The 2011 Fall Signing Period is finally over for basketball and football has an important weekend. We discuss both in this week's War Room.
Basketball:
Now that Arizona's 2011 fall signing class is completed, what does it mean for the future? We asked Archie Miller and Book Richardson how the Wildcats' success with the 2011 class will help the program recruit 2012 and 2013.
"It gives you momentum," Miller said. "Recruiting is like anything else, if you have success you can use it and build upon it and obviously any guy you recruit in the next couple classes, they're going to see some of the best players in the country and in the West Coast that have come here and they're going to watch those guys.
"The better players you get, the better team you're going to have, and I think all great players nowadays want to play with the best players. It was a huge step for us getting a great class in 2011 and now we have to build off it with the next two classes."
Richardson is also optimistic about what the class does for the UA program moving forward.
"I think it gives us a legitimate opportunity to say, 'Hey, we're going to recruit with the other bluebloods of college basketball because our program is one of the top 10 programs ever,'" Richardson said.
"Whether it's Coach K at Duke, Coach (John) Calipari at Kentucky, Coach (Jim) Calhoun at UConn, the University of Arizona and Sean Miller are one of those programs. I think what it does for us is solidifies that we're recruiting the right kids and it solidifies the job we're supposed to do."
Book says they've already been using the 2011 class as a selling point to younger prospects.
"When you talk to certain kids, you say, 'This is who we have and what we're doing,'" he said. "A lot of the kids we're recruiting now, it really helps because they want to make sure they're playing with good guys as well. They also want to make sure they're going to have the opportunity to play and win.
"A kid will say, 'Do I want to go somewhere and score 20 points a game and lose?' The top 20 to 30 in the country aren't doing that. They want to win, that's what they want. To sacrifice some of their points to win, I think they'll do it. This class will make people say, 'Arizona can recruit those guys again, like they used to.'
"I think we're set up really nice to recruit the top level talent in the country. I know that's been the goal of ours since taking the University of Arizona job, to say we want to recruit at a certain level.
"Not having to explain why we're playing this schedule in this conference, there's no explanations or excuses, we now have to target the best kids in the country to keep this thing going."
* Sean Miller had a press conference on Thursday to discuss his recruiting class. Some quotes from that:
Miller on Sidiki Johnson:
"Sidiki Johnson is someone who was committed to us a long time ago. We've known Sidiki for many years. He's been very loyal to us through his recruiting process. Like all three of these guys, he's in an environment at Oak Hill Academy which is really going to prepare him for what's to come.
"Every day that he practices and every day he plays, means something. He's playing on a team that has eight or nine Division I players. I think from that perspective, Sidiki's senior year to freshman year in college, he'll benefit tremendously in the transition.
"He's an old school power player. He rolls his sleeves up, he's physical. To me he's got a toughness about him. Right now he weighs 230 pounds, so he's 6-foot-8, 230 pounds. I think he'll be a versatile forward, but physically it's not as if he'll come in here and need a year to get bigger and stronger. We're counting on him to add much-needed size and durability around the basket. I think he'll be a real good player for us."
Miller on Nick Johnson:
"Nick Johnson is someone we recruited almost from the first second I became the head coach here. Like Sidiki, he's very fortunate he's at Findlay Prep playing for a great coach at a program that last year won a high school national championship.
"He's trying to do the same thing this year playing alongside probably 8 or 9 Division I players. Again, when you're in that environment, and in his case not for one year but two, you just know from the transition perspective, it's just going to be easy because he's faced tremendous competition for two straight years.
"Nick is as explosive of a guard as I've seen. He can really jump off the floor but he's way more than an athlete. I think he's got great quickness, can be a defender that will rival about any in the country once he continues to learn the college game.
"He's really continued to develop as an offensive player. He can play either guard position and I think in the nine months his shooting and scoring have really continued to develop. He's an explosive guard, a winner, a great kid, and I can't tell you how excited I am to add Nick Johnson to our program."
Miller on Josiah Turner:
"Josiah is a pure point guard, he's 6-foot-3; he's not 6-foot or 5-foot-10. He really uses his height to his advantage playing the game. It helps him as a defender, he thinks pass, he really makes his teammates better, he's a big, physical guard, that to me impacts the game on both sides of the ball.
"The great credit you that can give to a point guard is, does he make the game easier for his teammates? To me, no matter where you've seen him play, it's a gift he has. I'm very excited, we've recruited the point guard position hard since we got here and I think we have someone that will continue the Point Guard U tradition very well. I have a lot of respect for him."
Miller on Turner and Nick Johnson playing together this summer:
"Nick Johnson and Josiah Turner played for the Oakland Soldiers travel team, and if they weren't the best travel team in America, they were certainly one of them. They had a great chemistry and it was fun for me to watch them play together, playing for a really good program and a great coach there as well.
"They fed off each other and you could kind of see them both of defense and offense really having a togetherness about them. To add individual players, and two that have played together quite a bit since last spring, to me adds to the class. All three guys know each other and I think are equally excited about coming here."
* Arizona's attention in 2011 remains on San Diego post Angelo Chol, who has three official visits left, after previously seeing Alabama and Kansas. He'll check out North Carolina on Jan. 1, Arizona on Jan. 28 and Washington on Feb. 12, before announcing his commitment on Feb. 17.
UA has done a good job with Chol, although Thursday could have been a helpful day in Arizona's recruitment of him, but it wasn't. Cody Zeller selected Indiana over North Carolina and Norvel Pelle chose St. John's over Washington, keeping those two schools alive in the Chol race.
Arizona will still have a good opportunity to ultimately land him, but the water would have been less murky had Zeller picked UNC and if Pelle chose Washington.
Chol told CarolinaBlue.com this week that he remains wide open.
"Right now, I'd say they are all really close. I've got to see them up close and learn as much as I can about all of the schools. I feel like I had great visits to Alabama and Kansas, but I'm excited to see the other three soon," said Chol.
* Arizona announced its tentative 2011-12 basketball schedule on Thursday:
Tentative 2011-12 Arizona Men's Basketball Schedule
Nov. 7 or 8 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, home game, opponent TBA
Nov. 9 or 10 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, home game, opponent TBA
Nov. 14 Home game, opponent TBA
Nov. 18 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament in New York City, opponent TBA
Nov. 19 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament in New York City, opponent TBA
Nov. 23 San Diego State
Nov. 26 at New Mexico State
Nov. 29 or 30 Home game, opponent TBA
Dec. 3 Home game, opponent TBA
Dec. 6 at Florida
Dec. 10 or 11 Home game, opponent TBA
Dec. 17 vs. Gonzaga (in Seattle)
Dec. 22 Bryant University
Dec. 31 Arizona State
Jan. 5 at UCLA
Jan. 7 at USC
Jan. 12 Oregon
Jan. 14 Oregon State
Jan. 19 at Utah
Jan. 21 at Colorado
Jan. 26 Washington
Jan. 28 Washington State
Feb. 2 at California
Feb. 4 at Stanford
Feb. 9 Colorado
Feb. 11 Utah
Feb. 16 at Washington State
Feb. 18 at Washington
Feb. 23 USC
Feb. 25 UCLA
March 3 at Arizona State
March 7-10 Pac-10 Tournament
Football:
* Arizona of course is taking on USC this weekend, and the story of the Trojans' program for the foreseeable future will be the sanctions placed on the program by the NCAA, which will significantly impact the team's recruiting and also keep USC out of a bowl game for the next two years.
There are only a few players on the team who turned down USC to choose Arizona, and I caught up with two of the most recent ones - Marquis Flowers and Adam Hall - to see if the NCAA's investigation of the Trojans' program not only impacted their decision but also solidified their decision to choose Arizona.
According to both players, the investigation is something they considered when going through the recruiting process.
"I kind of had a feeling they were going to get in trouble with their sanctions so that was one of the reasons and once Pete Carroll left, I probably wasn't going to go there anyway," Flowers said. "I just thought Arizona was an established program and close to home. It was a big factor. They lost some players because of it and to me it definitely was a big factor."
"I knew that USC was going to get in trouble, plus my recruiting coach left and it seemed like Pete Carroll was trying to find his way out," added Hall. "He's a great coach and did what was best for his career personally.
"I just knew there were things going on at the school - pretty much everyone knew it - even the guys at the school knew USC was in hot water, even when we were being recruited. I don't want to say it solidified the reason I went here, but I'm happy I made the decision I did, regardless of their situation."
While USC's troubles were something both Flowers and Hall considered, they both maintain they chose Arizona because of what the UA program offered and not because of anything going on in Los Angeles.
"I think Mike Stoops has done a great job with this program, we're still turning it around, we're doing great, and I wanted to be a part of that," Flowers said.
"I came to U of A not because USC was in hot water, but just because I knew this is where I wanted to be," Hall said. "It's good to see we're winning but it's bad to see all my friends who can't go to a bowl game. It's a win situation for me but I feel for them. It's not them who did it, it's someone in the past."
* Arizona will host four official visitors this weekend:
Austin Traylorhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Austin-Traylor-106929, DE - Rivals.com's 222nd ranked prospect in the class, the Columbus (Ohio) four-star prospect is taking his fourth official visit, having previously visited Wisconsin, Michigan and West Virginia. He'll also trip to Cincinnati on Dec. 4.
Patrick Onwuasorhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Patrick-Onwuasor-108482, WR - The three-star prospect from Inglewood (Calif.) has already visited Nebraska and this will be his second official. He's wide open in his recruitment.
Jared Bakerhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Jared-Baker-99629, RB - UA commit
Hank Hobsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Hank-Hobson-115064, LB - UA commit
* Jason Scheer's weekly recruiting update:
* Honolulu (Hawaii) Kamehameha School defensive end Lake Koa-Ka'aihttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=115413 has narrowed his school list to six and Arizona has made the cut.
"I really like how they play defense,” Koa-Ka’ai tells HuskersIllustrated.com. “They're pretty good and they get after it. They're a school on the rise, it seems to me. They have a bunch of Polynesians up there, plus it's on the West Coast, which is closer to home."
It is possible that Koa-Ka’ai takes a visit to Arizona for the Arizona State game, but he currently does not have any more visits scheduled.
With that being said, he has a pretty good idea of what he is looking for in a school.
"I think it depends on who waits for me,” he said. “I think that I kind of have an idea where I want to go, but I'm not ready to announce my decision yet.
“Academics will come into play, as will the coaching staff, but I think that now it just comes down to when it feels right to do it."
* Chicago Simeon offensive lineman Chris Bryanthttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=107605 is still going through the process and Arizona remains in good shape.
"I have two official visits set now,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “I'm going to make an official visit to Arizona on December 3rd along with making my official visit to Michigan on December 10th.
“Arizona is a school that I think has been recruiting me the longest and I have a great relationship with Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh. I also talk with Fabbians (Ebbele) and he loves it at Arizona and he will be my player host on my official visit."
It seems that Arizona and Michigan are Bryant’s two top schools and his recruitment may not last much longer once he is done with both visits.
"I've set up two visits for now and I'm still considering taking all five official visits,” he said. “I'm most likely going to take my two set visits and see how things go.
“After those two visits I'll see where I stand and if I need to take more visits I'll take more visits. I have several schools that I'm still considering who are still in the picture for me."
* 6-foot-4, 230-pound Corona (Calif.) defensive end DeVante Wilsonhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=97772 is one step closer to a decision.
He will visit USC on Dec. 10 and plans to make a choice only days later, as he picks between Arizona, Nebraska, and USC.
Wilson recently had a conversation with Mike Stoops in which he reiterated just how much the Wildcats want Wilson.
"He was just telling me about the Stanford game, what their game was on defense and he was just telling me how much they want me and need me," Wilson told HuskersIllustrated.com.
Wilson feels that he would be a good fit at any of the three schools, although rumor persists that the Trojans are the slight favorites.
“The SC defense is pretty much the defense we run right now at my school, (former Trojan) coach Chris Claiborne is our defensive coordinator, so he brought the USC defense," he said. "I like Nebraska and Arizona's defenses too - I could see myself playing in those too."
As of now, Wilson’s plan is to decide on Dec. 15, although that could change.
* Arizona and the entire Pac-10 continue to recruit San Jose Christian junior Byron Marshallhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Byron-Marshall-118317.
Marshall already has numerous offers, but feels that his recruitment will pick up even more once he becomes more visible.
"I think the wheels will start turning pretty quickly," Marshall tells IrishIllustrated.com. "Especially because college coaches can start talking to me in the second semester.
“That will happen then I'm gonna try to make a highlight tape from my season and get it out there to the schools. Once coaches see that I feel like it should pick up."
Marshall’s brother, Cameron, is currently at Arizona State and has given him a good idea of how the process will play out.
“I tried to pay attention to it as Cameron was going through the process," Marshall said. "Like how he was choosing his colleges and how he looked at the schools and the coaches and how the community was with him.
“I've got a shot at putting it into what I'm doing. I talk to my pops about that and what schools would fit best with me and everything like that. We haven't come to any conclusions yet but we've been talking."
Marshall currently has no favorites, but Arizona has already thrown its hat in the ring in hope of making an impact early.
* Chicago Urban Prep defensive tackle Mason Fullerhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=103594 continues to hope for an Arizona offer.
"I'm good friends with Chris Bryant from Simeon and we've talked about taking an official visit to Arizona together in December,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “Arizona said they need to see more tape before they offer me a visit.
“Illinois, Western Kentucky and a few others have been mentioning me taking official visits and I hope to get things set up soon."
Fuller is going to start focusing more on recruiting and hope it pays off with some offers sooner than later.
“Most of those schools are looking for me to send them my end of the year tape and we are in the process of getting that put together this week,” he said.
“In some ways I haven't been looking too much at my recruiting, but in other ways I need to really get things moving along because it's so important to me to get into college and to hopefully help out my family as much as I can by getting a college degree.”
This post was edited on 11/12 11:47 AM by Josh Gershon
Basketball:
Now that Arizona's 2011 fall signing class is completed, what does it mean for the future? We asked Archie Miller and Book Richardson how the Wildcats' success with the 2011 class will help the program recruit 2012 and 2013.
"It gives you momentum," Miller said. "Recruiting is like anything else, if you have success you can use it and build upon it and obviously any guy you recruit in the next couple classes, they're going to see some of the best players in the country and in the West Coast that have come here and they're going to watch those guys.
"The better players you get, the better team you're going to have, and I think all great players nowadays want to play with the best players. It was a huge step for us getting a great class in 2011 and now we have to build off it with the next two classes."
Richardson is also optimistic about what the class does for the UA program moving forward.
"I think it gives us a legitimate opportunity to say, 'Hey, we're going to recruit with the other bluebloods of college basketball because our program is one of the top 10 programs ever,'" Richardson said.
"Whether it's Coach K at Duke, Coach (John) Calipari at Kentucky, Coach (Jim) Calhoun at UConn, the University of Arizona and Sean Miller are one of those programs. I think what it does for us is solidifies that we're recruiting the right kids and it solidifies the job we're supposed to do."
Book says they've already been using the 2011 class as a selling point to younger prospects.
"When you talk to certain kids, you say, 'This is who we have and what we're doing,'" he said. "A lot of the kids we're recruiting now, it really helps because they want to make sure they're playing with good guys as well. They also want to make sure they're going to have the opportunity to play and win.
"A kid will say, 'Do I want to go somewhere and score 20 points a game and lose?' The top 20 to 30 in the country aren't doing that. They want to win, that's what they want. To sacrifice some of their points to win, I think they'll do it. This class will make people say, 'Arizona can recruit those guys again, like they used to.'
"I think we're set up really nice to recruit the top level talent in the country. I know that's been the goal of ours since taking the University of Arizona job, to say we want to recruit at a certain level.
"Not having to explain why we're playing this schedule in this conference, there's no explanations or excuses, we now have to target the best kids in the country to keep this thing going."
* Sean Miller had a press conference on Thursday to discuss his recruiting class. Some quotes from that:
Miller on Sidiki Johnson:
"Sidiki Johnson is someone who was committed to us a long time ago. We've known Sidiki for many years. He's been very loyal to us through his recruiting process. Like all three of these guys, he's in an environment at Oak Hill Academy which is really going to prepare him for what's to come.
"Every day that he practices and every day he plays, means something. He's playing on a team that has eight or nine Division I players. I think from that perspective, Sidiki's senior year to freshman year in college, he'll benefit tremendously in the transition.
"He's an old school power player. He rolls his sleeves up, he's physical. To me he's got a toughness about him. Right now he weighs 230 pounds, so he's 6-foot-8, 230 pounds. I think he'll be a versatile forward, but physically it's not as if he'll come in here and need a year to get bigger and stronger. We're counting on him to add much-needed size and durability around the basket. I think he'll be a real good player for us."
Miller on Nick Johnson:
"Nick Johnson is someone we recruited almost from the first second I became the head coach here. Like Sidiki, he's very fortunate he's at Findlay Prep playing for a great coach at a program that last year won a high school national championship.
"He's trying to do the same thing this year playing alongside probably 8 or 9 Division I players. Again, when you're in that environment, and in his case not for one year but two, you just know from the transition perspective, it's just going to be easy because he's faced tremendous competition for two straight years.
"Nick is as explosive of a guard as I've seen. He can really jump off the floor but he's way more than an athlete. I think he's got great quickness, can be a defender that will rival about any in the country once he continues to learn the college game.
"He's really continued to develop as an offensive player. He can play either guard position and I think in the nine months his shooting and scoring have really continued to develop. He's an explosive guard, a winner, a great kid, and I can't tell you how excited I am to add Nick Johnson to our program."
Miller on Josiah Turner:
"Josiah is a pure point guard, he's 6-foot-3; he's not 6-foot or 5-foot-10. He really uses his height to his advantage playing the game. It helps him as a defender, he thinks pass, he really makes his teammates better, he's a big, physical guard, that to me impacts the game on both sides of the ball.
"The great credit you that can give to a point guard is, does he make the game easier for his teammates? To me, no matter where you've seen him play, it's a gift he has. I'm very excited, we've recruited the point guard position hard since we got here and I think we have someone that will continue the Point Guard U tradition very well. I have a lot of respect for him."
Miller on Turner and Nick Johnson playing together this summer:
"Nick Johnson and Josiah Turner played for the Oakland Soldiers travel team, and if they weren't the best travel team in America, they were certainly one of them. They had a great chemistry and it was fun for me to watch them play together, playing for a really good program and a great coach there as well.
"They fed off each other and you could kind of see them both of defense and offense really having a togetherness about them. To add individual players, and two that have played together quite a bit since last spring, to me adds to the class. All three guys know each other and I think are equally excited about coming here."
* Arizona's attention in 2011 remains on San Diego post Angelo Chol, who has three official visits left, after previously seeing Alabama and Kansas. He'll check out North Carolina on Jan. 1, Arizona on Jan. 28 and Washington on Feb. 12, before announcing his commitment on Feb. 17.
UA has done a good job with Chol, although Thursday could have been a helpful day in Arizona's recruitment of him, but it wasn't. Cody Zeller selected Indiana over North Carolina and Norvel Pelle chose St. John's over Washington, keeping those two schools alive in the Chol race.
Arizona will still have a good opportunity to ultimately land him, but the water would have been less murky had Zeller picked UNC and if Pelle chose Washington.
Chol told CarolinaBlue.com this week that he remains wide open.
"Right now, I'd say they are all really close. I've got to see them up close and learn as much as I can about all of the schools. I feel like I had great visits to Alabama and Kansas, but I'm excited to see the other three soon," said Chol.
* Arizona announced its tentative 2011-12 basketball schedule on Thursday:
Tentative 2011-12 Arizona Men's Basketball Schedule
Nov. 7 or 8 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, home game, opponent TBA
Nov. 9 or 10 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, home game, opponent TBA
Nov. 14 Home game, opponent TBA
Nov. 18 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament in New York City, opponent TBA
Nov. 19 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament in New York City, opponent TBA
Nov. 23 San Diego State
Nov. 26 at New Mexico State
Nov. 29 or 30 Home game, opponent TBA
Dec. 3 Home game, opponent TBA
Dec. 6 at Florida
Dec. 10 or 11 Home game, opponent TBA
Dec. 17 vs. Gonzaga (in Seattle)
Dec. 22 Bryant University
Dec. 31 Arizona State
Jan. 5 at UCLA
Jan. 7 at USC
Jan. 12 Oregon
Jan. 14 Oregon State
Jan. 19 at Utah
Jan. 21 at Colorado
Jan. 26 Washington
Jan. 28 Washington State
Feb. 2 at California
Feb. 4 at Stanford
Feb. 9 Colorado
Feb. 11 Utah
Feb. 16 at Washington State
Feb. 18 at Washington
Feb. 23 USC
Feb. 25 UCLA
March 3 at Arizona State
March 7-10 Pac-10 Tournament
Football:
* Arizona of course is taking on USC this weekend, and the story of the Trojans' program for the foreseeable future will be the sanctions placed on the program by the NCAA, which will significantly impact the team's recruiting and also keep USC out of a bowl game for the next two years.
There are only a few players on the team who turned down USC to choose Arizona, and I caught up with two of the most recent ones - Marquis Flowers and Adam Hall - to see if the NCAA's investigation of the Trojans' program not only impacted their decision but also solidified their decision to choose Arizona.
According to both players, the investigation is something they considered when going through the recruiting process.
"I kind of had a feeling they were going to get in trouble with their sanctions so that was one of the reasons and once Pete Carroll left, I probably wasn't going to go there anyway," Flowers said. "I just thought Arizona was an established program and close to home. It was a big factor. They lost some players because of it and to me it definitely was a big factor."
"I knew that USC was going to get in trouble, plus my recruiting coach left and it seemed like Pete Carroll was trying to find his way out," added Hall. "He's a great coach and did what was best for his career personally.
"I just knew there were things going on at the school - pretty much everyone knew it - even the guys at the school knew USC was in hot water, even when we were being recruited. I don't want to say it solidified the reason I went here, but I'm happy I made the decision I did, regardless of their situation."
While USC's troubles were something both Flowers and Hall considered, they both maintain they chose Arizona because of what the UA program offered and not because of anything going on in Los Angeles.
"I think Mike Stoops has done a great job with this program, we're still turning it around, we're doing great, and I wanted to be a part of that," Flowers said.
"I came to U of A not because USC was in hot water, but just because I knew this is where I wanted to be," Hall said. "It's good to see we're winning but it's bad to see all my friends who can't go to a bowl game. It's a win situation for me but I feel for them. It's not them who did it, it's someone in the past."
* Arizona will host four official visitors this weekend:
Austin Traylorhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Austin-Traylor-106929, DE - Rivals.com's 222nd ranked prospect in the class, the Columbus (Ohio) four-star prospect is taking his fourth official visit, having previously visited Wisconsin, Michigan and West Virginia. He'll also trip to Cincinnati on Dec. 4.
Patrick Onwuasorhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Patrick-Onwuasor-108482, WR - The three-star prospect from Inglewood (Calif.) has already visited Nebraska and this will be his second official. He's wide open in his recruitment.
Jared Bakerhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Jared-Baker-99629, RB - UA commit
Hank Hobsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Hank-Hobson-115064, LB - UA commit
* Jason Scheer's weekly recruiting update:
* Honolulu (Hawaii) Kamehameha School defensive end Lake Koa-Ka'aihttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=115413 has narrowed his school list to six and Arizona has made the cut.
"I really like how they play defense,” Koa-Ka’ai tells HuskersIllustrated.com. “They're pretty good and they get after it. They're a school on the rise, it seems to me. They have a bunch of Polynesians up there, plus it's on the West Coast, which is closer to home."
It is possible that Koa-Ka’ai takes a visit to Arizona for the Arizona State game, but he currently does not have any more visits scheduled.
With that being said, he has a pretty good idea of what he is looking for in a school.
"I think it depends on who waits for me,” he said. “I think that I kind of have an idea where I want to go, but I'm not ready to announce my decision yet.
“Academics will come into play, as will the coaching staff, but I think that now it just comes down to when it feels right to do it."
* Chicago Simeon offensive lineman Chris Bryanthttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=107605 is still going through the process and Arizona remains in good shape.
"I have two official visits set now,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “I'm going to make an official visit to Arizona on December 3rd along with making my official visit to Michigan on December 10th.
“Arizona is a school that I think has been recruiting me the longest and I have a great relationship with Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh. I also talk with Fabbians (Ebbele) and he loves it at Arizona and he will be my player host on my official visit."
It seems that Arizona and Michigan are Bryant’s two top schools and his recruitment may not last much longer once he is done with both visits.
"I've set up two visits for now and I'm still considering taking all five official visits,” he said. “I'm most likely going to take my two set visits and see how things go.
“After those two visits I'll see where I stand and if I need to take more visits I'll take more visits. I have several schools that I'm still considering who are still in the picture for me."
* 6-foot-4, 230-pound Corona (Calif.) defensive end DeVante Wilsonhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=97772 is one step closer to a decision.
He will visit USC on Dec. 10 and plans to make a choice only days later, as he picks between Arizona, Nebraska, and USC.
Wilson recently had a conversation with Mike Stoops in which he reiterated just how much the Wildcats want Wilson.
"He was just telling me about the Stanford game, what their game was on defense and he was just telling me how much they want me and need me," Wilson told HuskersIllustrated.com.
Wilson feels that he would be a good fit at any of the three schools, although rumor persists that the Trojans are the slight favorites.
“The SC defense is pretty much the defense we run right now at my school, (former Trojan) coach Chris Claiborne is our defensive coordinator, so he brought the USC defense," he said. "I like Nebraska and Arizona's defenses too - I could see myself playing in those too."
As of now, Wilson’s plan is to decide on Dec. 15, although that could change.
* Arizona and the entire Pac-10 continue to recruit San Jose Christian junior Byron Marshallhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Byron-Marshall-118317.
Marshall already has numerous offers, but feels that his recruitment will pick up even more once he becomes more visible.
"I think the wheels will start turning pretty quickly," Marshall tells IrishIllustrated.com. "Especially because college coaches can start talking to me in the second semester.
“That will happen then I'm gonna try to make a highlight tape from my season and get it out there to the schools. Once coaches see that I feel like it should pick up."
Marshall’s brother, Cameron, is currently at Arizona State and has given him a good idea of how the process will play out.
“I tried to pay attention to it as Cameron was going through the process," Marshall said. "Like how he was choosing his colleges and how he looked at the schools and the coaches and how the community was with him.
“I've got a shot at putting it into what I'm doing. I talk to my pops about that and what schools would fit best with me and everything like that. We haven't come to any conclusions yet but we've been talking."
Marshall currently has no favorites, but Arizona has already thrown its hat in the ring in hope of making an impact early.
* Chicago Urban Prep defensive tackle Mason Fullerhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=103594 continues to hope for an Arizona offer.
"I'm good friends with Chris Bryant from Simeon and we've talked about taking an official visit to Arizona together in December,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “Arizona said they need to see more tape before they offer me a visit.
“Illinois, Western Kentucky and a few others have been mentioning me taking official visits and I hope to get things set up soon."
Fuller is going to start focusing more on recruiting and hope it pays off with some offers sooner than later.
“Most of those schools are looking for me to send them my end of the year tape and we are in the process of getting that put together this week,” he said.
“In some ways I haven't been looking too much at my recruiting, but in other ways I need to really get things moving along because it's so important to me to get into college and to hopefully help out my family as much as I can by getting a college degree.”
This post was edited on 11/12 11:47 AM by Josh Gershon
