Because the spring evaluation period is underway, the basketball team news is light in this edition of the GOAZCATS.com War Room.
* But unfortunately for Jesse Perry, the week was anything but low key.
The former Wildcats starting center was arrested Friday after he turned himself into authorities with the assistance of the Arizona athletics department, which cooperated in locating Perry for the Tucson Police Department.
According to the police report, Perry was at his apartment Thursday at 3 a.m., when he was involved in a verbal altercation that turned physical with an unidentified woman with whom he had a prior romantic relationship. The 22-year-old was charged with one count of domestic violence aggravated assault.
Assistant director of basketball operations Jeff Feld reportedly called an unspecified team meeting Sunday.
Football team news
GOAZCATS.com will roll out a number of stories and videos starting today that feature a handful of assistant coaches on Rich Rodriguez’s staff.
* A big question mark throughout the spring was where players stood on a depth chart that has yet to be created, and that was echoed by assistants.
But one of the positions that has an unquestioned leader is quarterback with redshirt senior Matt Scott making it through a number of virtually mistake-free scrimmages. UA quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Rod Smith said the fact that Scott has performed in a similar spread offense at Corona (Calif.) Centennial High School helped speed up the transition.
“He was able to grasp it, I think, fairly quick - probably as good as anybody we’ve had in a first-time, first-semester setting,” Smith told GOAZCATS.com.
But backup quarterback Richard Morrison will have a role, Smith added, whether that’s throwing, receiving or returning punts. Ideally, Smith said, the goal is to have three quarterbacks the team can turn to with confidence next season.
* Going back to Morrison and his role on special teams, defensive special teams coach Tony Gibson said the sophomore has “been probably the best guy out of camp.” The team also had Tyler Slavin, Johnny Jackson and Jonathan McKnight fielding returns.
McKnight practiced with a brace and no-contact jersey this spring while he continues to work his way back from the ACL injury in fall camp that cost him all of last season. There are moments the coaching staff had to actually slow him down and make sure he did not push it - a sign that things are starting to come back for McKnight, who is expected to push things a bit further in voluntary player workouts this summer.
Gibson also is working with the safeties - primarily the “bandit” and the “spur” positions of the 3-3-5 defense, while cornerbacks coach David Lockwood also handles the free safeties.
* Tra’Mayne Bondurant and Marquis Flowers are at the “spur,” a hybrid linebacker/safety position that can play anywhere from in the box to man-coverage. Despite battling an illness for a month-and-a-half, Bondurant was able to get himself ready for spring camp and perform well at his position, partly because of his role playing in the nickel spot last season.
“But as spring went on, you could see that he was comfortable in what he was doing,” Gibson told GOAZCATS.com. “And we’re looking for some big things out of him.”
* When it comes to big hitters - especially after the loss of Adam Hall to an ACL injury for a second consecutive spring - walk-on safety Jared Tevis emerged as a player who can fill that physical role.
The topic of players with “nasty, mean streaks” has come up a bit, but defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich said that it doesn’t necessarily have to equal a bad seed. Up front, the 64-year-old said, “It’s important to have three guys with nasty, mean streaks.”
“What you’ve got to understand is: It doesn’t take a mean kid to have a mean streak. That’s number one,” Kirelawich told GOAZCATS.com. He added that there is potential for “a bunch of guys” on the current roster to turn that corner. Kirelawich is not someone who will give you a politically-correct answer, either, so that’s not posturing on his part.
As far as his position of interest goes, Kirelawich is nowhere near ready to name favorites by name - mainly because he first wants to see who puts in the work during the summer and returns for fall camp with a purpose.
* At cornerback, Lockwood echoed what receiver Garic Wharton told GOAZCATS.com earlier in the spring regarding junior Derrick Rainey’s speed for a guy who is a bit bigger at 6-1.
While he said each cornerback “had their day and stood out a little bit” this spring, the most upside belongs to Rainey.
“It just comes down to mastering the technique,” Lockwood told GOAZCATS.com. “I don’t care how fast you are, if you don’t have great technique you’re going to get run by and get exposed. But [Rainey] is a guy that can run pretty good.”
* Over on the offensive line, coach Robert Anae is working a bit with Spencer Leftwich, who is primarily just working with the tight ends.
Despite the return of all five starters from last year’s O-line, nothing is guaranteed because of the team culture and uniform standard set forth by Rodriguez. A big factor, again, will be how the players look when they return from voluntary summer workouts.
Aside from terminology, few things change on the offensive line in terms of blocking schemes and techniques, and Anae said it was more “just kind of a re-orientation” for the linemen.
A big topic this spring was the game of musical chairs that was played at both tackle positions because of the absence of Fabbians Ebbele (suspension) and Mickey Baucus (back surgery). As a result, Jacob Arzouman, Chris Putton, Lene Maiava, Trent Spurgeon and Eric Bender-Ramsay all received close looks.
* Meanwhile, at tight end, last year’s starter Drew Robinson and sophomore Michael Cooper are the two who battled for the position this spring.
Leftwich was optimistic that both will have roles and can make an impact next season.
“I think their roles might be a little different than what they’ve done in the past,” Leftwich told GOAZCATS.com.
But a big question when Rodriguez was hired - and, if you remember, when Taylor McNamara was figuring whether to keep his commitment to UA - was how exactly the tight end is used in the offense. Expect to see the traditional role on the line of scrimmage, and some formations off the tackle and in the backfield.
“I think that the tight end in this offense - the more you can do, the more route-running ability you have, the more that you can catch and run after a catch, the more that you can block, the more that you can do, the more that you’re a total player at that position,” Leftwich said, “I think the more you can get thrown into this offense. That’s the tight end that we’re looking for in this offense.”
Again, expect more from these interviews in the immediate future - including video footage (although, not Kirelawich, who respectfully declined to be on camera) and written features. As we post the stories and videos, we’ll also give you little insight as to what we saw and what their personalities are like in posts on the premium board.
Now, here’s Matt Moreno’s recruiting breakdown:
* As always during this time of year, there is a lot going on for both football and basketball recruiting. The change this year for the basketball side is of course the last two weekends in April being “live,” allowing college coaches to evaluate future prospects. On the football side of things, it is the time of year when the coaching staff can hit the road and once again put a lot of its focus on recruiting with spring practice in the rearview mirror.
Football recruiting:
The Arizona football staff had a week of preparation before hitting the road this week to check in on various recruits throughout the country.
The staff didn’t waste any time handing out new offers late last week, so here’s a closer look at some of the newest prospects to receive UA offers.
* Offensive line prospect Dane Crane of Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita was offered by the ‘Cats last Thursday, moving his total number of offers up to five. The three-star recruit currently holds offers from San Diego State, Washington, Colorado and Florida State in addition to UA.
Crane told GOAZCATS.com that at he wants to remain open in his recruitment and he does not currently have any favorites. The nation’s fourth-ranked center - according to Rivals.com - said that he does have family in Arizona. So that is something that could play into the Wildcats’ favor.
At this point, Crane is in no rush to make a decision and he said he wants to take some more visits before he starts to narrow things down. He plans on making his way out to Tucson at some point, but there are no definite plans as of right now.
* The staff also was busy Friday handing out new offers as there were quite a few extended by the ‘Cats in Southern California, especially.
Darren Carrington: Carrington is the son of former San Diego Chargers safety Darren Carrington and is a standout at San Diego (Calif.) Horizon. Last season as a junior, the 6-foot-2 prospect played many different positions, but he’s mostly being looked at as a receiver.
In his 2011 campaign, Carrington caught 37 passes for 640 yards and six touchdowns. He passed for 613 yards and five touchdowns and he also rushed for 290 yards and a score. On the defensive side of the ball, Carrington collected 49 tackles to go with two interceptions.
Scott Quessenberry: Crane wasn’t the only Southern California offensive lineman to receive an offer late in the week as Quessenberry, an offensive guard prospect from Carlsbad (Calif.) La Costa Canyon, was offered by the Wildcats as well. The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder currently holds seven offers overall: Nebraska, San Diego State, SMU, UCLA, Washington State and Wisconsin.
Quessenberry tripped to Westwood over the weekend, but he’s keeping his options open at this point.
"I loved (the visit), it was cool," Quessenberry told Rivals.com. "But I'm definitely going to see what still is out there. No decision is coming any time soon.”
The three-star prospect’s La Costa Canyon team finished with a record of 9-3 overall and made it to the CIF San Diego Section semifinal round.
X’avier Shepherd: Lakewood, Calif., wide receiver X’avier Shepherd was another Southern California prospect who was offered by the ‘Cats last Friday. The 6-foot, 175-pound prospect currently holds five offers overall, with all five coming from programs within the Pac-12 Conference: UA, Colorado, Oregon State, UCLA and Utah.
As a junior, Shepherd caught 31 passes for 472 yards and six touchdowns. The 2013 prospect wide receiver prospect also ran the ball four times for 89 yards and two touchdowns. His two rushing touchdowns came on runs of 65 and 28 yards.
"Whatever I think is the best fit for me, wherever that is, I'm going to choose that school," Shepherd recently told Rivals.com. “It's just a blessing and a privilege. Some kids will never get to feel this. Some people think it's easy to get this but you have to work. I'm glad I'm getting acknowledged.
“I'm going to keep working and hopefully I can get some more offers."
Shepherd has visited UCLA previously, but he has yet to name any favorites at this point in his recruitment.
Alec Moreno: Linebacker prospect Alec Moreno from Poway, Calif. was yet another Southern California recruit who was offered Friday. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder helped his squad to a 12-0-1 record last season and his offer from the ‘Cats was his first - although he picked up a Nevada offer later in the day.
Moreno was an all-CIF selection last season, and like some other recent UA recruits he doubles as a baseball player as well.
Patrick Enewally: While most of the offers handed out Friday came earlier in the day, Cerritos (Calif.) Gahr safety recruit Patrick Enewally received his Wildcat offer a little later in the day. The 6-foot-1 prospect is receiving interest from a few other programs, but up to this point his only other offer is from San Diego State.
Enewally played on both sides of the ball for his 7-3 squad, but most programs are looking to keep him on the defensive side of the ball. As a junior he caught 23 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns. On the defensive side, Enewally collected 23 tackles and pulled in one interception.
The 2013 prospect was offered by UA receivers coach Tony Dews.
* The staff will be hitting the road this week to check in on various recruits, and one of the key positions will be quarterback. With J.T. Barrett recently deciding to give his verbal pledge to Ohio State, one more elite signal caller came off the board. However, the Wildcats still have a number of prospects who they have offered who have yet to make a decision.
While Brandon Cox, Anu Solomon and Troy Williams have all visited Tucson, none of them have decided to pull the trigger on a commitment just yet. Although each of those four-star prospects enjoyed their visits and could eventually commit to the ‘Cats, the staff is not going to back off its other potential targets.
Among the signal callers who the Wildcats would like to see make a trip out to Tucson are four-star dual-threat prospects Tra’Von Chapman and Aaron Bailey. Chapman, who is from Kent (Ohio) Roosevelt, is currently ranked as the third-best dual-threat prospect (No. 106 overall) by Rivals.com. Meanwhile, Bailey is ranked fourth among dual-threat signal callers and No. 128 overall.
Basketball recruiting:
This weekend marked the start of the new spring evaluation period, when college coaches are allowed to attend certified AAU events throughout the country. At one point throughout, the UA coaching staff saw a batch of recruits in both Las Vegas and the Nike EYBL event in Minnesota. To start the weekend Sean Miller and Joe Pasternack were in Eagan, Minn., for the first day of action at the EYBL and they were able to see a good amount of UA recruits.
Here’s a rundown of how Wildcat targets performed over the event’s three days:
Houston Hoops: The UA coaching staff will be watching a lot of Houston Hoops games this spring and summer. This season’s squad features three prominent Wildcat targets in 2013 prospects Keith Frazier from Dallas (Texas) Kimball and Brian Bridgewater from Baton Rouge (La.) Episcopal ,as well as 2014 five-star prospect Justise Winslow.
Houston Hoops finished the weekend with a perfect 4-0 record with a large part of the scoring coming from the trio of players. Bridgewater averaged 11.3 points over the course of the weekend to go along with 2.3 rebounds per contest over four games. Frazier didn’t start early in the weekend, but he was still able to put up some solid stats through the team’s four games.
The five-star prospect averaged 13.3 points and 2.5 rebounds over the weekend. Winslow pitched in with 8.8 points per game to help his squad secure an unbeaten record at the event.
Oakland Soldiers: The Oakland Soldiers were another team to go unbeaten during their four games on the weekend. The talented squad ended the weekend with a 64-47 win over Mokan Elite. Overall, each of the standout players had their own days where things were working.
Aaron Gordon struggled a bit with turnovers, but he was still able to turn in decent performances throughout the weekend. The nation’s fifth-ranked prospect overall ended the weekend with six points, nine rebounds and four assists against Mokan Elite. Jabari Bird also had a solid weekend for the Soldiers, wrapping up the weekend with a 13-point, three-rebound performance.
2014 targets Stanley Johnson and Shaqquan Aaron added nine and eight points, respectively, in the team’s final game Sunday. Johnson led the way Saturday morning with a 22-point, 10-rebound performance against Bluff City Legends.
California Supreme: Parker Jackson-Cartwright has emerged as a priority recruit for the Wildcats, and 2013 prospect Marcus Lee is quickly becoming one of the more sought-after recruits in his class. Both UA targets did well over the weekend on both ends of the floor.
Cal Supreme coach Miles Simon liked the way both players approached their games this weekend, especially on the defensive end.
“Both were great all weekend,” Simon told GOAZCATS.com Sunday afternoon. “If you look at Parker’s stats, he had a ridiculous assist-to-turnover ratio. Marcus blocked shots, finished plays and ran the floor well.”
Jackson-Cartwright did a little bit of everything over the event’s three days, but where he really stood out was with the limited number of mistakes he made on the offensive end - as Simon mentioned. Overall, the four-star prospect finished with 23 assists in his team’s four games to just three turnovers all weekend.
Lee finished the event averaging 9.8 points for Cal Supreme to go along with eight blocks over the entire weekend.
Jahlil Okafor: The talented five-star center prospect from Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young had a solid weekend overall, considering he tends to draw double teams a majority of the time. Okafor finished the event by averaging 9.3 points through four games for his Mac Irvin Fire team.
The team’s only loss came Saturday against BABC from Boston, Mass.
Paul White: The 2014 wing prospect had a weekend reminiscent of his Whitney Young teammate in that he started off strong, but had a bit of a lull Saturday. The four-star prospect finished the weekend by averaging eight points for his Meanstreets team - which also features Chicago (Ill.) Simeon standout Kendrick Nunn.
The four-star prospect opened the event with a team-high 16 points against Wisconsin Playground. He also tied a team high with six rebounds.
* Arizona assistants James Whitford and then later in the weekend Emanuel “Book” Richardson were in Las Vegas to take in various events on the first “live” weekend in April.
While many of the big-time UA targets were playing in Minnesota, there were plenty of other Wildcat targets - especially younger prospects - taking part in the various tournaments in Las Vegas.
Among the prospects they were able to watch were: Stephen Domingo (2013), Dakarai Allen (2013), Paul Watson (2013), Jaron Hopkins (2013), Tyler Dorsey (2015), Stephen Zimmerman (2015) and Sedrick Barefield (2015), among others.
* As for players who might be eligible to play next season, one possibility likely opened up Sunday when it came out that Xavier guard Mark Lyons will be leaving the program. Miller recruited Lyons while at Xavier, and it makes a lot of sense at this point in time.
With all the movement that has gone on this offseason, the Wildcats have an open scholarship to use in 2012-13 should they choose to do so. Lyons redshirted one season at Xavier and he is on pace to graduate before the start of next season. Because of that, the junior would be able to join the Wildcats and play right away.
Lyons has had his off-the-court issues, so there would be some thinking to do from UA’s side. After what the program has gone through with various players this season, Miller and his staff would have to decide if this is a player they’d want to take.
While Lyons could play either guard position, he had to play alongside Tu Holloway at Xavier and thus his time at the point was very limited.
There are still some things that need to be figured out, but it certainly looks like a good possibility that Lyons could end up in a Wildcats uniform. The program is fine moving forward with Nick Johnson and Jordin Mayes running the show, but Lyons would give the ‘Cats an added piece to an already talented roster in 2012-13.
* But unfortunately for Jesse Perry, the week was anything but low key.
The former Wildcats starting center was arrested Friday after he turned himself into authorities with the assistance of the Arizona athletics department, which cooperated in locating Perry for the Tucson Police Department.
According to the police report, Perry was at his apartment Thursday at 3 a.m., when he was involved in a verbal altercation that turned physical with an unidentified woman with whom he had a prior romantic relationship. The 22-year-old was charged with one count of domestic violence aggravated assault.
Assistant director of basketball operations Jeff Feld reportedly called an unspecified team meeting Sunday.
Football team news
GOAZCATS.com will roll out a number of stories and videos starting today that feature a handful of assistant coaches on Rich Rodriguez’s staff.
* A big question mark throughout the spring was where players stood on a depth chart that has yet to be created, and that was echoed by assistants.
But one of the positions that has an unquestioned leader is quarterback with redshirt senior Matt Scott making it through a number of virtually mistake-free scrimmages. UA quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Rod Smith said the fact that Scott has performed in a similar spread offense at Corona (Calif.) Centennial High School helped speed up the transition.
“He was able to grasp it, I think, fairly quick - probably as good as anybody we’ve had in a first-time, first-semester setting,” Smith told GOAZCATS.com.
But backup quarterback Richard Morrison will have a role, Smith added, whether that’s throwing, receiving or returning punts. Ideally, Smith said, the goal is to have three quarterbacks the team can turn to with confidence next season.
* Going back to Morrison and his role on special teams, defensive special teams coach Tony Gibson said the sophomore has “been probably the best guy out of camp.” The team also had Tyler Slavin, Johnny Jackson and Jonathan McKnight fielding returns.
McKnight practiced with a brace and no-contact jersey this spring while he continues to work his way back from the ACL injury in fall camp that cost him all of last season. There are moments the coaching staff had to actually slow him down and make sure he did not push it - a sign that things are starting to come back for McKnight, who is expected to push things a bit further in voluntary player workouts this summer.
Gibson also is working with the safeties - primarily the “bandit” and the “spur” positions of the 3-3-5 defense, while cornerbacks coach David Lockwood also handles the free safeties.
* Tra’Mayne Bondurant and Marquis Flowers are at the “spur,” a hybrid linebacker/safety position that can play anywhere from in the box to man-coverage. Despite battling an illness for a month-and-a-half, Bondurant was able to get himself ready for spring camp and perform well at his position, partly because of his role playing in the nickel spot last season.
“But as spring went on, you could see that he was comfortable in what he was doing,” Gibson told GOAZCATS.com. “And we’re looking for some big things out of him.”
* When it comes to big hitters - especially after the loss of Adam Hall to an ACL injury for a second consecutive spring - walk-on safety Jared Tevis emerged as a player who can fill that physical role.
The topic of players with “nasty, mean streaks” has come up a bit, but defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich said that it doesn’t necessarily have to equal a bad seed. Up front, the 64-year-old said, “It’s important to have three guys with nasty, mean streaks.”
“What you’ve got to understand is: It doesn’t take a mean kid to have a mean streak. That’s number one,” Kirelawich told GOAZCATS.com. He added that there is potential for “a bunch of guys” on the current roster to turn that corner. Kirelawich is not someone who will give you a politically-correct answer, either, so that’s not posturing on his part.
As far as his position of interest goes, Kirelawich is nowhere near ready to name favorites by name - mainly because he first wants to see who puts in the work during the summer and returns for fall camp with a purpose.
* At cornerback, Lockwood echoed what receiver Garic Wharton told GOAZCATS.com earlier in the spring regarding junior Derrick Rainey’s speed for a guy who is a bit bigger at 6-1.
While he said each cornerback “had their day and stood out a little bit” this spring, the most upside belongs to Rainey.
“It just comes down to mastering the technique,” Lockwood told GOAZCATS.com. “I don’t care how fast you are, if you don’t have great technique you’re going to get run by and get exposed. But [Rainey] is a guy that can run pretty good.”
* Over on the offensive line, coach Robert Anae is working a bit with Spencer Leftwich, who is primarily just working with the tight ends.
Despite the return of all five starters from last year’s O-line, nothing is guaranteed because of the team culture and uniform standard set forth by Rodriguez. A big factor, again, will be how the players look when they return from voluntary summer workouts.
Aside from terminology, few things change on the offensive line in terms of blocking schemes and techniques, and Anae said it was more “just kind of a re-orientation” for the linemen.
A big topic this spring was the game of musical chairs that was played at both tackle positions because of the absence of Fabbians Ebbele (suspension) and Mickey Baucus (back surgery). As a result, Jacob Arzouman, Chris Putton, Lene Maiava, Trent Spurgeon and Eric Bender-Ramsay all received close looks.
* Meanwhile, at tight end, last year’s starter Drew Robinson and sophomore Michael Cooper are the two who battled for the position this spring.
Leftwich was optimistic that both will have roles and can make an impact next season.
“I think their roles might be a little different than what they’ve done in the past,” Leftwich told GOAZCATS.com.
But a big question when Rodriguez was hired - and, if you remember, when Taylor McNamara was figuring whether to keep his commitment to UA - was how exactly the tight end is used in the offense. Expect to see the traditional role on the line of scrimmage, and some formations off the tackle and in the backfield.
“I think that the tight end in this offense - the more you can do, the more route-running ability you have, the more that you can catch and run after a catch, the more that you can block, the more that you can do, the more that you’re a total player at that position,” Leftwich said, “I think the more you can get thrown into this offense. That’s the tight end that we’re looking for in this offense.”
Again, expect more from these interviews in the immediate future - including video footage (although, not Kirelawich, who respectfully declined to be on camera) and written features. As we post the stories and videos, we’ll also give you little insight as to what we saw and what their personalities are like in posts on the premium board.
Now, here’s Matt Moreno’s recruiting breakdown:
* As always during this time of year, there is a lot going on for both football and basketball recruiting. The change this year for the basketball side is of course the last two weekends in April being “live,” allowing college coaches to evaluate future prospects. On the football side of things, it is the time of year when the coaching staff can hit the road and once again put a lot of its focus on recruiting with spring practice in the rearview mirror.
Football recruiting:
The Arizona football staff had a week of preparation before hitting the road this week to check in on various recruits throughout the country.
The staff didn’t waste any time handing out new offers late last week, so here’s a closer look at some of the newest prospects to receive UA offers.
* Offensive line prospect Dane Crane of Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita was offered by the ‘Cats last Thursday, moving his total number of offers up to five. The three-star recruit currently holds offers from San Diego State, Washington, Colorado and Florida State in addition to UA.
Crane told GOAZCATS.com that at he wants to remain open in his recruitment and he does not currently have any favorites. The nation’s fourth-ranked center - according to Rivals.com - said that he does have family in Arizona. So that is something that could play into the Wildcats’ favor.
At this point, Crane is in no rush to make a decision and he said he wants to take some more visits before he starts to narrow things down. He plans on making his way out to Tucson at some point, but there are no definite plans as of right now.
* The staff also was busy Friday handing out new offers as there were quite a few extended by the ‘Cats in Southern California, especially.
Darren Carrington: Carrington is the son of former San Diego Chargers safety Darren Carrington and is a standout at San Diego (Calif.) Horizon. Last season as a junior, the 6-foot-2 prospect played many different positions, but he’s mostly being looked at as a receiver.
In his 2011 campaign, Carrington caught 37 passes for 640 yards and six touchdowns. He passed for 613 yards and five touchdowns and he also rushed for 290 yards and a score. On the defensive side of the ball, Carrington collected 49 tackles to go with two interceptions.
Scott Quessenberry: Crane wasn’t the only Southern California offensive lineman to receive an offer late in the week as Quessenberry, an offensive guard prospect from Carlsbad (Calif.) La Costa Canyon, was offered by the Wildcats as well. The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder currently holds seven offers overall: Nebraska, San Diego State, SMU, UCLA, Washington State and Wisconsin.
Quessenberry tripped to Westwood over the weekend, but he’s keeping his options open at this point.
"I loved (the visit), it was cool," Quessenberry told Rivals.com. "But I'm definitely going to see what still is out there. No decision is coming any time soon.”
The three-star prospect’s La Costa Canyon team finished with a record of 9-3 overall and made it to the CIF San Diego Section semifinal round.
X’avier Shepherd: Lakewood, Calif., wide receiver X’avier Shepherd was another Southern California prospect who was offered by the ‘Cats last Friday. The 6-foot, 175-pound prospect currently holds five offers overall, with all five coming from programs within the Pac-12 Conference: UA, Colorado, Oregon State, UCLA and Utah.
As a junior, Shepherd caught 31 passes for 472 yards and six touchdowns. The 2013 prospect wide receiver prospect also ran the ball four times for 89 yards and two touchdowns. His two rushing touchdowns came on runs of 65 and 28 yards.
"Whatever I think is the best fit for me, wherever that is, I'm going to choose that school," Shepherd recently told Rivals.com. “It's just a blessing and a privilege. Some kids will never get to feel this. Some people think it's easy to get this but you have to work. I'm glad I'm getting acknowledged.
“I'm going to keep working and hopefully I can get some more offers."
Shepherd has visited UCLA previously, but he has yet to name any favorites at this point in his recruitment.
Alec Moreno: Linebacker prospect Alec Moreno from Poway, Calif. was yet another Southern California recruit who was offered Friday. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder helped his squad to a 12-0-1 record last season and his offer from the ‘Cats was his first - although he picked up a Nevada offer later in the day.
Moreno was an all-CIF selection last season, and like some other recent UA recruits he doubles as a baseball player as well.
Patrick Enewally: While most of the offers handed out Friday came earlier in the day, Cerritos (Calif.) Gahr safety recruit Patrick Enewally received his Wildcat offer a little later in the day. The 6-foot-1 prospect is receiving interest from a few other programs, but up to this point his only other offer is from San Diego State.
Enewally played on both sides of the ball for his 7-3 squad, but most programs are looking to keep him on the defensive side of the ball. As a junior he caught 23 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns. On the defensive side, Enewally collected 23 tackles and pulled in one interception.
The 2013 prospect was offered by UA receivers coach Tony Dews.
* The staff will be hitting the road this week to check in on various recruits, and one of the key positions will be quarterback. With J.T. Barrett recently deciding to give his verbal pledge to Ohio State, one more elite signal caller came off the board. However, the Wildcats still have a number of prospects who they have offered who have yet to make a decision.
While Brandon Cox, Anu Solomon and Troy Williams have all visited Tucson, none of them have decided to pull the trigger on a commitment just yet. Although each of those four-star prospects enjoyed their visits and could eventually commit to the ‘Cats, the staff is not going to back off its other potential targets.
Among the signal callers who the Wildcats would like to see make a trip out to Tucson are four-star dual-threat prospects Tra’Von Chapman and Aaron Bailey. Chapman, who is from Kent (Ohio) Roosevelt, is currently ranked as the third-best dual-threat prospect (No. 106 overall) by Rivals.com. Meanwhile, Bailey is ranked fourth among dual-threat signal callers and No. 128 overall.
Basketball recruiting:
This weekend marked the start of the new spring evaluation period, when college coaches are allowed to attend certified AAU events throughout the country. At one point throughout, the UA coaching staff saw a batch of recruits in both Las Vegas and the Nike EYBL event in Minnesota. To start the weekend Sean Miller and Joe Pasternack were in Eagan, Minn., for the first day of action at the EYBL and they were able to see a good amount of UA recruits.
Here’s a rundown of how Wildcat targets performed over the event’s three days:
Houston Hoops: The UA coaching staff will be watching a lot of Houston Hoops games this spring and summer. This season’s squad features three prominent Wildcat targets in 2013 prospects Keith Frazier from Dallas (Texas) Kimball and Brian Bridgewater from Baton Rouge (La.) Episcopal ,as well as 2014 five-star prospect Justise Winslow.
Houston Hoops finished the weekend with a perfect 4-0 record with a large part of the scoring coming from the trio of players. Bridgewater averaged 11.3 points over the course of the weekend to go along with 2.3 rebounds per contest over four games. Frazier didn’t start early in the weekend, but he was still able to put up some solid stats through the team’s four games.
The five-star prospect averaged 13.3 points and 2.5 rebounds over the weekend. Winslow pitched in with 8.8 points per game to help his squad secure an unbeaten record at the event.
Oakland Soldiers: The Oakland Soldiers were another team to go unbeaten during their four games on the weekend. The talented squad ended the weekend with a 64-47 win over Mokan Elite. Overall, each of the standout players had their own days where things were working.
Aaron Gordon struggled a bit with turnovers, but he was still able to turn in decent performances throughout the weekend. The nation’s fifth-ranked prospect overall ended the weekend with six points, nine rebounds and four assists against Mokan Elite. Jabari Bird also had a solid weekend for the Soldiers, wrapping up the weekend with a 13-point, three-rebound performance.
2014 targets Stanley Johnson and Shaqquan Aaron added nine and eight points, respectively, in the team’s final game Sunday. Johnson led the way Saturday morning with a 22-point, 10-rebound performance against Bluff City Legends.
California Supreme: Parker Jackson-Cartwright has emerged as a priority recruit for the Wildcats, and 2013 prospect Marcus Lee is quickly becoming one of the more sought-after recruits in his class. Both UA targets did well over the weekend on both ends of the floor.
Cal Supreme coach Miles Simon liked the way both players approached their games this weekend, especially on the defensive end.
“Both were great all weekend,” Simon told GOAZCATS.com Sunday afternoon. “If you look at Parker’s stats, he had a ridiculous assist-to-turnover ratio. Marcus blocked shots, finished plays and ran the floor well.”
Jackson-Cartwright did a little bit of everything over the event’s three days, but where he really stood out was with the limited number of mistakes he made on the offensive end - as Simon mentioned. Overall, the four-star prospect finished with 23 assists in his team’s four games to just three turnovers all weekend.
Lee finished the event averaging 9.8 points for Cal Supreme to go along with eight blocks over the entire weekend.
Jahlil Okafor: The talented five-star center prospect from Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young had a solid weekend overall, considering he tends to draw double teams a majority of the time. Okafor finished the event by averaging 9.3 points through four games for his Mac Irvin Fire team.
The team’s only loss came Saturday against BABC from Boston, Mass.
Paul White: The 2014 wing prospect had a weekend reminiscent of his Whitney Young teammate in that he started off strong, but had a bit of a lull Saturday. The four-star prospect finished the weekend by averaging eight points for his Meanstreets team - which also features Chicago (Ill.) Simeon standout Kendrick Nunn.
The four-star prospect opened the event with a team-high 16 points against Wisconsin Playground. He also tied a team high with six rebounds.
* Arizona assistants James Whitford and then later in the weekend Emanuel “Book” Richardson were in Las Vegas to take in various events on the first “live” weekend in April.
While many of the big-time UA targets were playing in Minnesota, there were plenty of other Wildcat targets - especially younger prospects - taking part in the various tournaments in Las Vegas.
Among the prospects they were able to watch were: Stephen Domingo (2013), Dakarai Allen (2013), Paul Watson (2013), Jaron Hopkins (2013), Tyler Dorsey (2015), Stephen Zimmerman (2015) and Sedrick Barefield (2015), among others.
* As for players who might be eligible to play next season, one possibility likely opened up Sunday when it came out that Xavier guard Mark Lyons will be leaving the program. Miller recruited Lyons while at Xavier, and it makes a lot of sense at this point in time.
With all the movement that has gone on this offseason, the Wildcats have an open scholarship to use in 2012-13 should they choose to do so. Lyons redshirted one season at Xavier and he is on pace to graduate before the start of next season. Because of that, the junior would be able to join the Wildcats and play right away.
Lyons has had his off-the-court issues, so there would be some thinking to do from UA’s side. After what the program has gone through with various players this season, Miller and his staff would have to decide if this is a player they’d want to take.
While Lyons could play either guard position, he had to play alongside Tu Holloway at Xavier and thus his time at the point was very limited.
There are still some things that need to be figured out, but it certainly looks like a good possibility that Lyons could end up in a Wildcats uniform. The program is fine moving forward with Nick Johnson and Jordin Mayes running the show, but Lyons would give the ‘Cats an added piece to an already talented roster in 2012-13.
