdale (Ariz.) Desert Mountain wide receiver Mark Andrews. The four-star prospect made the trip with a few of his teammates, including fellow four-star recruit Kyle Allen - a quarterback recruit.
Both Andrews and Allen have a lot of the same offer and have talked about continuing to play together at the next level.
The 6-foot-6 prospect is another in-state recruit who's plenty familiar with UA, but he still found something different that he liked as well.
"That weight room was extremely intense," Andrews told Rivals.com. "The conditioning and weight, strength guys were very, very good. They were intense. I was very impressed by that. I was very impressed by them."
Andrews is another recruit who has really had to pay attention to the Wildcats with as much attention has been given to him by the UA staff. It's been said many times before, but Rodriguez and his staff have put plenty of emphasis on getting the attention of in-state prospects like Andrews.
So far it seems to be working.
"I don't have any favorites at all," Andrews said. "U of A and Arizona State have both been recruiting me very hard. Both in-state schools are going hard. They're home and in-state, and it's nice that they are home."
* One recruit felt so good about what he saw in Tucson he nearly pulled the trigger early in his recruitment. Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe defensive back Dominique Fenstermacher was on the trip with a couple of his teammates and the wheels started turning on what could be at UA.
"It was tempting to commit right there," Fenstermacher told Rivals.com. "I was talking to a few friends about it a lot. A lot of us kind of want to go down there and get a bunch of kids for 2014 and go somewhere and just dominate."
Fenstermacher is close with his teammates at Mountain Pointe and he's fully aware of what the Wildcats would like to accomplish in 2014 when it comes to in-state recruiting.
"The thing that shot out to me was how the coaches made it all about the players and how much they love in-state recruits," Fenstermacher said. "Everybody was really chill. They know when to mean business and when it's all serious. But, at the same time, they know that we are still kids. They know when to have fun."
With the junior day visit now in his rear-view mirror, Fenstermacher knows where the Wildcats stand in his recruitment.
"I'm about to get offered by Iowa State, Washington, UCLA and Oregon State," Fenstermacher said. "They have all come down to the school and I've talked to all of them personally.
"U of A is definitely going into my top-3 no matter what happens, though."
Along with the numerous in-state recruits on the UA campus over the weekend, there was a big-time prospect from California who made the trek from Fresno to Tucson. Four-star running back Nick Wilson has been looking forward to his UA visit for some time and it finally came to fruition on Saturday.
The talented running back has talked plenty about the similarities he sees between himself and current UA running back Ka'Deem Carey. Those talks and comparisons continued on his trip.
"It was really good," Wilson told Rivals.com. "I enjoyed myself, liked the campus, talked to coach Rodriguez and overall I had so much fun.
"I actually met Ka'Deem Carey and it was funny because the coaches were saying it looked like we were separated at birth.
"I really enjoyed myself for the most part. I met Ka'Deem, he's a nice guy, he's actually a really great guy, I met the whole coaching staff and the running backs coach. All the coaches were great."
Although he has plenty of interest in UA, Wilson isn't quite ready to make any decision just yet.
"(Arizona) has always been kind of up there in my top and they're still in my top three," Wilson said. "As of right now I don't think I'm going to make my commitment until I can take some official visits. I'm going to try to do that as early as possible."
Basketball recruiting
Sean Miller's Wildcats continue to play well on the court at McKale Center, but with college athletics it's always about who is coming next. Arizona has two recruits signed already for the 2013 class and five-star prospect Aaron Gordon continues to be the big target for the 'Cats.
Things were looking pretty good for the Wildcats with Gordon heading into the week, but a little bit of a surprise took place when the San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty added another school to his list.
Last week, Gordon decided to put Oregon back on his final list that had already been cut down to three schools. The Ducks joined Arizona, Washington and Kentucky on his list of finalists. Gordon has never been in a huge hurry to make his decision, and one of the reasons is that there is a lot that can happen over the course of the season.
One thing that has happened this year is that Oregon is having a good year as a team. Winning is one of the big factors in Gordon's recruitment and with Oregon being on the West Coast - where Gordon prefers to stay - it all fits together.
Up until the announcement that Oregon would be added back in, the general feeling is that Arizona was starting to build a lead on the other two schools. Now, things might be a little more up in the air.
The Wildcats continue to sit in a good spot for his commitment, but a deep run in the NCAA Tournament could have a big effect on his decision. Gordon isn't likely going to stick around long wherever he goes, so having the opportunity to compete for Final Fours early in his college career is going to be a big factor.
With Oregon making its way back in, things certainly will be a little more interesting in this recruitment going forward.
* GOAZCATS.com was in Santa Ana, Calif., for the Nike Extravaganza over the weekend and we saw plenty of Arizona targets. There will be plenty of coverage from the event throughout the week, but a couple of interesting things were said by some Arizona recruits during the interviews we did with them.
One thing that we discussed with five-star, 2014 target Stanley Johnson was the possibility of playing with other recruits like Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Justise Winslow at the next level. Johnson was very adamant that the discussions that the Arizona recruits have had about all playing college basketball together are very serious.
The Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei recruit said that playing with other elite players is really a big part of his recruitment.
Johnson said that he plans on having his list down to five schools by the start of his senior year so that he can then take official visits to those schools. However, he didn't completely rule out taking an official in the spring to a school he knows will be in his final five. Johnson also wants to start taking some unofficial visits to schools on the East Coast to change things up a bit, but he said he doesn't know where that will be just yet.
* Another interesting thing that came up with an Arizona recruit was what four-star point guard target Jordan McLaughlin had to say about Miller. The Etiwanda, Calif., standout said that knowing Miller played point guard himself in college really could be a big factor in his recruitment.
He said that having a head coach who played his same position should certainly be considered a positive for any program, including Arizona.
There is still plenty of time to go before either recruit makes their decision, but the Wildcats are definitely doing well with both.
We'll have plenty of coverage from the Nike Extravaganza throughout the week, so continue to check back for updates with the Arizona recruits we spoke with.[/B]
