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Arizona looking at two transfers

Arizona has kept tabs on the transfer portal and two names have come up when talking about the Wildcats. First is North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson, who averaged 17.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 blocks during last season. The other is Campbell transfer Jay Pal, who averaged 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks during his only season with the Tigers.

Pal didn't play with Cedric Henderson Jr., he transferred to Campbell after Henderson left.

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Transfer visitors

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Arizona is turning up the heat with transfer players right now and two important ones are currently visiting with the Wildcats. Oregon transfer two-way athlete Jalil Tucker is in town as is former Michigan defensive end and Colorado transfer Taylor Upshaw. Upshaw transferred to CU in the winter and went through spring ball but is one of the players to leave the Buffs in recent weeks. He'd be an immediate help and give the Wildcats another key piece up front.

Tucker is ranked as the No. 85 transfer by Rivals and is a four-star player while Upshaw is rated as a 3-star transfer and No. 617 overall in the portal.

Transfer addition: Alabama's Jaden Bradley

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The No. 54-ranked transfer is headed to Arizona. Alabama guard Jaden Bradley has signed with the Wildcats after a strong freshman season that ended with him being named to the SEC All-Freshman team. Arizona pursued Bradley as a high four-star recruit in the 2022 class and missed but gets his commitment now and the Wildcats have finally hit big in the transfer portal this offseason.

One-one-one interview: Kingston Lopa talks Arizona commitment

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2024 safety/outside linebacker Kingston Lopa is an intriguing recruit who made an early commitment to Arizona. He's on the rise this spring and once coaches begin hitting the road in the next several weeks the expectation is that he will have offers from across the country. That process is already underway with schools like Notre Dame, Oregon and Tennessee all making a push to sway him away from the Wildcats. His relationship with Scottie Graham and the plan Jedd Fisch and the Wildcats have laid out for him pushed him to make his early choice. Lopa's plan right now is to make a return trip to Tucson this summer but the UA staff is not resting in his recruitment and continues to make him a priority.

Watch my interview with the Sacramento-Grant HS star from this week by hitting the play button above.
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Azuolas Tubelis has entered the NBA Draft

Arizona bigman Azuolas Tubelis won't be on the roster next season with him deciding to put his name in the NBA Draft. Now, he hasn't signed an agent and could come back. However, I think he will stay in the draft and not return to the WIldcats' program.

This is a massive loss for Tommy Lloyd and now the Wildcats will be searching for a starting forward.
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Transfer OL offer

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Wyoming transfer offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon has been offered by Arizona today. Minnesota and Purdue have also offered the Denver native. He's listed as a guard by the Cowboys but checks in at 6-foot-6. UA cornerbacks coach John Richardson was at Wyoming when the program was recruiting Pregnon, just as an FYI.

Ryan Nembhard to Gonzaga

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Arizona loses out on its top transfer target as Ryan Nembhard is headed to Gonzaga after his weekend visits. No way around this, it’s a big blow for Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats who absolutely NEED to land Carter Bryant to quiet some of the negative recruiting noise that will only grow louder if Bryant heads to Louisville.

Zags also added Wyoming big man Graham Ike today on a big day for Lloyd’s former program.

Arizona lands Indiana transfer defensive lineman Sio Nofoagatoto'a

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The Wildcats will add another transfer defensive lineman Sio Nofoagatoto'a to their roster, providing additional depth to their front seven heading into this season. The 6-3, 315 lb Nofoagatoto'a will come in as a senior after playing four years at Indiana, where accumulated 53 tackles. His size and presence next to other transfers such as Bill Norton and Tyler Manoa should be a force for offensive lines to deal with come August.

Decision date: Carter Bryant (April 26)

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Top-25 2024 wing Carter Bryant has finally settled on a commitment date after a bit of a delay. The thought had been that he would ultimately come to a decision by the start of the spring live period. He will almost make it as he has not set April 26 as his announcement date. Arizona and Louisville are the two finalists.

If you didn't read it already, here is Rivals national analyst's Rob Cassidy's take on the situation. In line with that, I've made some calls and the feeling is that he ultimately does still end up going with the Wildcats, which have been the favorite since offering, but the door is not completely closed on Louisville. The picture has definitely become a bit more fuzzy heading down the stretch.

The recruitment will finally come to a close next Wednesday after Bryant spends this weekend in Atlanta with his team at the Nike EYBL event there. It is the first weekend of the spring evaluation period giving him one last chance to play in front of coaches before making his choice.

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Arizona football: Spring Game

Hey guys, just leaving the stadium now, but wanted to jump in and share some of my quick takeaways from the Spring Game.

Quick takeaways:

The communication on defense - I was on the field shooting photos and was able to hear the players on the field. What stood out was the constant communication on the defensive side of the ball at all three level of the defense. Everyone was making sure they understood their assignments and what needed to be done.

Duane Akina - Again, I can't talk enough
About the impact Duane Akina is having on this team. Akina was all over DBs when he thought the effort was poor (landed in hard) and then loved them hard when they did good. I think Jedd Fisch needs to find a way to make him a legit coach.

The defense flies - Arizona's defense just swarms to the ball no matter where it is on the field. You have three or four guys making the tackle. The pursuit of the ball is highly impressive.

We'll have more as always here soon. Please feels free to ask any questions you may have.

Official visits rule change

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This has been coming down the pipeline but is now approved. Recruits will now have an opportunity for unlimited official visits. The limit had been five per recruit in most sports and 10 for basketball recruits. Those numbers no longer exist.

Schools will still be limited to hosting recruits only once on official visits. However, as has been the case lately, teams are permitted to host a recruit for a second official visit if there is a coaching change.

So, in theory, someone like Elijah Rushing could take 15 or 20 official visits before deciding now.

The rule will go into effect on July 1.

Arizona football: Spring practice No. 14

Hey guys, just ended practice and wanted to jump in and share some of my quick takeaways from the day.

Quick takeaways:

Tacario Davis - Tacario Davis was working with the first team defense over Charles Yates today and even had an interception. Davis has been having a great spring and the staff has started to reward him.

Noah Fifita - Noah Fifita has had a rock solid spring, but today he made some of the best passes of camp with nice touch passes over the linebackers to Cowing and then to Green. Fifita is moving in the right direction.

High energy - I think throughout camp, there was only one practice that the energy felt low. The staff has done a great job of keeping this team engaged with practice.


We'll have more with videos and articles later. Please ask any questions you may have.
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UNC's Caleb Love

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It's most likely that he ends up back closer to home, but it is an interesting one. Arizona assistant Steve Robinson was Caleb Love's lead recruiter at North Carolina and Arizona was among the finalists for Love out of high school, so there is some familiarity there. He also has a connection to Courtney Ramey as a St. Louis-area native.

Ramey was actually a big part of Texas' pursuit of Love as a high school player.

"I love those guys. Obviously Courtney Ramey is there and me and him talk about it all the time. Coaches text me all the time and asks me about how I'm doing so we have a good relationship," he previously said about the Longhorns during his recruitment.

Love averaged a career-high 16.7 points this season to go with 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists. The thing that could be tough for the Wildcats and their needs is that the 6-foot-4 guard was only a 32% 3-point shooter in his career and only hit 29.9% of his shots from deep this season. He also takes a ton of shots as he attempted 88 more shots than anyone else on UNC's roster this season. He shot 38% from the field this season and is at 36% overall in his career.

Arizona football: Spring practice No. 13

Hey guys, just wanted to jump in a share some quick takeaways from Day 13 of spring practice.

Quick takeaways:

Arizona's safeties - the play of the safeties unit was high-level today with Isaiah Taylor getting his fifth INT of spring practice and Gunner Maldonado breaking up passes in the secondary. To me the safeties have been a major bright spot this spring season.

Arizona's running back group - Monday was a weird day for the running backs room that was missing Michael Wiley, DJ Williams (done for spring), Ryashon Luke and Brandon Johnson. So, with a thin group, Coleman got all the first team reps and Stevie Rocker got the second team reps

Joseph Borjon - Today was a hood day for Joseph Borjon, who got smoked during the second scrimmage of spring. On Monday, Borjon was very solid and didn't give up a sack.


We'll have videos and articles later tonight. As always, please feel free to ask any questions.
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Arizona football: Spring practice No. 11


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Troy was out today but Aidan Wohl stepped in for him to watch practice and bring you some takeaways from what he say. You can read that full story above plus hear what transfer defensive lineman Bill Norton had to say after Thursday's practice as he nears the end of his first spring with the Wildcats.
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Arizona football: spring practice No. 10

Hey guys, I wanted to jump in a give a few of my takeaways from Tuesday's practice.

Quick takeaways:

Tyler Manoa - So far this spring, I have been impressed by Tyler Manoa the most out of the DT group. He is very strong and faster than he looks. Tuesday Manoa was able put pressure up the middle causing the QBs to roll out and the running backs to change their direction. Love what I've seen.

Tanner McLachlan - After missing a handful of practices with an unknown injury, tight end Tanner McLachlan was back at it on Tuesday. McLachlan looked good and had a good number of catches to move the offense.

Gunner Maldonado - I still think at the end of the day that Dalton Johnson will be a starter this season. However, Maldonado has looked good at safety and has been working primarily with the first team offense. Maldonado has been able to make plays both in the passing and running game.


We'll have more later tonight and video on the page shortly.

Arizona spring football: Scrimmage No. 1 (Practice 9)

Hey guys, wanted to jump in and share some of my takeaways from tonight's scrimmage.

Takeaways:

Backup offensive line - The second unit offensive line struggled against everyone it faced. In fact, the first drive, the offense couldn't pick up a first down because of the poor line play.

Jonah Coleman - Jonah Coleman has had a rock solid spring thus far. However, in the scrimmage he was amazing with two touchdowns and a 40-yard run.

Injuries - After the scrimmage, Jedd Fisch mentioned that Tanner McLachlan and Jacob Manu would be back very soon.


We have videos and the top five takeaways up on the site. We'll have more in the morning.

Cornerbacks coach update

It is being reported that Arizona is set to hire John Richardson as its next cornerbacks coach. Richardson has spent the past two seasons at Washington State in the same position. Before for that, he was at Wyoming and North Dakota State.

Last season, Richardson helped Washington State become one of the better defenses in the Pac-12.

Will have more when things become clearer.

Arizona football: spring football Day 8

Hey guys, we are almost done with Day 8 of practice and I wanted to jump in and give my quick takeaways from the day's practice.

Quick Takeaways:

Tia Savae - Throughout spring practice, defensive tackle Tia Savae has been out for unknown reason. During practice No. 8, Savae was out there with the second unit defensive and looked mobile.

Kamuela Kaaihue - The young 2-star linebacker has looked rock solid in practice running primarily with the second team defense. During 11-on-11 drills Kamuela Kaaihue was able to get his hands on a pass and tip it up in the air, then came down with the interception.

Malachi Riley - Again, Malachi Riley has been really impressive and today got snaps with the first team defensive in the red zone and looked good against Yates and Prysock.


We'll have more later tonight. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
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