There’s not a lot of basketball news this week, although with in-home and official visits getting closer, that should be changing soon.
Basketball:
* This weekend, UA and ASU were supposed to host 2010 shooting guard Bryce Jones on unofficial visits, but due to personal reasons (nothing to do with the schools), he won’t be able to make it.
Look for Jones to reschedule his visit for the near future. He remains one of the Wildcats’ top priorities in 2010.
* Arizona made a step forward in its recruitment of center Alex Kirk last weekend when Alex and his father drove 1200 miles roundtrip to take an unofficial visit to Tucson.
UA is in the running to get an official visit from Kirk, and while the Wildcats improved their standing, the hometown school New Mexico has to be considered the favorite until further notice.
The opportunity to play close to home in a smaller conference where he’ll be featured and not recruited over is obviously enticing for Kirk, but should he turn down that option, the Wildcats will be seriously in the mix.
"It's up there at the top; I like them a lot," Kirk said of Arizona.
* UA remains a front runner for 2010 Massachusetts forward Rod Odom. As we said last week, Odom has set up an official visit for Arizona on Sept. 18, and then he’ll officially visit Boston College on Oct. 3.
He says that he’ll make a decision shortly after his trips and that he’s getting along well with the UA staff.
"I have talked to both coach Book (Richardson) and coach (Sean) Miller," Odom said. "Both of them are real good coaches. I feel comfortable with them and that's because I have known them for a while. They recruited me while they were still at Xavier and it has continued to Arizona."
* Two of UA’s 2010 recruits - Keala King and Gary Franklin - unofficially visited ASU last weekend. Even after the visit, UA remains in King’s top three of UA, ASU and Stanford, while Franklin is a little more open, even though the Wildcats haven’t pursued him too heavily to date.
We talked last week about the possibility of schools trying to package them both together, and obviously ASU has that in mind, offering them both and getting them on campus at the same time.
* UA target James Johnson took unofficial visits to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State last weekend, and has two officials currently set up.
"I've already started school, so things are getting hectic,” Johnson told BearTerritory.com. “My schedule has been real busy. But I know once I make my decision, I'll just be able to focus on school and basketball. And right now, the plan is visit both Cal and Virginia. Then I'll make my decision."
UA will obviously try to get on his list of officials before Johnson makes his decision.
* It was rumored this week that 2011 wing Angel Nunez had committed to Arizona. It’s not true, but UA is doing a good job with him.
* I’ve had some e-mails about what non-conference games the Wildcats already have scheduled in 2010-11. So far, UA has at Rice, at N.C. State, BYU in Salt Lake City, Kansas in Las Vegas and Oklahoma at home. The rest of the non-conference schedule is still being planned.
* UA’s coaches can work with groups of a maximum of four players for 40 minutes three times a week until Sept. 15.
There’s been two workouts so far and, besides Nic Wise, I heard Kyle Fogg and Garland Judkins both played well on Tuesday, with Brendon Lavender, Kyryl Natyazhko and Kevin Parrom impressing on Thursday.
While Natyazhko appeared to be behind the other freshmen at times in pickup - a terrible setting for evaluating big men - some feel he’s been the most impressive freshman so far in workouts. That said, I’ve heard for a while that Natyazhko is usually impressive in workout settings.
Football:
* While many believe that Matt Scott will still ultimately be named starter for the Central Michigan game, Nick Foles has definitely done enough in practice and scrimmages to earn himself a chance in games.
UA really hopes that in the first couple of games, one of the two quarterbacks emerges as the man, as there really doesn’t appear to be much of a desire by anyone to have a two-quarterback system throughout the season.
Basically, even if Scott is in fact named starter, not too much stock should be put in that. The QB job will most likely be won or lost by someone in the first two games.
* Mike Stoops addressed the injuries of Delashaun Dean and Rob Gronkowski after practice on Thursday:
Stoops on Dean: “Dela is probably going halfway through practice right now. We’re still trying to keep his leg in a good place and I think he’ll be 100% come next Monday.”
Stoops on Gronkowski: “Robbie did more today - he ran some routes on air. We’re getting him closer. We’re hoping at some point next week we’ll be 100%.”
While it's safe to say that Dean will be fine, until Gronkowski is actually on the field, he should still be considered a concern. I’m guessing we have a legitimate answer on his future status soon.
* Besides the QB’s and injuries, the other main concern is Alex Zendejas, who has really struggled with his form and confidence as of late.
“Alex was kicking really well at the beginning part of camp but he’s been inconsistent the last week or so,” Stoops said Thursday. “His mechanics just fell off a little bit and he needs to get his swing and plant in a little better position so hopefully we can do that.”
Alex’ uncle, Max Zendejas, was at UA’s practice on Thursday and worked a little bit with Alex afterwards.
* The experiment of Donald Horton playing some defensive end didn’t appear to last long, as he now seems set at defensive tackle, where he’s at his best.
* Stoops said this week that true freshmen with the best chance of playing this season are Adam Hall, Jake Fischer>, Terrence Miller, DeWayne Peace and Taimi Tutogi.
Based on his play in camp, there is a lot of confidence surrounding Fischer’s future on the team. At his Monday press conference, Stoops raved about the futures of Fischer, Trevor Erno and Cordarius Golston, but Fischer definitely appears to be the furthest ahead of the freshman linebacker trio. (JG)
Here’s Jason Scheer’s weekly recruiting update:
* Things are looking good for 6-foot-2, 192-pound Tomball (Texas) wide receiver Jordan Leslie. Arizona has been recruiting Leslie for a while and he has plans to visit the Wildcats.
"Coach Bill Bedenbaugh is recruiting me at Arizona and I like him as a coach," Leslie said. "He seems like a good guy and I'd like to sit down and talk with him."
As of now UTEP seems like Arizona’s biggest competition, but he is waiting for more offers. If his offer list does not increase dramatically, Arizona has a very good chance. If he gets the offers he is looking for, things probably become more difficult for Arizona.
* Another week, another update for 6-foot-3, 192-pound Corona (Calif.) Eleanor Roosevelt wide receiver Austin Hill. Hill is starting to get hard dates for his official visits and the Wildcats are in good shape.
"I don't have a top, top favorite yet," Hill tells HuskersIllustrated.com. “I'm thinking about visits. I have the one to Nebraska set up. I plan to set a visit to Arizona too. They stick out because they throw the ball a lot. They have some good quarterbacks coming into the program and have some already there. They also say that I could come in and play my first year. That's a big thing for me."
The general consensus seems to be that this is a battle between Nebraska and Arizona. There is a chance other schools get involved, but both have been recruiting Hill the longest. Considering he wants to take all of his visits, expect this one to play out and for the UA to be right there in the end.
* Arizona has been doing well with 6-foot-2, 278-pound Midwest City (Okla.) defensive tackle Dominique Jones, but it seems that his recruitment has taken somewhat of a turn.
Kansas State is now making a major push and it seems that, along with Missouri, Jones now has two favorites. Obviously there is a chance Arizona can make up some ground, but Jones definitely likes those two at the moment.
* On a negative note, Arizona lost out on 6-foot-4, 264-pound Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian offensive lineman Erik Kohler when he gave his verbal to Washington this past week.
Kohler tells UDubSports.com, "I was just ready to make my decision. I knew what I wanted, and I knew I wanted to make a decision before the start of the season. I thought now was the perfect time - before my first game.”
Many thought Kohler would stay in California, but it seems Washington made a strong push. This is an example of a school being a player’s first offer and it not worth being much. Arizona recruited Kohler longer than anybody and, in the end, Kohler seemed to be looking at other factors.
* 6-foot-2, 225-pound Fontana (Calif.) Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley is definitely looking hard at the Los Angeles schools.
He tells USCFootball.com, "I haven't seen anywhere other than USC and UCLA, so naturally I'm going to be more comfortable with those schools. But that's why I'm about to start seeing the other schools on my list."
Arizona is one of those schools and although many believe USC is the school to beat, the UA generally has a good track record when it gets kids on campus. One of the school’s in Shirley’s top 8, besides USC and UCLA, is not going to get an official visit and obviously that school is not going to have a great shot at landing one of the better linebackers in the country.
* 6-foot-3, 220-pound Corona (Calif.) defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe continues to be a player to keep an eye on. He holds an offer from Colorado, but Arizona is definitely keeping an eye on him.
He tells BuffStampede.com, “I don't really have a favorite right now. They are all equal with each other. I am just going to wait it out, see how things go during and after my senior season and make a decision from there.”
Uzo-Diribe is the type of speed rusher that may get some late offers, depending on tape. Figuring Arizona’s connection to Corona and how well it recruits that area, you can expect the Wildcats to be major players in this recruitment should they decide to make an offer.
* 6-foot-0-, 200-pound Compton (Calif.) running back James McConico has made no secret of the fact that he wants to take his recruitment slow.
He tells HuskersIllustrated.com, "Any school is still a possibility. They're all up in there. I'm just worried about getting through my season before thinking about that stuff. We have our first game in about two weeks. It's been going good out there for us. We're just doing our thing."
McConico is a big college football fan, so much of his recruitment could be based on what he views this season. Arizona is still in the running, although there are likely some schools ahead of the Wildcats. McConico is the type of player that will likely get more offers once his grades improve and if he does, expect his recruitment to take off nationally.
* Don’t expect Arizona to be a major player for 6-foot-5, 288-pound 2011 Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton offensive lineman Christian Westerman.
Westerman will likely focus on Arizona State, Texas, and USC. The general thought is that USC may be the school to beat, but Texas is likely right there. At this point, it would probably be somewhat of a surprise if he went to a different school than those three.
* 6-foot-1, 185-pound Corona (Calif.) cornerback Demetrius Wright favors USC and Washington right now, but that certainly does not eliminate Arizona.
There is a good chance that Wright visits for the Washington State game, which is when Jordon James also plans on visiting. Florida is out of the picture due to location and considering Wright’s relationship with Tim Kish, the UA is definitely right in the thick of things.
* It has been a while since we gave an update on 5-foot-10, 170-pound Cedar City (Texas) cornerback Elisha Olabode and it seems that not much has changed in his recruitment.
Olabode is looking at the Big 12, but also likes Arizona. He plans on taking his official visits and, as of now, the UA stands to be in very good shape for one.
* 6-foot-4, 225-pound Wahpeton (N.D.) North Dakota State College of Science linebacker Derek Earls claims his recruitment is open, but it seems that two schools may be emerging.
"I am going to be taking official visits to Arizona when they play UCLA and then Oklahoma State when they play Texas Tech," he said.
Kish has developed a strong relationship with Earls and his two visits may indicate the final schools in his recruitment. Due to his football commitment, Earls says that those will be his only official visits. Although anything is possible, it is difficult seeing him pick a school he has not visited. Due to the fact that the UA has been recruiting him for a while now, the Wildcats are in good shape.
This post was edited on 8/28 12:43 AM by Josh Gershon
Basketball:
* This weekend, UA and ASU were supposed to host 2010 shooting guard Bryce Jones on unofficial visits, but due to personal reasons (nothing to do with the schools), he won’t be able to make it.
Look for Jones to reschedule his visit for the near future. He remains one of the Wildcats’ top priorities in 2010.
* Arizona made a step forward in its recruitment of center Alex Kirk last weekend when Alex and his father drove 1200 miles roundtrip to take an unofficial visit to Tucson.
UA is in the running to get an official visit from Kirk, and while the Wildcats improved their standing, the hometown school New Mexico has to be considered the favorite until further notice.
The opportunity to play close to home in a smaller conference where he’ll be featured and not recruited over is obviously enticing for Kirk, but should he turn down that option, the Wildcats will be seriously in the mix.
"It's up there at the top; I like them a lot," Kirk said of Arizona.
* UA remains a front runner for 2010 Massachusetts forward Rod Odom. As we said last week, Odom has set up an official visit for Arizona on Sept. 18, and then he’ll officially visit Boston College on Oct. 3.
He says that he’ll make a decision shortly after his trips and that he’s getting along well with the UA staff.
"I have talked to both coach Book (Richardson) and coach (Sean) Miller," Odom said. "Both of them are real good coaches. I feel comfortable with them and that's because I have known them for a while. They recruited me while they were still at Xavier and it has continued to Arizona."
* Two of UA’s 2010 recruits - Keala King and Gary Franklin - unofficially visited ASU last weekend. Even after the visit, UA remains in King’s top three of UA, ASU and Stanford, while Franklin is a little more open, even though the Wildcats haven’t pursued him too heavily to date.
We talked last week about the possibility of schools trying to package them both together, and obviously ASU has that in mind, offering them both and getting them on campus at the same time.
* UA target James Johnson took unofficial visits to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State last weekend, and has two officials currently set up.
"I've already started school, so things are getting hectic,” Johnson told BearTerritory.com. “My schedule has been real busy. But I know once I make my decision, I'll just be able to focus on school and basketball. And right now, the plan is visit both Cal and Virginia. Then I'll make my decision."
UA will obviously try to get on his list of officials before Johnson makes his decision.
* It was rumored this week that 2011 wing Angel Nunez had committed to Arizona. It’s not true, but UA is doing a good job with him.
* I’ve had some e-mails about what non-conference games the Wildcats already have scheduled in 2010-11. So far, UA has at Rice, at N.C. State, BYU in Salt Lake City, Kansas in Las Vegas and Oklahoma at home. The rest of the non-conference schedule is still being planned.
* UA’s coaches can work with groups of a maximum of four players for 40 minutes three times a week until Sept. 15.
There’s been two workouts so far and, besides Nic Wise, I heard Kyle Fogg and Garland Judkins both played well on Tuesday, with Brendon Lavender, Kyryl Natyazhko and Kevin Parrom impressing on Thursday.
While Natyazhko appeared to be behind the other freshmen at times in pickup - a terrible setting for evaluating big men - some feel he’s been the most impressive freshman so far in workouts. That said, I’ve heard for a while that Natyazhko is usually impressive in workout settings.
Football:
* While many believe that Matt Scott will still ultimately be named starter for the Central Michigan game, Nick Foles has definitely done enough in practice and scrimmages to earn himself a chance in games.
UA really hopes that in the first couple of games, one of the two quarterbacks emerges as the man, as there really doesn’t appear to be much of a desire by anyone to have a two-quarterback system throughout the season.
Basically, even if Scott is in fact named starter, not too much stock should be put in that. The QB job will most likely be won or lost by someone in the first two games.
* Mike Stoops addressed the injuries of Delashaun Dean and Rob Gronkowski after practice on Thursday:
Stoops on Dean: “Dela is probably going halfway through practice right now. We’re still trying to keep his leg in a good place and I think he’ll be 100% come next Monday.”
Stoops on Gronkowski: “Robbie did more today - he ran some routes on air. We’re getting him closer. We’re hoping at some point next week we’ll be 100%.”
While it's safe to say that Dean will be fine, until Gronkowski is actually on the field, he should still be considered a concern. I’m guessing we have a legitimate answer on his future status soon.
* Besides the QB’s and injuries, the other main concern is Alex Zendejas, who has really struggled with his form and confidence as of late.
“Alex was kicking really well at the beginning part of camp but he’s been inconsistent the last week or so,” Stoops said Thursday. “His mechanics just fell off a little bit and he needs to get his swing and plant in a little better position so hopefully we can do that.”
Alex’ uncle, Max Zendejas, was at UA’s practice on Thursday and worked a little bit with Alex afterwards.
* The experiment of Donald Horton playing some defensive end didn’t appear to last long, as he now seems set at defensive tackle, where he’s at his best.
* Stoops said this week that true freshmen with the best chance of playing this season are Adam Hall, Jake Fischer>, Terrence Miller, DeWayne Peace and Taimi Tutogi.
Based on his play in camp, there is a lot of confidence surrounding Fischer’s future on the team. At his Monday press conference, Stoops raved about the futures of Fischer, Trevor Erno and Cordarius Golston, but Fischer definitely appears to be the furthest ahead of the freshman linebacker trio. (JG)
Here’s Jason Scheer’s weekly recruiting update:
* Things are looking good for 6-foot-2, 192-pound Tomball (Texas) wide receiver Jordan Leslie. Arizona has been recruiting Leslie for a while and he has plans to visit the Wildcats.
"Coach Bill Bedenbaugh is recruiting me at Arizona and I like him as a coach," Leslie said. "He seems like a good guy and I'd like to sit down and talk with him."
As of now UTEP seems like Arizona’s biggest competition, but he is waiting for more offers. If his offer list does not increase dramatically, Arizona has a very good chance. If he gets the offers he is looking for, things probably become more difficult for Arizona.
* Another week, another update for 6-foot-3, 192-pound Corona (Calif.) Eleanor Roosevelt wide receiver Austin Hill. Hill is starting to get hard dates for his official visits and the Wildcats are in good shape.
"I don't have a top, top favorite yet," Hill tells HuskersIllustrated.com. “I'm thinking about visits. I have the one to Nebraska set up. I plan to set a visit to Arizona too. They stick out because they throw the ball a lot. They have some good quarterbacks coming into the program and have some already there. They also say that I could come in and play my first year. That's a big thing for me."
The general consensus seems to be that this is a battle between Nebraska and Arizona. There is a chance other schools get involved, but both have been recruiting Hill the longest. Considering he wants to take all of his visits, expect this one to play out and for the UA to be right there in the end.
* Arizona has been doing well with 6-foot-2, 278-pound Midwest City (Okla.) defensive tackle Dominique Jones, but it seems that his recruitment has taken somewhat of a turn.
Kansas State is now making a major push and it seems that, along with Missouri, Jones now has two favorites. Obviously there is a chance Arizona can make up some ground, but Jones definitely likes those two at the moment.
* On a negative note, Arizona lost out on 6-foot-4, 264-pound Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian offensive lineman Erik Kohler when he gave his verbal to Washington this past week.
Kohler tells UDubSports.com, "I was just ready to make my decision. I knew what I wanted, and I knew I wanted to make a decision before the start of the season. I thought now was the perfect time - before my first game.”
Many thought Kohler would stay in California, but it seems Washington made a strong push. This is an example of a school being a player’s first offer and it not worth being much. Arizona recruited Kohler longer than anybody and, in the end, Kohler seemed to be looking at other factors.
* 6-foot-2, 225-pound Fontana (Calif.) Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley is definitely looking hard at the Los Angeles schools.
He tells USCFootball.com, "I haven't seen anywhere other than USC and UCLA, so naturally I'm going to be more comfortable with those schools. But that's why I'm about to start seeing the other schools on my list."
Arizona is one of those schools and although many believe USC is the school to beat, the UA generally has a good track record when it gets kids on campus. One of the school’s in Shirley’s top 8, besides USC and UCLA, is not going to get an official visit and obviously that school is not going to have a great shot at landing one of the better linebackers in the country.
* 6-foot-3, 220-pound Corona (Calif.) defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe continues to be a player to keep an eye on. He holds an offer from Colorado, but Arizona is definitely keeping an eye on him.
He tells BuffStampede.com, “I don't really have a favorite right now. They are all equal with each other. I am just going to wait it out, see how things go during and after my senior season and make a decision from there.”
Uzo-Diribe is the type of speed rusher that may get some late offers, depending on tape. Figuring Arizona’s connection to Corona and how well it recruits that area, you can expect the Wildcats to be major players in this recruitment should they decide to make an offer.
* 6-foot-0-, 200-pound Compton (Calif.) running back James McConico has made no secret of the fact that he wants to take his recruitment slow.
He tells HuskersIllustrated.com, "Any school is still a possibility. They're all up in there. I'm just worried about getting through my season before thinking about that stuff. We have our first game in about two weeks. It's been going good out there for us. We're just doing our thing."
McConico is a big college football fan, so much of his recruitment could be based on what he views this season. Arizona is still in the running, although there are likely some schools ahead of the Wildcats. McConico is the type of player that will likely get more offers once his grades improve and if he does, expect his recruitment to take off nationally.
* Don’t expect Arizona to be a major player for 6-foot-5, 288-pound 2011 Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton offensive lineman Christian Westerman.
Westerman will likely focus on Arizona State, Texas, and USC. The general thought is that USC may be the school to beat, but Texas is likely right there. At this point, it would probably be somewhat of a surprise if he went to a different school than those three.
* 6-foot-1, 185-pound Corona (Calif.) cornerback Demetrius Wright favors USC and Washington right now, but that certainly does not eliminate Arizona.
There is a good chance that Wright visits for the Washington State game, which is when Jordon James also plans on visiting. Florida is out of the picture due to location and considering Wright’s relationship with Tim Kish, the UA is definitely right in the thick of things.
* It has been a while since we gave an update on 5-foot-10, 170-pound Cedar City (Texas) cornerback Elisha Olabode and it seems that not much has changed in his recruitment.
Olabode is looking at the Big 12, but also likes Arizona. He plans on taking his official visits and, as of now, the UA stands to be in very good shape for one.
* 6-foot-4, 225-pound Wahpeton (N.D.) North Dakota State College of Science linebacker Derek Earls claims his recruitment is open, but it seems that two schools may be emerging.
"I am going to be taking official visits to Arizona when they play UCLA and then Oklahoma State when they play Texas Tech," he said.
Kish has developed a strong relationship with Earls and his two visits may indicate the final schools in his recruitment. Due to his football commitment, Earls says that those will be his only official visits. Although anything is possible, it is difficult seeing him pick a school he has not visited. Due to the fact that the UA has been recruiting him for a while now, the Wildcats are in good shape.
This post was edited on 8/28 12:43 AM by Josh Gershon
