It's certainly a busy time on the basketball recruiting scene with transfers making decisions, the travel ball season in full swing, and prospects making their way toward decisions. Arizona picked up its latest commitment last week when Justin Simon gave the Wildcat his pledge and now the focus for Sean Miller and Co. can turn to other areas.
With so much going on this time of year I thought it would be a good time to catch up on some spring recruiting notes regarding Arizona hoops targets and potential targets.
* The second Nike EYBL session took place over the weekend, and while it was not a live event there was plenty of action in Dallas with the many teams in action. Here's a quick look at some of the notable Arizona targets and how they performed last weekend.
- Ivan Rabb: Arizona's top target in the 2015 class had himself quite the opening game of the event for his Oakland Soldiers squad. Rabb finished a loss to Arkansas Wings perfect from the field knocking down all 11 of his shot attempts. That led to 23 points and a game-high 16 rebounds to go along with three blocks.
In his second game of the weekend Rabb his hot scoring streak going with 16 points and six rebounds against Team Takeover. The five-star recruit did a lot of his damage at the free-throw line in the contest as he made eight of his 10 free-throw attempts. In a loss to Texas Titans Rabb was once again his team's leading scorer with 13 points and 17 rebounds.
The junior finished things up with another double-double against Spiece Indy Heat as he pulled down 13 boards to go with 16 points.
- Stephen Zimmerman: In just his second weekend on the EYBL circuit the big 7-footer is still getting himself adjusted, but he had a decent couple days once again for the Oakland Soldiers. Zimmerman had 11 points and five rebounds in his team's first game, and he followed that with a near double-double in the next game after scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds.
The Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman big man got into some foul trouble in his team's third game and that led to just 12 minutes of floor time and a four-point, two-rebound effort. He bounced back in the final game of the weekend, however, with a solid 11-point, nine-rebound showing against Spiece Indy Heat.
- Arizona extended an offer to newly reclassified Caleb Swanigan Tuesday, and he had himself a solid weekend for Spiece Indy Heat over the weekend in Dallas. The five-star big man was previously in the 2016 class before this week, but he decided to move up a class earlier in the week.
In his team's first game of the weekend Swanigan finished with a game-high 23 points to go with 11 rebounds in a win. The 6-foot-8 recruit followed that up with another team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds in a close loss to Mokan Elite. In that contest he converted on 10 of his 14 free-throw attempts. The big man also had three assists in that game.
In his third game the new Arizona target continued his scoring barrage with 23 points and 15 rebounds in a loss to Albany City Rocks with 11 of those points coming from the free-throw line. Swanigan wrapped things up with a 19-point, seven-rebound performance against the Oakland Soldiers' big front-court duo. He also had four steals in the game.
- California Supreme picked up a 2016 Arizona target last weekend and he made a decent impact for Miles Simon's young squad. Vance Jackson is a newcomer to the team after playing with SCA earlier in the spring. The sophomore made a splash in his EYBL debut this season with a 20-point, eight-rebound performance in a loss. All four of his made field goals came from beyond the arc.
He was once again the team's leading scorer in another loss in Cal Supreme's second game as he finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. In the team's third game of the weekend Jackson saw his scoring drop off as he ended the game with just six points and two rebounds.
The four-star recruit finished the event with a big game on the glass as he grabbed eight rebounds to go with five points for Cal Supreme.
* Jackson filled a role for Cal Supreme that had been vacated by 2015 four-star prospect Bennie Boatwright. The versatile forward left the team during the live weekend and now he is playing for the San Diego-based program Gamepoint. The move to leave during the live period certainly didn't sit well with a number of college coaches who noticed his absence from the team, and moving forward that is something that will certainly play into his recruitment.
I would not be surprised at all to see programs like Arizona and many other of the elite programs that had been recruiting Boatwright start to fall back as things move forward with the process. The four-star prospect has already started to expand things once again and open up to other programs that had previously not been included on his list and that's something that will likely continue.
Playing with Gamepoint will give the junior some solid exposure, however, as he will be able to play alongside new Arizona commit Justin Simon as the travel season rolls along.
* As I mentioned early in the week in an update and in the War Room four-star wing prospect Ray Smith had started to put a list together, and Tuesday night he released that trimmed-down list of 10 schools that he is now focusing on in his recruitment. To no surprise Arizona was on that list as his father Bobby had told me over the weekend.
If you haven't had a chance to read the War Room or the update take a look because from what his father explained to me is that Arizona is in a very good spot right now. Smith likes a lot about Sean Miller's program and right now the Wildcats seem very much in the driver's seat with this one as right now Tucson is one place he does know he will take an official visit to.
That sounds eerily similar to something Justin Simon told me earlier this year a couple months before he pulled the trigger on a commitment to UA.
* One recruit I would keep an eye on moving forward in the 2017 class is point guard recruit Justin Roberts from Indianapolis (Ind.) Pike. Arizona has started to show interest in the 5-foot-10 freshman who is already gaining a decent amount of attention from other schools.
Jeff Rabjohns from Peegs.com has had a chance to watch the point guard recruit already and has a good feel for his game at this stage in his development.
"He's part of a very talented 2017 class in Indiana," Rabjohns said. "(He's) hearing from a bunch of high majors already. (He's) quick, fast with the ball, and looks to set up teammates."
Rabjohns added that he's "very mature" and has good "court savvy and calmness for a young player."
So at this point Roberts is one to watch as things move forward in the process and as the young point guard goes through his recruitment and development at the high school level.
This post was edited on 5/14 10:20 AM by Matt Moreno
With so much going on this time of year I thought it would be a good time to catch up on some spring recruiting notes regarding Arizona hoops targets and potential targets.
* The second Nike EYBL session took place over the weekend, and while it was not a live event there was plenty of action in Dallas with the many teams in action. Here's a quick look at some of the notable Arizona targets and how they performed last weekend.
- Ivan Rabb: Arizona's top target in the 2015 class had himself quite the opening game of the event for his Oakland Soldiers squad. Rabb finished a loss to Arkansas Wings perfect from the field knocking down all 11 of his shot attempts. That led to 23 points and a game-high 16 rebounds to go along with three blocks.
In his second game of the weekend Rabb his hot scoring streak going with 16 points and six rebounds against Team Takeover. The five-star recruit did a lot of his damage at the free-throw line in the contest as he made eight of his 10 free-throw attempts. In a loss to Texas Titans Rabb was once again his team's leading scorer with 13 points and 17 rebounds.
The junior finished things up with another double-double against Spiece Indy Heat as he pulled down 13 boards to go with 16 points.
- Stephen Zimmerman: In just his second weekend on the EYBL circuit the big 7-footer is still getting himself adjusted, but he had a decent couple days once again for the Oakland Soldiers. Zimmerman had 11 points and five rebounds in his team's first game, and he followed that with a near double-double in the next game after scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds.
The Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman big man got into some foul trouble in his team's third game and that led to just 12 minutes of floor time and a four-point, two-rebound effort. He bounced back in the final game of the weekend, however, with a solid 11-point, nine-rebound showing against Spiece Indy Heat.
- Arizona extended an offer to newly reclassified Caleb Swanigan Tuesday, and he had himself a solid weekend for Spiece Indy Heat over the weekend in Dallas. The five-star big man was previously in the 2016 class before this week, but he decided to move up a class earlier in the week.
In his team's first game of the weekend Swanigan finished with a game-high 23 points to go with 11 rebounds in a win. The 6-foot-8 recruit followed that up with another team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds in a close loss to Mokan Elite. In that contest he converted on 10 of his 14 free-throw attempts. The big man also had three assists in that game.
In his third game the new Arizona target continued his scoring barrage with 23 points and 15 rebounds in a loss to Albany City Rocks with 11 of those points coming from the free-throw line. Swanigan wrapped things up with a 19-point, seven-rebound performance against the Oakland Soldiers' big front-court duo. He also had four steals in the game.
- California Supreme picked up a 2016 Arizona target last weekend and he made a decent impact for Miles Simon's young squad. Vance Jackson is a newcomer to the team after playing with SCA earlier in the spring. The sophomore made a splash in his EYBL debut this season with a 20-point, eight-rebound performance in a loss. All four of his made field goals came from beyond the arc.
He was once again the team's leading scorer in another loss in Cal Supreme's second game as he finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. In the team's third game of the weekend Jackson saw his scoring drop off as he ended the game with just six points and two rebounds.
The four-star recruit finished the event with a big game on the glass as he grabbed eight rebounds to go with five points for Cal Supreme.
* Jackson filled a role for Cal Supreme that had been vacated by 2015 four-star prospect Bennie Boatwright. The versatile forward left the team during the live weekend and now he is playing for the San Diego-based program Gamepoint. The move to leave during the live period certainly didn't sit well with a number of college coaches who noticed his absence from the team, and moving forward that is something that will certainly play into his recruitment.
I would not be surprised at all to see programs like Arizona and many other of the elite programs that had been recruiting Boatwright start to fall back as things move forward with the process. The four-star prospect has already started to expand things once again and open up to other programs that had previously not been included on his list and that's something that will likely continue.
Playing with Gamepoint will give the junior some solid exposure, however, as he will be able to play alongside new Arizona commit Justin Simon as the travel season rolls along.
* As I mentioned early in the week in an update and in the War Room four-star wing prospect Ray Smith had started to put a list together, and Tuesday night he released that trimmed-down list of 10 schools that he is now focusing on in his recruitment. To no surprise Arizona was on that list as his father Bobby had told me over the weekend.
If you haven't had a chance to read the War Room or the update take a look because from what his father explained to me is that Arizona is in a very good spot right now. Smith likes a lot about Sean Miller's program and right now the Wildcats seem very much in the driver's seat with this one as right now Tucson is one place he does know he will take an official visit to.
That sounds eerily similar to something Justin Simon told me earlier this year a couple months before he pulled the trigger on a commitment to UA.
* One recruit I would keep an eye on moving forward in the 2017 class is point guard recruit Justin Roberts from Indianapolis (Ind.) Pike. Arizona has started to show interest in the 5-foot-10 freshman who is already gaining a decent amount of attention from other schools.
Jeff Rabjohns from Peegs.com has had a chance to watch the point guard recruit already and has a good feel for his game at this stage in his development.
"He's part of a very talented 2017 class in Indiana," Rabjohns said. "(He's) hearing from a bunch of high majors already. (He's) quick, fast with the ball, and looks to set up teammates."
Rabjohns added that he's "very mature" and has good "court savvy and calmness for a young player."
So at this point Roberts is one to watch as things move forward in the process and as the young point guard goes through his recruitment and development at the high school level.
This post was edited on 5/14 10:20 AM by Matt Moreno
