Basketball
The hard times keep coming for Josiah Turner, and, in a way, his former team.
Turner was arrested on suspicion of DUI within the past week, according to campus police.
Details and a police report have yet to emerge, but this continues to show why Arizona head coach Sean Miller simply could not continue giving the troubled point guard chances to redeem himself.
It will be interesting to see how this might negatively affect Turner’s chances of landing somewhere else, given his prior suspensions and a sitdown with Miller that apparently did not get through to the freshman.
This is now the second black eye to the program this offseason, albeit by former players. Last week, it was Jesse Perry who was charged with domestic violence aggravated assault - although, the St. Louis, Mo., native is trying to clear his name.
Football
* With the draft selections of Nick Foles, Juron Criner and Trevin Wade, let’s take a look at their respective NFL teams and what it’s looking like as far as competition for playing time goes.
Nick Foles
Arizona’s all-time leading passer finds himself in a good situation with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Foles, a third-round selection, will have the opportunity to learn behind star quarterback Michael Vick, who sent the 88th overall selection a congratulatory text message after he was drafted.
More importantly, however, the coaching staff in Philadelphia will be Foles’ biggest benefit. Head coach Andy Reid has developed the likes of Vick and Donovan McNabb, as well as Brett Favre during his time as an assistant and eventual quarterbacks coach of the Green Bay Packers.
The depth chart at quarterback will allow Foles to compete for a backup role fairly quickly. Behind Vick, the Eagles have Trent Edwards, Mike Kafka and Foles.
Juron Criner
Among the three drafted Wildcats, Criner should have the best opportunity to contribute immediately.
The 6-3 wide receiver was a fifth-round selection of the Oakland Raiders after watching his draft stock drop considerably from the beginning of the season to up until the draft.
Criner, the 168th overall pick, is a third-round-caliber talent who joins a team that had just one player - Darrius Heyward-Bey - haul in more than 50 receptions. Heyward-Bey made 64 catches for 975 yards and four touchdowns. The next highest total belonged to running back Michael Bush (37).
Criner could be a steal and has the size and hands to make an immediate impact in the Bay Area.
Trevin Wade
The cornerback enters a situation with the Cleveland Browns that features stiff competition in the secondary, and particularly at his position.
Wade, a late seventh-rounder and 245th overall selection, joins a group of cornerbacks spearheaded by Joe Haden, a former seventh-overall selection in 2010. Also, the Browns have 10-year veteran Sheldon Brown.
Wade’s best shot to get on the field will likely be on special teams, and then he will have a chance to work his way up from there.
* Looking ahead to voluntary summer workouts for the Arizona football team, conditioning will be a big topic when fall camp opens in August.
Arizona offensive line coach Robert Anae has tabbed linemen Kyle Quinn and Trace Biskin as leaders who will pretty much be in charge of taking mental notes and, in a way, some evaluating since the coaches are not allowed to be around.
For all of the strides that were made this spring, that can quickly go away if a player returns for fall camp in worse condition.
Quarterbacks coach Rod Smith said there is another “two, three levels” the players have to get to this summer.
And once the coaches are allowed to instruct the players again, expect things to be ramped up.
“We’re going to push ’em,” Smith told GOAZCATS.com “Coach Rod always says, ‘We’re going to push ’em to where they can’t take themselves.’ They think they’re working hard but there’s another level they can get to, and it’s our job to develop that and get that out of them.’
* A lot of people like to throw around early (very early, mind you) predictions and expectations for next season. On defense especially, an opinion will be tough to form until the 2012 class arrives.
But the coaches even sometimes find it tough to be patient because of their own expectations.
“It’s hard, it’s hard. Everybody wants to win right now - including myself,” Smith said. “As hard as these players work, they want to reap the rewards of their hard work.”
Eventually, it also comes down to when the players start to click with the program.
“Being through it a couple times, you learn there’s a certain speed that happens,” Smith added. “Once guys figure it out, the light switch goes off, then everything gets accelerated.”
I’ll have a full story later today on the staff’s expectations and how hard it is to balance an ideal hope with reality.
And now, here’s Matt Moreno’s recruiting breakdown:
Football recruiting
On the football side of things it has been fairly quiet, as the coaching staff continues to check in the recruits it has offered recently and, in some cases, hands out new offers. However, some of the biggest news affecting UA has come in the form of commitments by targets to other programs.
Within the last week there have been a few recruits who the Wildcats were interested in who have made decisions rather quickly.
Quarterback Aaron Bailey, linebacker John Kenny and offensive center Dane Crane all came off the board this week and all had different levels of interest in the Wildcats. Here’s a look at each of their situations heading into their choices.
* Bailey is a four-star quarterback from Bolingbrook, Ill., who the Wildcats were really trying to make a big push for. As we said before, it was likely going to be tough to pull him out of the Big 10 Conference and that proved to be the case as he committed to in-state program Illinois during the week.
The dual-threat prospect liked what Rich Rodriguez brought in terms of credentials and offensive scheme a lot, but it never really materialized into any significant interest. Bailey took multiple trips to Illinois and he probably had his mind made up well before making his decision public.
* Kenny, the three-star linebacker from Carmel, Ind., took a trip to Tucson a couple weekends ago and by all accounts he enjoyed his visit to UA. However, later in the week he decided to give his verbal pledge to the University of Iowa and end his recruitment. The Wildcats were the first to offer the nation’s 21st-ranked inside linebacker and he really did seem to enjoy his visit.
"It was awesome," Kenny told GOAZCATS.com after his trip. "The only place with palm trees and mountains. The campus was really nice, and I liked the coaches a lot. Coach (Jeff) Casteel was really cool, and meeting with coach Rodriguez was awesome too. But it was lots of fun just going out there and visiting for the first time."
Kenny added that distance wasn’t going to be a big factor in his recruitment, but in the end that is what appears to have won out as he chose to stay closer to home. The Wildcats did a good job in Kenny’s recruitment and it came down to the Hawkeyes and ‘Cats, but being able to have his family come watch him play on a regular basis was something that had a big impact on his recruitment - and definitely more so than he was letting on.
* The last UA target to make his pledge was Crane, a center prospect from Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita Catholic. The 6-foot-4 prospect just recently received his offer from the ‘Cats and was receiving new offers as late as last week. However, he took an unofficial visit to Washington over the weekend and he liked it so much that he decided to commit early to the Huskies.
We talked to Crane earlier in the week and he didn’t sound close to making a decision, but things obviously changed when he made his trip to UW.
"I've got five offers right now, but I don't really have a favorite or anything," he said. "Out of any of the schools I'm talking with, I wouldn't say there's any favorites. I'm just keeping it wide open, and I'm just going to take all my visits and make my decision after I've seen everywhere."
It will be interesting to see what happens with his recruitment going forward as an offer from a program closer to his home might change things drastically, but those are not certain to come at this point.
* The other big news to come out of the week was the offer received by UA commit Darius Allensworth. The defensive back prospect received new offers from both UCLA and Colorado. The one to be concerned about the most would be the Bruins offer as it is a program he has visited already and is close to his home in Menifee, Calif.
At this point, the Menifee (Calif.) Heritage standout said the new offers are things he wants to discuss with his family. At the time of his commitment, Allensworth’s only offer was from the Wildcats.
While it doesn’t appear that he is in danger of becoming a de-commit, the situation is certainly one to keep an eye on.
* The UA staff was all over the country this week checking in on various recruits. The Wildcats made a stop by La Mirada High School (California) to see Koa Kaleopaa and were expected to stop by Avon High (Indiana) and Roosevelt High (Kent, Ohio) to see Elijah Daniel and Tra’Von Chapman, respectively.
Basketball recruiting
This weekend marked the second consecutive “live” recruiting weekend of the spring, so the Arizona coaching staff was once again on the road checking out various tournaments throughout the country.
Many of the Wildcats’ main targets were taking part in the Nike EYBL’s second session in Hampton, Va., at the Boo Williams Sportsplex, and that is where UA head coach Sean Miller was as well.
Only Tyler Ennis’ CIA Bounce squad - which also features 2014’s top-ranked recruit, Andrew Wiggins - was the only team to escape the second weekend without a loss to move their record to 9-0 overall. The Canadian team is currently the only undefeated team out of the 40 travel ball teams taking part in the league.
Here’s a rundown of how UA targets performed this weekend in Virginia:
One of the teams that saw a lot of Miller through the two live weekends in April was Houston Hoops. The team that features three of the Wildcats’ main recruits should also expect to see a lot of the UA head coach in the summer as well.
Houston Hoops: 2013 wing prospect Keith Frazier is one of the Wildcats main targets for the upcoming class and the Dallas (Texas) Kimball standout once again performed well this weekend. The five-star prospect wrapped up the second EYBL weekend on a strong note with an impressive morning performance over Bluff City Legends. Frazier scored 23 points, dished out four assists and pulled down two rebounds in an 89-81 win.
However, Frazier was not the leading scorer in the contest, as fellow 2013 recruit Brian Bridgewater led the way with 25 points for his squad. The four-star prospect finished the contest with seven rebounds, two steals and an assist. Bridgewater converted on 10 of his 11 shots Sunday morning.
2014 wing prospect Justise Winslow was not going to let his teammates be the only ones making an impact. The four-star prospect pitched in with 13 points, five rebounds and six assists Sunday afternoon.
Overall, Houston Hoops finished the weekend 3-2 and currently sits behind CIA Bounce and Meanstreets in Division D.
Oakland Soldiers: Like last season, Miller will likely be a regular at Oakland Soldiers games during the summer evaluation period and he has already checked out the talented squad numerous times this spring.
The Soldiers will be without five-star prospect Aaron Gordon for some time this summer. So without the talented prospect, things became a little tougher for the Oakland Soldiers when it comes to racking up victories. Still, the Soldiers were able to leave Virginia with a 7-2 overall record and currently sit behind Houston Hoops in Division D.
The Soldiers split their two games Sunday as the team had to rely on some of its younger players for its scoring. In the absence of Gordon, 2014 prospect Stanley Johnson has been one of the players to step up. Overall, Johnson has had a solid EYBL stretch for the most part.
Johnson was the team’s leading scorer in the team’s morning game as the sophomore finished with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. The Soldiers finished that contest on the losing end with a 73-65 loss. In the team’s second game of the day, Johnson also performed well as he led the way once again with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists in a 73-70 win over Athlete First.
2013 UA target Jabari Bird had an up-and-down weekend and Sunday’s games were a reflection of that. The 2013 four-star prospect finished the Soldiers’ loss with eight points and two assists. Later in the day, Bird contributed two points, four rebounds and three assists in his team’s win.
2014 prospect Shaqquan Aaron was still trying to get into the flow of things with the Soldiers last weekend, but in Hampton he was given a little bit bigger role. The four-star prospect scored nine points, pulled down three rebounds and dished out two assists in the Soldiers’ early game Sunday. In the later contest, Aaron pitched in with two points and one rebound in limited minutes off the bench for the Soldiers.
Tyree and Tyrell Robinson also turned in a few solid performances during the weekend for the Soldiers. The San Diego (Calif.) Lincoln standouts found themselves in and out of the starting five all weekend, but that didn’t stop them from having decent performances.
In the Soldiers’ Sunday morning loss, the twins had identical stats with five points and two rebounds each. However, later in the day, it was Tyree who was one of the team’s difference makers off the bench. In that contest the junior finished with 17 points, four rebounds and an assist.
California Supreme: Cal Supreme has been one of the better teams during the first two EYBL sessions and it has largely been due to their ability to play defense - something that is not normally associated with the travel ball season. The team, coached by former Wildcat Miles Simon, picked up its first loss Sunday afternoon, but it remains one of the favorites as things stand right now heading into the Peach Jam.
A large part of the team’s success has had to do with 2014 UA point guard target Parker Jackson-Cartwright’s play and ability to limit his mistakes. Along with having high assists numbers each game, the Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola standout has not turned the ball over very much through the first two weekends.
Sunday, the 5-foot-9 prospect continued to have solid performances as Cal Supreme split its two games. In the team’s 74-67 win, Jackson-Cartwright finished with 15 points, four rebounds and an assist - although he did have four turnovers. In Cal Supreme’s first loss - which came against Team United - the talented point guard scored 12 points, pulled in two rebounds and had two assists.
Jackson-Cartwright’s teammate and fellow UA target Marcus Lee of Antioch (Calif.) Deer Valley also had pretty decent performances all weekend. The power forward prospect and Rivals150 member scored 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the team’s win Sunday. In Cal Supreme’s loss, Lee finished the game with five points, four rebounds and two assists.
Mac Irvin Fire: After some rough patches the last two weeks Mac Irvin Fire and Jahlil Okafor finished the EYBL’s second session with two strong performances. In the team’s morning win over the St. Louis Eagles, Okafor finished with 12 points and five rebounds. In Mac Irvin’s 65-51 afternoon win over Georgia Stars, Okafor led the way with 19 points and a team-high seven rebounds. In that contest the five-star center prospect not only helped his team get the win, but he also delayed the game when he broke the rim at the Boo Williams Sportsplex on a dunk attempt.
Meanstreets: Okafor’s Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young teammate Paul White has had games where he’s been a big factor and others when he has not. Sunday he continued to play limited minutes, so his stats were impacted by that. In his team’s morning win over the Jackson Tigers, White finished with four points, one rebound and one assist.
Later in the day the four-star wing prospect scored nine points in a 62-54 win over the New Jersey Playaz.
* While at the Nike EYBL, Miller was able to watch and extend an offer to 2015 big man prospect Ivan Rabb from Oakland (Calif.) Bishop O’Dowd. Rabb plays with the Oakland Soldiers younger 15-and-under squad.
* Assistant coaches Joe Pasternack and James Whitford were in Arkansas watching various recruits in the Real Deal in the Rock tournament.
* On the Mark Lyons front, all three programs the Xavier graduate transfer is interested in at this time have extended offers for him to join their squads. However, more will be known about his situation once it becomes clear that he will be able to graduate from Xavier as nothing further can take place until that happens.
Xavier’s semester ends and graduation will take place within the next couple of weeks.
The hard times keep coming for Josiah Turner, and, in a way, his former team.
Turner was arrested on suspicion of DUI within the past week, according to campus police.
Details and a police report have yet to emerge, but this continues to show why Arizona head coach Sean Miller simply could not continue giving the troubled point guard chances to redeem himself.
It will be interesting to see how this might negatively affect Turner’s chances of landing somewhere else, given his prior suspensions and a sitdown with Miller that apparently did not get through to the freshman.
This is now the second black eye to the program this offseason, albeit by former players. Last week, it was Jesse Perry who was charged with domestic violence aggravated assault - although, the St. Louis, Mo., native is trying to clear his name.
Football
* With the draft selections of Nick Foles, Juron Criner and Trevin Wade, let’s take a look at their respective NFL teams and what it’s looking like as far as competition for playing time goes.
Nick Foles
Arizona’s all-time leading passer finds himself in a good situation with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Foles, a third-round selection, will have the opportunity to learn behind star quarterback Michael Vick, who sent the 88th overall selection a congratulatory text message after he was drafted.
More importantly, however, the coaching staff in Philadelphia will be Foles’ biggest benefit. Head coach Andy Reid has developed the likes of Vick and Donovan McNabb, as well as Brett Favre during his time as an assistant and eventual quarterbacks coach of the Green Bay Packers.
The depth chart at quarterback will allow Foles to compete for a backup role fairly quickly. Behind Vick, the Eagles have Trent Edwards, Mike Kafka and Foles.
Juron Criner
Among the three drafted Wildcats, Criner should have the best opportunity to contribute immediately.
The 6-3 wide receiver was a fifth-round selection of the Oakland Raiders after watching his draft stock drop considerably from the beginning of the season to up until the draft.
Criner, the 168th overall pick, is a third-round-caliber talent who joins a team that had just one player - Darrius Heyward-Bey - haul in more than 50 receptions. Heyward-Bey made 64 catches for 975 yards and four touchdowns. The next highest total belonged to running back Michael Bush (37).
Criner could be a steal and has the size and hands to make an immediate impact in the Bay Area.
Trevin Wade
The cornerback enters a situation with the Cleveland Browns that features stiff competition in the secondary, and particularly at his position.
Wade, a late seventh-rounder and 245th overall selection, joins a group of cornerbacks spearheaded by Joe Haden, a former seventh-overall selection in 2010. Also, the Browns have 10-year veteran Sheldon Brown.
Wade’s best shot to get on the field will likely be on special teams, and then he will have a chance to work his way up from there.
* Looking ahead to voluntary summer workouts for the Arizona football team, conditioning will be a big topic when fall camp opens in August.
Arizona offensive line coach Robert Anae has tabbed linemen Kyle Quinn and Trace Biskin as leaders who will pretty much be in charge of taking mental notes and, in a way, some evaluating since the coaches are not allowed to be around.
For all of the strides that were made this spring, that can quickly go away if a player returns for fall camp in worse condition.
Quarterbacks coach Rod Smith said there is another “two, three levels” the players have to get to this summer.
And once the coaches are allowed to instruct the players again, expect things to be ramped up.
“We’re going to push ’em,” Smith told GOAZCATS.com “Coach Rod always says, ‘We’re going to push ’em to where they can’t take themselves.’ They think they’re working hard but there’s another level they can get to, and it’s our job to develop that and get that out of them.’
* A lot of people like to throw around early (very early, mind you) predictions and expectations for next season. On defense especially, an opinion will be tough to form until the 2012 class arrives.
But the coaches even sometimes find it tough to be patient because of their own expectations.
“It’s hard, it’s hard. Everybody wants to win right now - including myself,” Smith said. “As hard as these players work, they want to reap the rewards of their hard work.”
Eventually, it also comes down to when the players start to click with the program.
“Being through it a couple times, you learn there’s a certain speed that happens,” Smith added. “Once guys figure it out, the light switch goes off, then everything gets accelerated.”
I’ll have a full story later today on the staff’s expectations and how hard it is to balance an ideal hope with reality.
And now, here’s Matt Moreno’s recruiting breakdown:
Football recruiting
On the football side of things it has been fairly quiet, as the coaching staff continues to check in the recruits it has offered recently and, in some cases, hands out new offers. However, some of the biggest news affecting UA has come in the form of commitments by targets to other programs.
Within the last week there have been a few recruits who the Wildcats were interested in who have made decisions rather quickly.
Quarterback Aaron Bailey, linebacker John Kenny and offensive center Dane Crane all came off the board this week and all had different levels of interest in the Wildcats. Here’s a look at each of their situations heading into their choices.
* Bailey is a four-star quarterback from Bolingbrook, Ill., who the Wildcats were really trying to make a big push for. As we said before, it was likely going to be tough to pull him out of the Big 10 Conference and that proved to be the case as he committed to in-state program Illinois during the week.
The dual-threat prospect liked what Rich Rodriguez brought in terms of credentials and offensive scheme a lot, but it never really materialized into any significant interest. Bailey took multiple trips to Illinois and he probably had his mind made up well before making his decision public.
* Kenny, the three-star linebacker from Carmel, Ind., took a trip to Tucson a couple weekends ago and by all accounts he enjoyed his visit to UA. However, later in the week he decided to give his verbal pledge to the University of Iowa and end his recruitment. The Wildcats were the first to offer the nation’s 21st-ranked inside linebacker and he really did seem to enjoy his visit.
"It was awesome," Kenny told GOAZCATS.com after his trip. "The only place with palm trees and mountains. The campus was really nice, and I liked the coaches a lot. Coach (Jeff) Casteel was really cool, and meeting with coach Rodriguez was awesome too. But it was lots of fun just going out there and visiting for the first time."
Kenny added that distance wasn’t going to be a big factor in his recruitment, but in the end that is what appears to have won out as he chose to stay closer to home. The Wildcats did a good job in Kenny’s recruitment and it came down to the Hawkeyes and ‘Cats, but being able to have his family come watch him play on a regular basis was something that had a big impact on his recruitment - and definitely more so than he was letting on.
* The last UA target to make his pledge was Crane, a center prospect from Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita Catholic. The 6-foot-4 prospect just recently received his offer from the ‘Cats and was receiving new offers as late as last week. However, he took an unofficial visit to Washington over the weekend and he liked it so much that he decided to commit early to the Huskies.
We talked to Crane earlier in the week and he didn’t sound close to making a decision, but things obviously changed when he made his trip to UW.
"I've got five offers right now, but I don't really have a favorite or anything," he said. "Out of any of the schools I'm talking with, I wouldn't say there's any favorites. I'm just keeping it wide open, and I'm just going to take all my visits and make my decision after I've seen everywhere."
It will be interesting to see what happens with his recruitment going forward as an offer from a program closer to his home might change things drastically, but those are not certain to come at this point.
* The other big news to come out of the week was the offer received by UA commit Darius Allensworth. The defensive back prospect received new offers from both UCLA and Colorado. The one to be concerned about the most would be the Bruins offer as it is a program he has visited already and is close to his home in Menifee, Calif.
At this point, the Menifee (Calif.) Heritage standout said the new offers are things he wants to discuss with his family. At the time of his commitment, Allensworth’s only offer was from the Wildcats.
While it doesn’t appear that he is in danger of becoming a de-commit, the situation is certainly one to keep an eye on.
* The UA staff was all over the country this week checking in on various recruits. The Wildcats made a stop by La Mirada High School (California) to see Koa Kaleopaa and were expected to stop by Avon High (Indiana) and Roosevelt High (Kent, Ohio) to see Elijah Daniel and Tra’Von Chapman, respectively.
Basketball recruiting
This weekend marked the second consecutive “live” recruiting weekend of the spring, so the Arizona coaching staff was once again on the road checking out various tournaments throughout the country.
Many of the Wildcats’ main targets were taking part in the Nike EYBL’s second session in Hampton, Va., at the Boo Williams Sportsplex, and that is where UA head coach Sean Miller was as well.
Only Tyler Ennis’ CIA Bounce squad - which also features 2014’s top-ranked recruit, Andrew Wiggins - was the only team to escape the second weekend without a loss to move their record to 9-0 overall. The Canadian team is currently the only undefeated team out of the 40 travel ball teams taking part in the league.
Here’s a rundown of how UA targets performed this weekend in Virginia:
One of the teams that saw a lot of Miller through the two live weekends in April was Houston Hoops. The team that features three of the Wildcats’ main recruits should also expect to see a lot of the UA head coach in the summer as well.
Houston Hoops: 2013 wing prospect Keith Frazier is one of the Wildcats main targets for the upcoming class and the Dallas (Texas) Kimball standout once again performed well this weekend. The five-star prospect wrapped up the second EYBL weekend on a strong note with an impressive morning performance over Bluff City Legends. Frazier scored 23 points, dished out four assists and pulled down two rebounds in an 89-81 win.
However, Frazier was not the leading scorer in the contest, as fellow 2013 recruit Brian Bridgewater led the way with 25 points for his squad. The four-star prospect finished the contest with seven rebounds, two steals and an assist. Bridgewater converted on 10 of his 11 shots Sunday morning.
2014 wing prospect Justise Winslow was not going to let his teammates be the only ones making an impact. The four-star prospect pitched in with 13 points, five rebounds and six assists Sunday afternoon.
Overall, Houston Hoops finished the weekend 3-2 and currently sits behind CIA Bounce and Meanstreets in Division D.
Oakland Soldiers: Like last season, Miller will likely be a regular at Oakland Soldiers games during the summer evaluation period and he has already checked out the talented squad numerous times this spring.
The Soldiers will be without five-star prospect Aaron Gordon for some time this summer. So without the talented prospect, things became a little tougher for the Oakland Soldiers when it comes to racking up victories. Still, the Soldiers were able to leave Virginia with a 7-2 overall record and currently sit behind Houston Hoops in Division D.
The Soldiers split their two games Sunday as the team had to rely on some of its younger players for its scoring. In the absence of Gordon, 2014 prospect Stanley Johnson has been one of the players to step up. Overall, Johnson has had a solid EYBL stretch for the most part.
Johnson was the team’s leading scorer in the team’s morning game as the sophomore finished with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. The Soldiers finished that contest on the losing end with a 73-65 loss. In the team’s second game of the day, Johnson also performed well as he led the way once again with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists in a 73-70 win over Athlete First.
2013 UA target Jabari Bird had an up-and-down weekend and Sunday’s games were a reflection of that. The 2013 four-star prospect finished the Soldiers’ loss with eight points and two assists. Later in the day, Bird contributed two points, four rebounds and three assists in his team’s win.
2014 prospect Shaqquan Aaron was still trying to get into the flow of things with the Soldiers last weekend, but in Hampton he was given a little bit bigger role. The four-star prospect scored nine points, pulled down three rebounds and dished out two assists in the Soldiers’ early game Sunday. In the later contest, Aaron pitched in with two points and one rebound in limited minutes off the bench for the Soldiers.
Tyree and Tyrell Robinson also turned in a few solid performances during the weekend for the Soldiers. The San Diego (Calif.) Lincoln standouts found themselves in and out of the starting five all weekend, but that didn’t stop them from having decent performances.
In the Soldiers’ Sunday morning loss, the twins had identical stats with five points and two rebounds each. However, later in the day, it was Tyree who was one of the team’s difference makers off the bench. In that contest the junior finished with 17 points, four rebounds and an assist.
California Supreme: Cal Supreme has been one of the better teams during the first two EYBL sessions and it has largely been due to their ability to play defense - something that is not normally associated with the travel ball season. The team, coached by former Wildcat Miles Simon, picked up its first loss Sunday afternoon, but it remains one of the favorites as things stand right now heading into the Peach Jam.
A large part of the team’s success has had to do with 2014 UA point guard target Parker Jackson-Cartwright’s play and ability to limit his mistakes. Along with having high assists numbers each game, the Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola standout has not turned the ball over very much through the first two weekends.
Sunday, the 5-foot-9 prospect continued to have solid performances as Cal Supreme split its two games. In the team’s 74-67 win, Jackson-Cartwright finished with 15 points, four rebounds and an assist - although he did have four turnovers. In Cal Supreme’s first loss - which came against Team United - the talented point guard scored 12 points, pulled in two rebounds and had two assists.
Jackson-Cartwright’s teammate and fellow UA target Marcus Lee of Antioch (Calif.) Deer Valley also had pretty decent performances all weekend. The power forward prospect and Rivals150 member scored 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the team’s win Sunday. In Cal Supreme’s loss, Lee finished the game with five points, four rebounds and two assists.
Mac Irvin Fire: After some rough patches the last two weeks Mac Irvin Fire and Jahlil Okafor finished the EYBL’s second session with two strong performances. In the team’s morning win over the St. Louis Eagles, Okafor finished with 12 points and five rebounds. In Mac Irvin’s 65-51 afternoon win over Georgia Stars, Okafor led the way with 19 points and a team-high seven rebounds. In that contest the five-star center prospect not only helped his team get the win, but he also delayed the game when he broke the rim at the Boo Williams Sportsplex on a dunk attempt.
Meanstreets: Okafor’s Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young teammate Paul White has had games where he’s been a big factor and others when he has not. Sunday he continued to play limited minutes, so his stats were impacted by that. In his team’s morning win over the Jackson Tigers, White finished with four points, one rebound and one assist.
Later in the day the four-star wing prospect scored nine points in a 62-54 win over the New Jersey Playaz.
* While at the Nike EYBL, Miller was able to watch and extend an offer to 2015 big man prospect Ivan Rabb from Oakland (Calif.) Bishop O’Dowd. Rabb plays with the Oakland Soldiers younger 15-and-under squad.
* Assistant coaches Joe Pasternack and James Whitford were in Arkansas watching various recruits in the Real Deal in the Rock tournament.
* On the Mark Lyons front, all three programs the Xavier graduate transfer is interested in at this time have extended offers for him to join their squads. However, more will be known about his situation once it becomes clear that he will be able to graduate from Xavier as nothing further can take place until that happens.
Xavier’s semester ends and graduation will take place within the next couple of weeks.
