Last week's War Room was pretty long but this one may end up being longer, with a good percentage being focused on football, which we'll start with.
Football:
* War Room begins with news of a surprise commitment on Thursday, which came from 6-foot-2, 278-pound Midwest City (Okla.) defensive tackle Dominique Joneshttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Dominique-Jones-77813, who chose UA over offers from Kansas State, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado State, Louisville and Tulsa.
Jones has yet to visit Arizona, but he realized it was the place for him regardless.
"I just had to go with a feeling," Jones told GOAZCATS.com late Thursday night. "I've been thinking for the last couple of weeks and I started to feel Arizona. They were in my top two - them and Missouri - and after I watched the Oregon game, I felt like that was the place for me to go to.
" I liked the Oregon game a lot. They seem like they're up and coming. They could be in the top of the Pac-10 at any time."
The three-star prospect was recruited by UA assistant Seth Littrell, and he called the Wildcats' coach to notify him of the commitment.
"He was really excited," Jones said. "I've known him since I was a sophomore and he was at Texas Tech. He's a pretty cool guy. He's very upfront with me."
Jones describes himself as a physical presence in the middle of the defensive line.
"I'm a rough player," he said. "I play fast and always run to the ball."
Jones plans to officially visit UA on Jan. 15.
* Some coaching stuff and then back to recruiting. Last week, popular belief was that Mark Stoops was headed to Youngstown State to take over as head football coach.
However, now the belief is that Stoops is more likely to take the job as defensive coordinator of Florida State. The other main candidate for the job is Sal Sunseri, the linebackers coach at Alabama.
While the possibility of Stoops getting the job is well known by now, it was confirmed when Florida State got a commitment from five-star defensive back Lamarcus Joyner on Wednesday night.
"I don't know everything but I was told personally by the coaching staff that maybe the Arizona coach was going to get the job, I think it is Mark Stoops. They mentioned some other guys as possibilities too," Joyner told Florida State's Rivals.com site, Warchant.com.
While Youngstown State isn't officially off the table, to the best of our knowledge, the Florida State job pays 2 to 3 times as much. Interestingly, word is that if Stoops doesn't take Youngstown State, the job could go to former UA offensive line coach Eric Wolford.
If Stoops takes either job, we'll further discuss replacements.
* Back to recruiting, we put together a UA target breakdown with more detail than usual, discussing some - but definitely not all - of the main recruits on the UA's list.
To start, I'd now project UA to take 24-25 commitments, but that number could rise based on who the team is able to land and the staff's feelings about players committed who might not be able to make it academically.
Former walk-on Lyle Brown was awarded a scholarship in Fall Camp and that number is going to count against this year's class.
Before we go in depth, here's a quick breakdown, position by position:
Quarterback: 1-2 Total, 0-1 Left (Matt Brown committed)
Running Back: 0-1 Total
Wide Receiver: 4 Total, 2 Left (Garic Wharton, Tyler Slavin committed)
Offensive Line: 5 Total, 1 Left (Mickey Baucus, Matt Jakubiec, Carter Lees, Trent Spurgeon committed)
Tight End: 0-1 Total
Defensive Line: 5 Total, 1 Left (Willie Mobley, Mohammed Usman, Dan Pettinato, Dominique Jones committed)
Linebacker: 4 Total, 2 Left (Paul Vassallo, Derek Earls committed)
Defensive Back: 5 Total, 2 Left (J.J. Whittaker, Jourdan Grandon, Lyle Brown committed)
Long Snapper: 1 Total, 0 Left (Chase Gorham committed)
Arizona has 17 scholarships given out already, which means there will be roughly 7 to 8 players added to the class, but I wouldn't surprised if that number increases.
Here are some main targets at the above positions. Keep in mind, this is just our opinion and doesn't necessarily reflect the opinion of the UA coaching staff. Also, these are some but definitely not all of Arizona's targets.
Quarterback (1-2 Total, 0-1 Left) :
If Matt Scott transfers, it becomes much more likely that UA tries to take another quarterback in the class.
One main option is 6-foot-4, 185-pound New Orleans Edna Karr quarterback Munchie Legauxhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Munchie-Legaux-85730, who is currently committed to Colorado.
Legaux is tentatively scheduled to visit UA in January, and by then Arizona should have a better feel for Scott's situation.
Running Back (0-1 Total):
Maybe UA goes after 5-foot-9, 175-pound Fountain Valley (Calif.) all-purpose back Kyle Middlebrookshttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Kyle-Middlebrooks-89759 but it depends what happens with the other players on the board. He's scheduled to visit in January so UA should have a better idea of what it wants to do by then.
Wide Receiver (4 Total, 2 Left):
UA is waiting to hear from Victor Deanhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=103054 will be in town this weekend and there are others UA is looking at if those players fall through.
Offensive Line (5 Total, 1 Left):
Sil Ajawarahttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=89522 and is looking at some JUCO options.
Tight End (0-1 Total):
With Chase Fordhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=102997 committing to Miami, UA could explore other options, but there's no names of note on the radar.
Defensive Line (5 Total, 1 Left):
UA has almost too many possibilities to name here. Among them: Kona Schwenkehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Kona-Schwenke-89088, and some kids committed to other schools that could visit in January.
Linebacker (4 Total, 2 Left):
Arizona will bring in Cal commit Kyle Bensonhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=77608 in January. UA has some backups in case these guys fall through.
Defensive Back (5 Total, 2 Left):
This is by far the most likely position for UA to go over with considering the amount of highly rated prospects on the board that Arizona is doing a good job with. Demetrius Wrighthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Demetrius-Wright-91352 is still on the board but he's most likely going to USC. I don't see how the staff can turn some of those players down so this is definitely the position to watch moving forward.
* Here's Arizona's official visitor list for this weekend. There were some late cancels that will most likely be rescheduled.
Wade Jacobson, OL
Wade Yandall, OL
David Wilkerson, LB
Eddie Elder, DB
Victor Dean, WR
Josh Robbins, DB
And here's a tentative official visit list for Dec. 18:
Garic Wharton, WR
Sean Bacon, DE
Dan Pettinato, DE
Bruce Gaston, DT
Marquis Flowers, S
Shaquille Richardson, CB
This list will be added to later. (JG)
Jason Scheer's recruiting breakdown:
* The big news of the week is the verbal commitment of 6-foot-2, 182-pound Corona (Calif.) wide receiver Tyler Slavinhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=85584.
"I just loved the vibe," Slavin said. "It was a great fit for me, it's a passing offense, the receiver rotation was good, they're pretty good in academics too and it was an overall gut feeling."
Slavin was one of Arizona’s top priorities at wide receiver and the Wildcats are happy to get him. Many thought he was headed to Nebraska, but it seems the success of the UA offense versus the lack of success of Nebraska’s offense played a major role in his decision.
* 6-foot-2, 290-pound Chicago St. Rita defensive tackle Bruce Gaston has started to solidify his recruitment.
"I'm still planning on taking more official visits and that really has nothing to do with Purdue at all,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “I had a great visit there but I also want to experience some other schools. I'm going to make an official visit next to Wisconsin (12/11/09) and then to Arizona (12/18/09).
“I'm going to then look at my options after those three visits and I'll set two more official visits for sometime in January. I'm still pretty sure that I'll take all five official visits for now."
It is unknown where Gaston is leaning in his recruitment, but as long as he mentions Arizona, you have to think that the Wildcats are right in there. It may be hard to get him out of the Midwest, but he has always maintained that the UA would have a legitimate shot of doing so.
* 5-foot-9, 175-pound Fountain Valley (Calif.) athlete Kyle Middlebrooks is starting to see his recruitment pick up a bit and has plans to visit Arizona next month.
"Recruiting is pretty cool, I like it," Middlebrooks tells ASUDevils.com. "You can just take visits and see what you like, get a feel of a place. For me it's about the location, how I like the area and how I bond with the players and stuff."
As of now, Middlebrooks does not claim a leader and he still has plans to visit a few schools before narrowing his recruitment down and getting closer to a decision.
* 6-foot-3, 210-pound Goodyear (Ariz.) Millennium athlete Marquis Flowers had an in-home visit with Tim Kish on Wednesday night.
Arizona and USC seem to be the main schools Flowers is focusing on, although it looks as if he will visit UCLA this weekend. He'll then officially visit the UA campus on Dec. 18 before finalizing his recruitment.
The Wildcats are doing very well for Flowers, despite the fact that he enjoyed his visit to USC as well.
* 6-foot-2, 170-pound Los Alamitos (Calif.) cornerback Shaquille Richardson has given his verbal to UCLA, but may not be over with his recruitment.
"Everything is getting down to the wire," Richardson tells BruinBlitz.com. "So I thought it was the right time because of all the coaches and the house visits and everything. I will probably still take my Arizona trip and I'm going to UCLA in January."
It will likely be very difficult to get Richardson away from the Bruins, but obviously there is a reason why he is choosing to still take his visit.
* 6-foot-6, 300-pound Gilroy (Calif.) Gavilan Community College offensive tackle Wade Jacobson is moving towards a decision.
"I will be flying from here to San Diego State to check out their program on Wednesday and then on Friday I will be flying out to the University of Arizona to check out the Wildcats,” he tells CougZone.com. “I get home on the 13th and signing day (for mid-year JC transfers) is on the 16th so I don't know if I am going to try to fit one more trip in or not."
Jacobson has a handful of offers and it will be interesting to see if he obtains a legitimate offer and where he is leaning once he leaves Tucson next week.
* 6-foot-4, 305-pound Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Tesoro offensive lineman Silvarius Ajawara is another player coming closer to a decision.
"I hope to make my decision in the next couple of weeks," Ajawara tells Rivals.com. "I'm kind of putting it down on paper and kind of look over what's going to be my determining factors and make a decision as soon as possible.”
Arizona is going to be right in the thick of things, as Ajawara has previously stated his visit to the UA was very impressive.
"I like Arizona's coaching staff and like the way they are running their offense," Ajawara said. "There is a lot going on for them in the future, is a big thing. They have a bright future.
"They had couple close games go the wrong way, but they actually came pretty close to playing in the Rose Bowl this year," Ajawara said. "That's definitely a plus to go to a team that's not completely rebuilding and is already kind of establishing itself again." (JS)
Basketball:
* The unofficial visit of 6-foot-11 New Zealand center Rob Loe will wrap up on Friday morning. Loe is coming off official visits to St. Louis and Colorado and on Friday will officially visit Pitt, the school many think is in the driver's seat to land him.
On Wednesday night, Loe and his older brother - a foreign exchange student at UA - watched the Wildcats' win over Louisiana Tech from the student section. On Thursday, Loe took part in much of the standard visit itinerary, which cumulated in he and his family taking in the Wildcats' 6:00pm practice.
We'll soon see if the visit was enough to put Arizona in legitimate contention to land him.
* With Arizona and UCLA continuing to search the country for new point guard targets, you have to get the feeling that both staffs are feeling less confident about ultimately landing Ray McCallum.
By the time McCallum makes a decision, both schools could very well have moved on and found someone else.
In Arizona's case, the Wildcats have picked up their recruitment of five-star point guard Josh Selby, and continue to pursue five-star combo guard Doron Lamb.
UA will attempt to get both prospects on campus on the weekend of Jan. 9. While neither visit is officially confirmed, the hope from Arizona is that will be the weekend both recruits are in town.
The Arizona staff has looked at numerous other point guard possibilities, and with McCallum taking his time, UA can't afford to pass up on others and get stuck without a capable point guard on its roster in 2010-11.
* The Arizona coaches have been keeping an eye on numerous JUCO prospects, and don't be surprised if names from the junior college ranks emerge in the coming weeks.
* A deep thigh bruise kept Brendon Lavender out of the Louisiana Tech game and he was replaced by Kyle Fogg, who had already taken Lavender's starting shooting guard spot based on practice. With Fogg's performance on Wednesday, his position as the UA's starter at two-guard is very secure.
Lavender probably won't be back for the San Diego State game and when he does return, he'll have his work cut out to take minutes from Fogg, who appears to be very much in the coaches' good graces after a slow start.
The ability to adjust to the college game mentally has continued to be a big struggle for Lavender, and if he doesn't get that problem squared away, he's going to find himself behind Fogg, Momo Jones and Kevin Parrom (once he returns) on the depth chart.
Parrom, by the way, is making progress and isn't far away from returning to practice.
Athletic Director:
I didn't really know where to put this so it will get its own section. As is well known by now, Jim Livengood is one of three finalists for the athletic director job at UNLV.
Livengood, who won't get his contract extended by Arizona, has been considered the favorite to land the job, thanks to UNLV booster James Rogers, an Arizona graduate that is friends with the UA athletic director.
Rogers isn't the only powerful figure at UNLV pushing for Livengood, but there are also some detractors that are hoping for the Rebels to hire former Oregon athletic director Bill Moos or Washington State senior athletic director John Johnson instead.
Early in the week, the feeling was that the job was very much Livengood's to lose, and that belief somewhat waned in recent days.
However, there are some very influential people in Livengood's corner and it might be enough to get him the job.
He'll have his final interview on Tuesday and a decision could be made soon after. If he is hired, we'll get into potential replacements soon after.
This post was edited on 12/11 12:38 AM by Josh Gershon
Football:
* War Room begins with news of a surprise commitment on Thursday, which came from 6-foot-2, 278-pound Midwest City (Okla.) defensive tackle Dominique Joneshttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Dominique-Jones-77813, who chose UA over offers from Kansas State, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado State, Louisville and Tulsa.
Jones has yet to visit Arizona, but he realized it was the place for him regardless.
"I just had to go with a feeling," Jones told GOAZCATS.com late Thursday night. "I've been thinking for the last couple of weeks and I started to feel Arizona. They were in my top two - them and Missouri - and after I watched the Oregon game, I felt like that was the place for me to go to.
" I liked the Oregon game a lot. They seem like they're up and coming. They could be in the top of the Pac-10 at any time."
The three-star prospect was recruited by UA assistant Seth Littrell, and he called the Wildcats' coach to notify him of the commitment.
"He was really excited," Jones said. "I've known him since I was a sophomore and he was at Texas Tech. He's a pretty cool guy. He's very upfront with me."
Jones describes himself as a physical presence in the middle of the defensive line.
"I'm a rough player," he said. "I play fast and always run to the ball."
Jones plans to officially visit UA on Jan. 15.
* Some coaching stuff and then back to recruiting. Last week, popular belief was that Mark Stoops was headed to Youngstown State to take over as head football coach.
However, now the belief is that Stoops is more likely to take the job as defensive coordinator of Florida State. The other main candidate for the job is Sal Sunseri, the linebackers coach at Alabama.
While the possibility of Stoops getting the job is well known by now, it was confirmed when Florida State got a commitment from five-star defensive back Lamarcus Joyner on Wednesday night.
"I don't know everything but I was told personally by the coaching staff that maybe the Arizona coach was going to get the job, I think it is Mark Stoops. They mentioned some other guys as possibilities too," Joyner told Florida State's Rivals.com site, Warchant.com.
While Youngstown State isn't officially off the table, to the best of our knowledge, the Florida State job pays 2 to 3 times as much. Interestingly, word is that if Stoops doesn't take Youngstown State, the job could go to former UA offensive line coach Eric Wolford.
If Stoops takes either job, we'll further discuss replacements.
* Back to recruiting, we put together a UA target breakdown with more detail than usual, discussing some - but definitely not all - of the main recruits on the UA's list.
To start, I'd now project UA to take 24-25 commitments, but that number could rise based on who the team is able to land and the staff's feelings about players committed who might not be able to make it academically.
Former walk-on Lyle Brown was awarded a scholarship in Fall Camp and that number is going to count against this year's class.
Before we go in depth, here's a quick breakdown, position by position:
Quarterback: 1-2 Total, 0-1 Left (Matt Brown committed)
Running Back: 0-1 Total
Wide Receiver: 4 Total, 2 Left (Garic Wharton, Tyler Slavin committed)
Offensive Line: 5 Total, 1 Left (Mickey Baucus, Matt Jakubiec, Carter Lees, Trent Spurgeon committed)
Tight End: 0-1 Total
Defensive Line: 5 Total, 1 Left (Willie Mobley, Mohammed Usman, Dan Pettinato, Dominique Jones committed)
Linebacker: 4 Total, 2 Left (Paul Vassallo, Derek Earls committed)
Defensive Back: 5 Total, 2 Left (J.J. Whittaker, Jourdan Grandon, Lyle Brown committed)
Long Snapper: 1 Total, 0 Left (Chase Gorham committed)
Arizona has 17 scholarships given out already, which means there will be roughly 7 to 8 players added to the class, but I wouldn't surprised if that number increases.
Here are some main targets at the above positions. Keep in mind, this is just our opinion and doesn't necessarily reflect the opinion of the UA coaching staff. Also, these are some but definitely not all of Arizona's targets.
Quarterback (1-2 Total, 0-1 Left) :
If Matt Scott transfers, it becomes much more likely that UA tries to take another quarterback in the class.
One main option is 6-foot-4, 185-pound New Orleans Edna Karr quarterback Munchie Legauxhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Munchie-Legaux-85730, who is currently committed to Colorado.
Legaux is tentatively scheduled to visit UA in January, and by then Arizona should have a better feel for Scott's situation.
Running Back (0-1 Total):
Maybe UA goes after 5-foot-9, 175-pound Fountain Valley (Calif.) all-purpose back Kyle Middlebrookshttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Kyle-Middlebrooks-89759 but it depends what happens with the other players on the board. He's scheduled to visit in January so UA should have a better idea of what it wants to do by then.
Wide Receiver (4 Total, 2 Left):
UA is waiting to hear from Victor Deanhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=103054 will be in town this weekend and there are others UA is looking at if those players fall through.
Offensive Line (5 Total, 1 Left):
Sil Ajawarahttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=89522 and is looking at some JUCO options.
Tight End (0-1 Total):
With Chase Fordhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=102997 committing to Miami, UA could explore other options, but there's no names of note on the radar.
Defensive Line (5 Total, 1 Left):
UA has almost too many possibilities to name here. Among them: Kona Schwenkehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Kona-Schwenke-89088, and some kids committed to other schools that could visit in January.
Linebacker (4 Total, 2 Left):
Arizona will bring in Cal commit Kyle Bensonhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=77608 in January. UA has some backups in case these guys fall through.
Defensive Back (5 Total, 2 Left):
This is by far the most likely position for UA to go over with considering the amount of highly rated prospects on the board that Arizona is doing a good job with. Demetrius Wrighthttp://rivals.yahoo.com/arizona/football/recruiting/player-Demetrius-Wright-91352 is still on the board but he's most likely going to USC. I don't see how the staff can turn some of those players down so this is definitely the position to watch moving forward.
* Here's Arizona's official visitor list for this weekend. There were some late cancels that will most likely be rescheduled.
Wade Jacobson, OL
Wade Yandall, OL
David Wilkerson, LB
Eddie Elder, DB
Victor Dean, WR
Josh Robbins, DB
And here's a tentative official visit list for Dec. 18:
Garic Wharton, WR
Sean Bacon, DE
Dan Pettinato, DE
Bruce Gaston, DT
Marquis Flowers, S
Shaquille Richardson, CB
This list will be added to later. (JG)
Jason Scheer's recruiting breakdown:
* The big news of the week is the verbal commitment of 6-foot-2, 182-pound Corona (Calif.) wide receiver Tyler Slavinhttp://arizona.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=1&pr_key=85584.
"I just loved the vibe," Slavin said. "It was a great fit for me, it's a passing offense, the receiver rotation was good, they're pretty good in academics too and it was an overall gut feeling."
Slavin was one of Arizona’s top priorities at wide receiver and the Wildcats are happy to get him. Many thought he was headed to Nebraska, but it seems the success of the UA offense versus the lack of success of Nebraska’s offense played a major role in his decision.
* 6-foot-2, 290-pound Chicago St. Rita defensive tackle Bruce Gaston has started to solidify his recruitment.
"I'm still planning on taking more official visits and that really has nothing to do with Purdue at all,” he tells EdgyTim.com. “I had a great visit there but I also want to experience some other schools. I'm going to make an official visit next to Wisconsin (12/11/09) and then to Arizona (12/18/09).
“I'm going to then look at my options after those three visits and I'll set two more official visits for sometime in January. I'm still pretty sure that I'll take all five official visits for now."
It is unknown where Gaston is leaning in his recruitment, but as long as he mentions Arizona, you have to think that the Wildcats are right in there. It may be hard to get him out of the Midwest, but he has always maintained that the UA would have a legitimate shot of doing so.
* 5-foot-9, 175-pound Fountain Valley (Calif.) athlete Kyle Middlebrooks is starting to see his recruitment pick up a bit and has plans to visit Arizona next month.
"Recruiting is pretty cool, I like it," Middlebrooks tells ASUDevils.com. "You can just take visits and see what you like, get a feel of a place. For me it's about the location, how I like the area and how I bond with the players and stuff."
As of now, Middlebrooks does not claim a leader and he still has plans to visit a few schools before narrowing his recruitment down and getting closer to a decision.
* 6-foot-3, 210-pound Goodyear (Ariz.) Millennium athlete Marquis Flowers had an in-home visit with Tim Kish on Wednesday night.
Arizona and USC seem to be the main schools Flowers is focusing on, although it looks as if he will visit UCLA this weekend. He'll then officially visit the UA campus on Dec. 18 before finalizing his recruitment.
The Wildcats are doing very well for Flowers, despite the fact that he enjoyed his visit to USC as well.
* 6-foot-2, 170-pound Los Alamitos (Calif.) cornerback Shaquille Richardson has given his verbal to UCLA, but may not be over with his recruitment.
"Everything is getting down to the wire," Richardson tells BruinBlitz.com. "So I thought it was the right time because of all the coaches and the house visits and everything. I will probably still take my Arizona trip and I'm going to UCLA in January."
It will likely be very difficult to get Richardson away from the Bruins, but obviously there is a reason why he is choosing to still take his visit.
* 6-foot-6, 300-pound Gilroy (Calif.) Gavilan Community College offensive tackle Wade Jacobson is moving towards a decision.
"I will be flying from here to San Diego State to check out their program on Wednesday and then on Friday I will be flying out to the University of Arizona to check out the Wildcats,” he tells CougZone.com. “I get home on the 13th and signing day (for mid-year JC transfers) is on the 16th so I don't know if I am going to try to fit one more trip in or not."
Jacobson has a handful of offers and it will be interesting to see if he obtains a legitimate offer and where he is leaning once he leaves Tucson next week.
* 6-foot-4, 305-pound Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Tesoro offensive lineman Silvarius Ajawara is another player coming closer to a decision.
"I hope to make my decision in the next couple of weeks," Ajawara tells Rivals.com. "I'm kind of putting it down on paper and kind of look over what's going to be my determining factors and make a decision as soon as possible.”
Arizona is going to be right in the thick of things, as Ajawara has previously stated his visit to the UA was very impressive.
"I like Arizona's coaching staff and like the way they are running their offense," Ajawara said. "There is a lot going on for them in the future, is a big thing. They have a bright future.
"They had couple close games go the wrong way, but they actually came pretty close to playing in the Rose Bowl this year," Ajawara said. "That's definitely a plus to go to a team that's not completely rebuilding and is already kind of establishing itself again." (JS)
Basketball:
* The unofficial visit of 6-foot-11 New Zealand center Rob Loe will wrap up on Friday morning. Loe is coming off official visits to St. Louis and Colorado and on Friday will officially visit Pitt, the school many think is in the driver's seat to land him.
On Wednesday night, Loe and his older brother - a foreign exchange student at UA - watched the Wildcats' win over Louisiana Tech from the student section. On Thursday, Loe took part in much of the standard visit itinerary, which cumulated in he and his family taking in the Wildcats' 6:00pm practice.
We'll soon see if the visit was enough to put Arizona in legitimate contention to land him.
* With Arizona and UCLA continuing to search the country for new point guard targets, you have to get the feeling that both staffs are feeling less confident about ultimately landing Ray McCallum.
By the time McCallum makes a decision, both schools could very well have moved on and found someone else.
In Arizona's case, the Wildcats have picked up their recruitment of five-star point guard Josh Selby, and continue to pursue five-star combo guard Doron Lamb.
UA will attempt to get both prospects on campus on the weekend of Jan. 9. While neither visit is officially confirmed, the hope from Arizona is that will be the weekend both recruits are in town.
The Arizona staff has looked at numerous other point guard possibilities, and with McCallum taking his time, UA can't afford to pass up on others and get stuck without a capable point guard on its roster in 2010-11.
* The Arizona coaches have been keeping an eye on numerous JUCO prospects, and don't be surprised if names from the junior college ranks emerge in the coming weeks.
* A deep thigh bruise kept Brendon Lavender out of the Louisiana Tech game and he was replaced by Kyle Fogg, who had already taken Lavender's starting shooting guard spot based on practice. With Fogg's performance on Wednesday, his position as the UA's starter at two-guard is very secure.
Lavender probably won't be back for the San Diego State game and when he does return, he'll have his work cut out to take minutes from Fogg, who appears to be very much in the coaches' good graces after a slow start.
The ability to adjust to the college game mentally has continued to be a big struggle for Lavender, and if he doesn't get that problem squared away, he's going to find himself behind Fogg, Momo Jones and Kevin Parrom (once he returns) on the depth chart.
Parrom, by the way, is making progress and isn't far away from returning to practice.
Athletic Director:
I didn't really know where to put this so it will get its own section. As is well known by now, Jim Livengood is one of three finalists for the athletic director job at UNLV.
Livengood, who won't get his contract extended by Arizona, has been considered the favorite to land the job, thanks to UNLV booster James Rogers, an Arizona graduate that is friends with the UA athletic director.
Rogers isn't the only powerful figure at UNLV pushing for Livengood, but there are also some detractors that are hoping for the Rebels to hire former Oregon athletic director Bill Moos or Washington State senior athletic director John Johnson instead.
Early in the week, the feeling was that the job was very much Livengood's to lose, and that belief somewhat waned in recent days.
However, there are some very influential people in Livengood's corner and it might be enough to get him the job.
He'll have his final interview on Tuesday and a decision could be made soon after. If he is hired, we'll get into potential replacements soon after.
This post was edited on 12/11 12:38 AM by Josh Gershon
