It’s been kind of a slow news week, but there is some team and recruiting news in both basketball and football.
Basketball:
The UA players have been hard at work with workouts and, from talking to people around the program, here’s some info we’ve gathered on how those are going:
* The two most improved players on the team (in workouts) are Kyle Fogg and Brendon Lavender. The main improvement seems to be in confidence, as both players have really matured on the court since last season.
For Fogg, if he can carry that confidence over to real practices and games, he could really improve off of a successful freshman season. The word is that his outside and midrange shot both look better than last year.
For Lavender, who apparently didn’t miss an outside shot in the team’s last pickup game, he has the opportunity to be a key player in the rotation and the new staff seems to be pleasantly surprised by the way he’s performed in workouts.
There is plenty of competition on the wing so Lavender will have his work cut out for him, but apparently he’s off to a good start. I’ve heard some variation of “I don’t understand why he didn’t play last season” several times in the past week or so.
With all that said, talent has never been an issue with Lavender, as his problem is confidence in real game situations. If he’s overcome the issues that have held him back in the past, he’ll definitely be a contributor to the team this season.
* Out of the freshmen, Kyryl Natyazhko has improved the most since enrolling in school. His conditioning is coming around and so is his skill set, but the coaching and strength training has helped him improve already.
It’s still too early to get a feel for what kind of role he’ll have this season, but the fact that he’s improving so quickly is good news regardless.
* Physically, Derrick Williams is easily bigger than Jamelle Horne. What that means is there will likely be times where Williams is in the game guarding the five, while Horne is in at the same time defending the four.
* Nic Wise has been as good as expected in workouts and pickup, while Momo Jones has looked better in pickup than workouts, which is probably because his toughness and ability to hit his own shot aren’t really displayed in workout situations.
* Solomon Hill and Kevin Parrom have both steadily improved, and the consensus within the program seems to be that the UA hit on all five freshmen, as they’ll all be big contributors at some point, although some obviously sooner than others.
* On to recruiting news, the big question over the last two weeks was what direction Ray McCallum would be leaning in once returning from Spain, where he was with his father’s University of Detroit basketball team.
The word after the trip is that McCallum will most likely not be going to Detroit to play basketball, which leaves Arizona and UCLA as the two schools doing the best job with him.
McCallum will officially visit UCLA first in early October, before heading to UA on Oct. 30. Oklahoma will also get an official and Florida may as well, but the Wildcats and Bruins seem to be in the best shape as of now.
Arizona will be in McCallum’s home on Sept. 14 for an in-home visit.
* McCallum, Phil Pressey and Cory Joseph and Trevor Releford are four main point guard targets on the board, and UA is in the running to get Pressey, Joseph and Releford on campus as well. They’ll all have in-home visits in the next month.
While UA is in the picture for Releford, Alabama and Oklahoma are definitely the teams to beat for him. Arizona is doing a good job with Pressey, but Missouri could be the favorite there. Joseph’s recruitment is more open but the Wildcats are legitimately involved.
Gary Franklin is still in the mix, and UA will have an in-home with him this month.
* Arizona received some bad news on Thursday when Bryce Jones committed to USC. Jones was expected to visit UA both this weekend and last weekend, but the fact that he didn’t come through on either trip gave a good indication that things were cooling off between the two parties.
With Jones headed elsewhere, Keala King and Anthony Brown are the main West Coast wings UA is recruiting. While Arizona is in the mix for King, ASU seems to be doing a good job with him and may even be the favorite.
Brown is set to officially visit UA on Sept. 18, but he’ll official to UCLA this weekend, and the Bruins are expected to offer him while he’s on campus. Should UCLA offer, the Bruins will be the favorites, with Stanford second. At best, UA looks to have the third best odds of landing him.
If UA misses out on everyone, Trey Zeigler could become a bigger target, although he won’t sign until the spring.
* He’s a 3/4, but Terrence Jones is also still in the picture, and the Wildcats will be in his home on Sept. 24. The whole country is on Jones and no official visits appear imminent, although UA is in the picture to receive one.
* Arizona will also be in the home of five-star center Adreian Payne, while Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and West Virginia will also be in his house as well. His coach, Art Winston, told Rivals.com that the in-homes will be important.
"Adreian is just looking for the opportunity to meet the coaches during the in-home visits," said Winston. "He is looking for the opportunity to sit down and talk to them one-on-one. One thing Adreian is stressing is the personal relationship with his college coach.
"The in-home visits will allow Adreian the opportunity to see the coaches in his comfort zone. It will give the coaches an opportunity to ask questions and it will give Adreian the opportunity to ask them questions."
* Other prospects who will get in-homes this month include Doron Lamb, James Johnson, Alex Kirk and Rod Odom, who is still set to officially visit on Sept. 18.
Football:
* There’s been a ton of questions about the TV situation. Looking into it more, the best I can say is that almost everything that’s been released about the TV deal to date could end up inaccurate at the end of the day.
Arizona will release something official when it can, but it should be noted that it’s not in UA’s hands - it’s all up to IMG, who has the media rights, and is trying to get the TV deal straightened out.
If you’re out of town, as of now, instead of trying to figure out how to watch the game on TV, save yourself some time and just wait for UA to release a statement on the situation.
* As has been said multiple times now, Matt Scott is expected to get the start against Central Michigan, although Nick Foles should get several reps as well.
* Rob Gronkowski is expected out for the next two games, and the main question should be whether or not he suits up for the Iowa game. (JG)
On to Jason Scheer’s weekly recruiting update:
There is plenty of news this week, as the recruiting targets start to come to shape due to the coaching staff being able to get a closer look at the current personnel.
* 6-foot-4, 217-pound Blinn (Texas) Community College wide receiver Dexter Ransom will be on an official visit this weekend. Ransom is one of Arizona’s highest priorities at wide receiver and the Wildcats are definitely doing well with him.
Although he may not admit it, you get the feeling that if Arizona is impressive on and off the field, it may be very difficult for another school to gain ground in his recruitment. In other words, this weekend will go a long way in determining whether or not Ransom comes to Arizona.
* In news that is just as big, if not bigger, Blinn’s 6-foot-6, 247-pound quarterback Cameron Newton will be in town this weekend as well.
Although it remains to be seen what will happen with Arizona’s quarterback position this year, Newton is the type of player that is too good to pass up. He has legit 4.5 speed and will likely be recruited by most schools in the country once the season gets going.
If something were to happen where Newton would not pan out at quarterback, he has enough talent to play at numerous other positions on the field.
* At running back, it appears that Corona (Calif.) back Jordon James is easily the team’s top target. Arizona has a very legit chance with him and would not do anything to hurt those chances.
Thus, don’t be surprised if you do not hear much about other running backs until James makes a decision. With the UA’s depth in the backfield, it can afford to be a bit picky. James is the type of talent that you have no issue waiting for and at this moment, it seems that it what the Wildcats are willing to do.
* It seems that James is going to bring at least one teammate with him on his visit, as 6-foot-4, 225-pound defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe is considering Arizona.
He tells Rivals.com, "For Arizona, I really like Coach Tim Kish, he's a good guy. I like the whole feeling down in Arizona. It's a good school, had good fans and is in a good city."
Uzo-Diribe is likely going to decide by the end of the year and obviously he is looking for an Arizona offer. Colorado is the likely leader because it is the only school that has offered, but that could change sooner than later. With a couple of impressive games to start the season, Uzo-Diribe will likely have a rapid increase in offers.
* One player to keep an eye on is 6-foot-1, 247-pound Inglewood (Calif.) tight end/defensive end Marcus Howard.
Howard has a handful of lower level offers, but is seeing attention from much of the Pac-10. Arizona is recruiting him as a potential H-back and it seems that Howard would be able to fit that role well, especially in the middle of the field.
Like a large list of other players, Howard is the type of guy that could see his offers come in bunches if he is able to start the season well.
* 6-foot-1, 220-pound Glen Ellyn (Ill.) College of DuPage safety Trulon Henry is heavily considering three schools and Arizona seems to be in the mix.
He tells OrangeandBlueNews.com, "As far as offers go, I think the schools want me to get them some film from early this season. Arizona has told me they're looking for a safety. They want me to show them more film with me in coverage. If I can show them I can do that, then they'll offer.”
Henry would like to visit Arizona, but if he gets an offer from Illinois, that may not happen. He is the brother of Arrelious Benn, current wide receiver for the Illini.
* Not much has changed with 6-foot-4, 305-pound Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Los Tesoros offensive lineman Silvarius Ajawara.
He tells Rivals.com, "Everybody is still pretty even right now. Once the season starts up again, we never know, we will see what happens."
Ajawara likely will not wait very long to make a decision and UCLA seems to be the team to beat along with Arizona. Ajawara plans to take his official visits, which is obviously a good sign for the Wildcats and the UA will definitely be right in the thick of things when he does decide to make a final decision.
* 6-foot-3, 220-pound Redlands (Calif.) East Valley defensive end Andrew Hudson looks as if he is starting to get his official visits in order and Arizona will be one of them.
"I want to get a good look at the school in person," he said. "Tim Kish is recruiting me at Arizona and he tells me that he would like to see them add a good pass rusher like me to come off the edge and be able to get to the quarterback."
Hudson needs to get cleared before he can schedule hard dates, but the UA is definitely doing well for him. Oregon State and Washington will likely be the main competition, but Arizona has been recruiting him long enough to have definitely made an impression on him.
* 6-foot-8, 248-pound Gig Harbor (Wash.) tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins is going to be one of the most highly recruited players for 2011. Arizona has already offered and it joins schools such as Florida, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and many more.
Obviously it is going to be difficult to land him, but it seems he is open to taking a visit to Arizona as he tells IrishIllustrated.com, "I think I'll make Oklahoma in November. I'll also make Arizona and Arizona State in November. And then in February I think I'm going to Cal and all the California schools. In April I'm going to Florida, Florida State, Miami - those schools."
Seferian-Jenkins is going to take his time with his recruitment, but it looks like Arizona will have a legitimate opportunity to make things interesting if it can indeed get him on campus.
* Arizona offered 6-foot-5, 288-pound Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton offensive lineman Christian Westerman this week.
He tells ArizonaVarsity.com, "Right now I'm only a junior and I'm looking towards my high school season, but for the next level football will be important, but I'll also weigh academics, school history and tradition, and all the aspects of what college should be.”
Arizona has a very little chance to land him as it seems Texas and USC are the schools to beat with Cal having a slight chance as well. A good season could always change things, but Arizona is going to continue to recruit him regardless.
* Arizona also offered 6-foot-3, 250-pound Tucson Salpointe Catholic offensive lineman Jacob Arzouman.
It is still early, thus not much is known about his recruitment. However, the thought is that Arizona is definitely going to have a solid chance at landing him.
Arzouman will unofficially visit UA this weekend, along with Keanu Nelson.
This post was edited on 9/11 2:27 AM by Josh Gershon
Basketball:
The UA players have been hard at work with workouts and, from talking to people around the program, here’s some info we’ve gathered on how those are going:
* The two most improved players on the team (in workouts) are Kyle Fogg and Brendon Lavender. The main improvement seems to be in confidence, as both players have really matured on the court since last season.
For Fogg, if he can carry that confidence over to real practices and games, he could really improve off of a successful freshman season. The word is that his outside and midrange shot both look better than last year.
For Lavender, who apparently didn’t miss an outside shot in the team’s last pickup game, he has the opportunity to be a key player in the rotation and the new staff seems to be pleasantly surprised by the way he’s performed in workouts.
There is plenty of competition on the wing so Lavender will have his work cut out for him, but apparently he’s off to a good start. I’ve heard some variation of “I don’t understand why he didn’t play last season” several times in the past week or so.
With all that said, talent has never been an issue with Lavender, as his problem is confidence in real game situations. If he’s overcome the issues that have held him back in the past, he’ll definitely be a contributor to the team this season.
* Out of the freshmen, Kyryl Natyazhko has improved the most since enrolling in school. His conditioning is coming around and so is his skill set, but the coaching and strength training has helped him improve already.
It’s still too early to get a feel for what kind of role he’ll have this season, but the fact that he’s improving so quickly is good news regardless.
* Physically, Derrick Williams is easily bigger than Jamelle Horne. What that means is there will likely be times where Williams is in the game guarding the five, while Horne is in at the same time defending the four.
* Nic Wise has been as good as expected in workouts and pickup, while Momo Jones has looked better in pickup than workouts, which is probably because his toughness and ability to hit his own shot aren’t really displayed in workout situations.
* Solomon Hill and Kevin Parrom have both steadily improved, and the consensus within the program seems to be that the UA hit on all five freshmen, as they’ll all be big contributors at some point, although some obviously sooner than others.
* On to recruiting news, the big question over the last two weeks was what direction Ray McCallum would be leaning in once returning from Spain, where he was with his father’s University of Detroit basketball team.
The word after the trip is that McCallum will most likely not be going to Detroit to play basketball, which leaves Arizona and UCLA as the two schools doing the best job with him.
McCallum will officially visit UCLA first in early October, before heading to UA on Oct. 30. Oklahoma will also get an official and Florida may as well, but the Wildcats and Bruins seem to be in the best shape as of now.
Arizona will be in McCallum’s home on Sept. 14 for an in-home visit.
* McCallum, Phil Pressey and Cory Joseph and Trevor Releford are four main point guard targets on the board, and UA is in the running to get Pressey, Joseph and Releford on campus as well. They’ll all have in-home visits in the next month.
While UA is in the picture for Releford, Alabama and Oklahoma are definitely the teams to beat for him. Arizona is doing a good job with Pressey, but Missouri could be the favorite there. Joseph’s recruitment is more open but the Wildcats are legitimately involved.
Gary Franklin is still in the mix, and UA will have an in-home with him this month.
* Arizona received some bad news on Thursday when Bryce Jones committed to USC. Jones was expected to visit UA both this weekend and last weekend, but the fact that he didn’t come through on either trip gave a good indication that things were cooling off between the two parties.
With Jones headed elsewhere, Keala King and Anthony Brown are the main West Coast wings UA is recruiting. While Arizona is in the mix for King, ASU seems to be doing a good job with him and may even be the favorite.
Brown is set to officially visit UA on Sept. 18, but he’ll official to UCLA this weekend, and the Bruins are expected to offer him while he’s on campus. Should UCLA offer, the Bruins will be the favorites, with Stanford second. At best, UA looks to have the third best odds of landing him.
If UA misses out on everyone, Trey Zeigler could become a bigger target, although he won’t sign until the spring.
* He’s a 3/4, but Terrence Jones is also still in the picture, and the Wildcats will be in his home on Sept. 24. The whole country is on Jones and no official visits appear imminent, although UA is in the picture to receive one.
* Arizona will also be in the home of five-star center Adreian Payne, while Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and West Virginia will also be in his house as well. His coach, Art Winston, told Rivals.com that the in-homes will be important.
"Adreian is just looking for the opportunity to meet the coaches during the in-home visits," said Winston. "He is looking for the opportunity to sit down and talk to them one-on-one. One thing Adreian is stressing is the personal relationship with his college coach.
"The in-home visits will allow Adreian the opportunity to see the coaches in his comfort zone. It will give the coaches an opportunity to ask questions and it will give Adreian the opportunity to ask them questions."
* Other prospects who will get in-homes this month include Doron Lamb, James Johnson, Alex Kirk and Rod Odom, who is still set to officially visit on Sept. 18.
Football:
* There’s been a ton of questions about the TV situation. Looking into it more, the best I can say is that almost everything that’s been released about the TV deal to date could end up inaccurate at the end of the day.
Arizona will release something official when it can, but it should be noted that it’s not in UA’s hands - it’s all up to IMG, who has the media rights, and is trying to get the TV deal straightened out.
If you’re out of town, as of now, instead of trying to figure out how to watch the game on TV, save yourself some time and just wait for UA to release a statement on the situation.
* As has been said multiple times now, Matt Scott is expected to get the start against Central Michigan, although Nick Foles should get several reps as well.
* Rob Gronkowski is expected out for the next two games, and the main question should be whether or not he suits up for the Iowa game. (JG)
On to Jason Scheer’s weekly recruiting update:
There is plenty of news this week, as the recruiting targets start to come to shape due to the coaching staff being able to get a closer look at the current personnel.
* 6-foot-4, 217-pound Blinn (Texas) Community College wide receiver Dexter Ransom will be on an official visit this weekend. Ransom is one of Arizona’s highest priorities at wide receiver and the Wildcats are definitely doing well with him.
Although he may not admit it, you get the feeling that if Arizona is impressive on and off the field, it may be very difficult for another school to gain ground in his recruitment. In other words, this weekend will go a long way in determining whether or not Ransom comes to Arizona.
* In news that is just as big, if not bigger, Blinn’s 6-foot-6, 247-pound quarterback Cameron Newton will be in town this weekend as well.
Although it remains to be seen what will happen with Arizona’s quarterback position this year, Newton is the type of player that is too good to pass up. He has legit 4.5 speed and will likely be recruited by most schools in the country once the season gets going.
If something were to happen where Newton would not pan out at quarterback, he has enough talent to play at numerous other positions on the field.
* At running back, it appears that Corona (Calif.) back Jordon James is easily the team’s top target. Arizona has a very legit chance with him and would not do anything to hurt those chances.
Thus, don’t be surprised if you do not hear much about other running backs until James makes a decision. With the UA’s depth in the backfield, it can afford to be a bit picky. James is the type of talent that you have no issue waiting for and at this moment, it seems that it what the Wildcats are willing to do.
* It seems that James is going to bring at least one teammate with him on his visit, as 6-foot-4, 225-pound defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe is considering Arizona.
He tells Rivals.com, "For Arizona, I really like Coach Tim Kish, he's a good guy. I like the whole feeling down in Arizona. It's a good school, had good fans and is in a good city."
Uzo-Diribe is likely going to decide by the end of the year and obviously he is looking for an Arizona offer. Colorado is the likely leader because it is the only school that has offered, but that could change sooner than later. With a couple of impressive games to start the season, Uzo-Diribe will likely have a rapid increase in offers.
* One player to keep an eye on is 6-foot-1, 247-pound Inglewood (Calif.) tight end/defensive end Marcus Howard.
Howard has a handful of lower level offers, but is seeing attention from much of the Pac-10. Arizona is recruiting him as a potential H-back and it seems that Howard would be able to fit that role well, especially in the middle of the field.
Like a large list of other players, Howard is the type of guy that could see his offers come in bunches if he is able to start the season well.
* 6-foot-1, 220-pound Glen Ellyn (Ill.) College of DuPage safety Trulon Henry is heavily considering three schools and Arizona seems to be in the mix.
He tells OrangeandBlueNews.com, "As far as offers go, I think the schools want me to get them some film from early this season. Arizona has told me they're looking for a safety. They want me to show them more film with me in coverage. If I can show them I can do that, then they'll offer.”
Henry would like to visit Arizona, but if he gets an offer from Illinois, that may not happen. He is the brother of Arrelious Benn, current wide receiver for the Illini.
* Not much has changed with 6-foot-4, 305-pound Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Los Tesoros offensive lineman Silvarius Ajawara.
He tells Rivals.com, "Everybody is still pretty even right now. Once the season starts up again, we never know, we will see what happens."
Ajawara likely will not wait very long to make a decision and UCLA seems to be the team to beat along with Arizona. Ajawara plans to take his official visits, which is obviously a good sign for the Wildcats and the UA will definitely be right in the thick of things when he does decide to make a final decision.
* 6-foot-3, 220-pound Redlands (Calif.) East Valley defensive end Andrew Hudson looks as if he is starting to get his official visits in order and Arizona will be one of them.
"I want to get a good look at the school in person," he said. "Tim Kish is recruiting me at Arizona and he tells me that he would like to see them add a good pass rusher like me to come off the edge and be able to get to the quarterback."
Hudson needs to get cleared before he can schedule hard dates, but the UA is definitely doing well for him. Oregon State and Washington will likely be the main competition, but Arizona has been recruiting him long enough to have definitely made an impression on him.
* 6-foot-8, 248-pound Gig Harbor (Wash.) tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins is going to be one of the most highly recruited players for 2011. Arizona has already offered and it joins schools such as Florida, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and many more.
Obviously it is going to be difficult to land him, but it seems he is open to taking a visit to Arizona as he tells IrishIllustrated.com, "I think I'll make Oklahoma in November. I'll also make Arizona and Arizona State in November. And then in February I think I'm going to Cal and all the California schools. In April I'm going to Florida, Florida State, Miami - those schools."
Seferian-Jenkins is going to take his time with his recruitment, but it looks like Arizona will have a legitimate opportunity to make things interesting if it can indeed get him on campus.
* Arizona offered 6-foot-5, 288-pound Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton offensive lineman Christian Westerman this week.
He tells ArizonaVarsity.com, "Right now I'm only a junior and I'm looking towards my high school season, but for the next level football will be important, but I'll also weigh academics, school history and tradition, and all the aspects of what college should be.”
Arizona has a very little chance to land him as it seems Texas and USC are the schools to beat with Cal having a slight chance as well. A good season could always change things, but Arizona is going to continue to recruit him regardless.
* Arizona also offered 6-foot-3, 250-pound Tucson Salpointe Catholic offensive lineman Jacob Arzouman.
It is still early, thus not much is known about his recruitment. However, the thought is that Arizona is definitely going to have a solid chance at landing him.
Arzouman will unofficially visit UA this weekend, along with Keanu Nelson.
This post was edited on 9/11 2:27 AM by Josh Gershon
