Football
Well, there is plenty to get to coming off Pac-12 Conference media day, so let's just jump right into it.
* With fall camp approaching, Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez finally shed some light on the status of Notre Dame transfer Davonte Neal. To no real surprise, Rodriguez said he does not expect the receiver to be immediately available.
The official NCAA hearing on Neal's waiver is set for Thursday. If Rodriguez's hunch is correct, then Neal would have three years to play starting in 2014.
Neal's case was that he wanted to be closer to home with his girlfriend and their daughter, who live in Phoenix. In order to win the appeal, the NCAA must find that circumstances out of Neal control caused him to transfer. Had it been to, say, Arizona State - obviously closer to Phoenix compared to Tucson - then maybe the chances would be greater.
Clearly, Arizona could use an extra receiver right now - especially in light of Tyler Slavin's sudden departure, David Richards' foot surgery and the ACL tear that could force Austin Hill to miss the entire 2013 season.
* Speaking of Richards, the surgery in question is related to the broken foot he suffered this offseason, prior to spring camp.
Our own Kyle Kensing reported on media day that Rodriguez said the receiver was "a little dinged up."
GOAZCATS.com has since learned that it is not necessarily an injury, either, as much as it is to clean up what was done the first time around and give Richards a better chance of performing at full speed without the risk of breaking it again. The Palmdale, Calif., announced the news of his surgery Friday on Twitter and eventually told one of his followers - a former Arizona volleyball player - that he needed a "bigger screw for my foot."
Richards is expected to miss four weeks and could return after the second week of the season.
* With the recent events that have changed the outlook at receiver, Terrence Miller will now open the year at his old spot instead of the tight end position that he was moved to in the spring.
Miller, a senior, told GOAZCATS.com at media day that he sees the opportunity to step up in a leadership role. A good chunk of the returners are young, including redshirt freshmen Trey Griffey and Clive Georges.
The depth at the position should not necessarily be confused with the word "thin," as much at it is simply short on experience. The talent is there, but the progress in development will now be that much more important.
* The other big news to come out of media day is fairly old news to those of you on this board.
An updated roster was released at media day - it still has not been uploaded on the official Arizona site, however, as of Sunday night (the staff has been dealing with technical issues since the facelift) - and not included were 2013 signees David Maka, T.J. Johnson, Mauriece Lee and Lee Walker.
At the end of June, we confirmed that Johnson, Lee and Walker did not qualify. But the program does have intentions of allowing Johnson to clean up his grades and attempt to get him enrolled in the future. Arizona is very high on him.
As for Maka, it was actually one of our more credible posters, axaadvisor, who tipped the board off on a "big" signee not making it. As it turns out, the 6-5, 330-pound lineman fit the bill.
Reports from media day suggest that Rodriguez is not too crushed about losing Maka, as the second-year head coach all but outright questioned his commitment to the team.
This much is clear when you think about others who have been dropped in Rodriguez's short time at Arizona: If you do not conform to the team policy, the staff will find someone else who will.
* Also at media day, the Pac-12 unveiled its new practice policy that will be mandated league-wide. Note, this is not a set of NCAA rules:
- Teams will be allowed TWO (2) full contact practices per week during the regular season
- Teams will be allowed TWO (2) full contact practices per week in the spring
- Teams will be limited in the amount of contact that can take place during preseason two-a-days, meaning that one of the practices must be limited to just helmets and shoulder pads. "If full-contact practices are scheduled consecutively around one of the two-a-day full-contact practices, only one of those practices shall be more than 50 percent full contact. By way of example, if a morning session of a two-a-day practice is full contact, that morning session practice or the preceding one-a-day practice would be limited to no more than 50 percent full contact," according to the Pac-12's guidelines.
The Pac-12's definition of "full contact" is as follows: "Any live tackling, live tackling drills, scrimmages or other activities where players are generally taken to the ground. 'Full contact' shall not include 'thud' sessions or drills that involve 'wrapping up' where players are not taken to the ground and contact is not aggressive in nature."
"I think our league and about every coach in the country has went to those guidelines anyway, if not even less contact than that," Rodriguez said at media day. "Because as a coach you have to be concerned about the welfare of your team and you know your team and you know how beat up you are and what you have to do, and how hard you have to work on hitting and what you have to do.
"So I think everybody has worked hard on it and I think most of the coaches in our league and most throughout the country are already kind of doing that anyway."
Basketball
* It may have been a big recruiting week in Las Vegas, but the current Arizona team - and, specifically, Aaron Gordon - was on plenty of minds in the gyms all across Sin City.
Thinking back on the past five days, it is easy to recall five separate conversations - not including the one initiated with Jahlil Okafor - started by others about the electric forward.
One of the conversations was completely out of left field, as former Arizona fullback David Hill (2010-11) was one of the workers at adidas Super 64. It kind of makes sense because he is a Las Vegas native.
But aside from the conversation we had about the football program, Hill said he was excited to see what next year's team could do with Gordon in the fold.
Others who came up to us included coaches from the Big West and Big Sky, as well as various other scouts. You already know that the rest of the Pac-12 has to be thinking about Gordon, too.
The overwhelming thought on Gordon from others we spoke to the past five days: What can't he do, outside of connect from the perimeter?
* Since we all know that fall football camp begins Aug. 3, this also is a reminder about the NCAA's rule change this offseason that will allow basketball programs to begin regular practices 42 days prior to the start of the first game.
The change is a two-week difference from the previous rule, which was later in the calendar. Instead of electing to go with a more round 40 days, the NCAA council realized that day would fall on a Sunday. But because many schools put on a Midnight Madness showcase, the 42 days would allow for the date to fall on a Friday - which would line up with your typical start day for an official visits.
Teams are allowed to practice 30 times during the six-week period. So, you're looking at a late September start date as opposed to waiting for October.
Fall classes at Arizona start Aug. 26.
* Former Arizona walk-on Bret Brielmaier (2005-08) was hired this offseason by the Cleveland Cavaliers, joining Mike Brown's staff as an assistant.
With more on the recruiting side of the this week, here is Matt Moreno's War Room recruiting update.
Well one of the biggest weekends of the year on the recruiting front came and went pretty much as expected. The Wildcats picked up a ton of commitments on the football side of things over the last week, and the basketball program positioned itself for what it hopes will be some commitments in the near future. Rich Rodriguez and the 'Cats hosted their red-carpet event to show off the new Lowell-Stevens Football Facility and while the program didn't get some of the commitments it was expect - yet - it still pulled in some key pieces for the future.
On the basketball side of things the Wildcats were out in full force in Las Vegas checking in on some old targets and taking a better look at some new ones. There were certainly some storylines to come out of the final weekend of the July evaluation period and we'll take a look at some of those this week.
So with plenty to discuss, here is this week's recruiting portion of the War Room.
Football recruiting
Well, where to start with Arizona's red-carpet event. First off, the Wildcats put plenty of thought into what it wanted the event to become and when you consider what the end result was I'd say things went pretty well for the 'Cats. In all UA picked up seven new commitments over the last week starting with defensive end recruit Jerod Cody last week and finishing up the weekend with Sharif Williams Sunday morning.
While Cody and Williams will be big additions to the defensive line, there were some other recruits who came between who really are some nice additions to key positions moving forward.
* The one who really got things started off for UA over the weekend was in-state recruit Trevor Wood. The three-star recruit, who has the potential to move to a four-star once he gets his senior season under his belt has plenty of ties to the Wildcats already, and it always seemed as if he would take a long route to get back to the program he grew up watching.
According to plan the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral tight end made his decision first out of all the recruits in attendance at Saturday's event.
"I couldn't see myself going anywhere else after some of my visits here," Wood told Rivals.com. "I'm going to carry on the tradition in my family at play at Arizona with my brother."
It started somewhat of a chain reaction as others looked at Wood's decision and decided the time was right for them as well.
* Two members of the B2G 7on7 squad made their decisions after that and Kwesi Mashack just felt it was the right time to make his choice after seeing one his buddies make his choice.
"Well I mean everybody was excited," Mashack told GOAZCATS.com. "Trevor and DJ ( Darrell Cloy) had already committed. I had already thought about it, and I talked with DJ about committing before all this. So me and him had thought it out, then once we committed the others jumped on board.
"After they showed us the tour everybody felt like this place is about to be great and they're actually going to be doing something. They've got something special here and everybody is just real excited and ready to be a Wildcat."
* The last recruit to make his decision Saturday came a little bit later than the rest of the bunch. Safety prospect JR Hunt has held an offer from the Wildcats for quite some time now, and he's been on Arizona's campus before as well. However, this time felt like the right time for a number of recruits and that included the Chandler, Ariz., standout.
"I always had a big interest in U of A, but I didn't know I was going to commit going into Saturday," Hunt told Rivals.com. "But with everything I saw and talking to coaches, it really convinced me."
For Hunt it was the event itself that really made an impact on his recruitment and helped make his decision a little bit easier.
"It was really, really nice," Hunt said. "They brought us in and we ate dinner. Then we went into a meeting hall, where coach Rodriguez talked to the players and parents. Then we took a tour of the new facility, which is extremely nice. It turned out really well."
* So that is what went down during Arizona's weekend event, but things got started a little earlier with a mid-week commitment from a recruit at a position of importance for UA. Three-star quarterback recruit Brandon Dawkins made his decision to join Arizona's 2014 class a couple days prior to the red-carpet event.
Since he wasn't going to be able to make it down for the event, the Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian signal caller decided to get things out of the way a little early.
"They've always been there, but it wasn't always that serious," Dawkins told GOAZCATS.com. "When I went down there about a month ago and I got to meet everybody, and talk with coach Rodriguez. They said they really liked me and all that. I felt like that went really well and I felt really comfortable with the program.
"I've been talking to people who are already at the school and people from California who are are freshmen over there now and they love it. So I just started doing all my research on the University of Arizona and I just fell in love. I knew a couple weeks ago that's where I was going to end up going, so I decided not to wait any longer."
* So what's next now that Arizona is at 18 commitments for the 2014 class? Well we feel confident saying that Arizona isn't done adding recruits who attended Saturday's event, and that could bring some more prospects on board in the coming days. At this point one of the biggest names to keep an eye on is Natrell Curtis.
The four-star offensive lineman prospect was one of the most notable recruits many thought would be making his choice Saturday. That wasn't the case, but the chances are very good that it happens at some point.
For now I'd still keep an eye out for at least a couple more commitments soon. We'll have plenty more throughout the week with recruits who attended the event and what their thoughts were on the big day in Tucson, so keep checking back for more.
Basketball recruiting
After three separate weeks of five-day recruiting periods the Arizona Wildcats coaching staff is off the road. It was a busy month for Sean Miller and his staff and they saw plenty of recruits over those three weeks. GOAZCATS.com was on the road as well taking in events from South Carolina to Southern California and Las Vegas.
You can expect plenty of original GOAZCATS.com content from the final five-day period this week, but we're going take some time to look at some of the notable story lines to come out of the final live weekend and the events in Las Vegas.
* One of the prospects we've been keeping an eye on all during the live period is four-star guard Aaron Holiday. The Cal Supreme guard has played well during the month of July and that continued through the final live weekend of the period. Holiday, the younger brother of former Pac-12 players Jrue and Justin, has a great feel for the game and can really score with the best of them.
The one topic that has had many people perplexed is that he hasn't really picked up any offers yet. For a recruit who was previously rated as a five-star recruit that's a little odd. A lot of that might have to do with his size as he is around 6-feet tall, but it's still a little strange that a prospect who can score like the 2015 recruit does wouldn't have any offers.
Arizona has shown some interest, but it hasn't offered yet so we'll have to see if that changes at some point considering he really fits all the things that make up a higher level recruit. When all is said and done it wouldn't be surprising to see Holiday have his choice of any Pac-12 school outside of Washington by the time he's ready to make his decision.
* GOAZCATS.com has been following four-star prospect Rex Pflueger since last spring, and he has certainly had his ups and downs. Right now the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei prospect is on an up as he has really started to turn the corner in his development. He's a much more confident player than he was during his sophomore season, and he plays the game with somewhat of a different approach now.
All that has helped him raise his stock, and he was named co-MVP at the adidas Super 64 on Sunday. Plenty of people have known about the 6-foot-4 recruit, but he was never really seen as a top prospect, but it's interesting that he has worked his way from where he was into now holding a top-five spot on the SportsCenter top 10 last week for one of his many highlight dunks.
Like Holiday, Pflueger has received some interest from the 'Cats, but so far an offer hasn't come his way. If the rising junior continues to play the way he has he will certainly see his options expand.
* Another team - and prospect - we have followed for quite some time is Michael Bibby, Jr., and his Team Bibby squad that features some key players from his Phoenix (Ariz.) Shadow Mountain squad. Team Bibby, which is coached by former Wildcat star Mike Bibby, made it to the 15u championship game in the adidas Super 64 Sunday and narrowly lost to Compton Magic 2016. There has started to be some traction on the recruiting front with Bibby Jr., who has started to receive interest from Northern Arizona and Memphis.
Bibby Jr., has continued to develop his game and he's getting a little bit bigger as time goes on, but his frame is still a little bit behind where it could be. The basketball IQ is there and his feel for the game is also quite good, but once he can really put it all together it will be interesting to see who starts calling.
The 2016 recruit really showed off his ability to shoot the ball in the two games we watched Sunday, and that could really end up being a huge part of his game as he continues to develop.
* As you get to the end of the road in July there always comes a time when the rising senior class plays its last games on the travel circuit. That was once again the case with a number of Arizona targets who saw their AAU careers come to an end over the weekend in Las Vegas. Different recruits took the ending in different ways. Some teams and players simply just disappeared after tough losses, while it was clear that it was an emotional time for some others.
Then there were the two front court prospects who play for the Mac Irvin Fire. Both Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander know they'll be playing the game - barring any unforeseen circumstances for quite a long time. So Sunday's finale wasn't too much of an emotional moment for the duo. Both mentioned how much the ride has been a learning experience and an opportunity to get better.
For both Alexander and Okafor Sunday was more of a time of reflection rather than a time of sadness.
"It was amazing," Okafor said of his time with the Mac Irvin Fire. "I'll stay Fire for life, and I'll be a part of their organization as long as I'm alive. It's been great and it all started when I was a freshman playing with Jabari (Parker) and all those guys, and the last two or three years have been just awesome."
With the evaluation period over you can expect plenty of content from Las Vegas throughout the week. So continue to check back with GOAZCATS.com for all the interviews and breakdowns of who we saw in Las Vegas.
Well, there is plenty to get to coming off Pac-12 Conference media day, so let's just jump right into it.
* With fall camp approaching, Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez finally shed some light on the status of Notre Dame transfer Davonte Neal. To no real surprise, Rodriguez said he does not expect the receiver to be immediately available.
The official NCAA hearing on Neal's waiver is set for Thursday. If Rodriguez's hunch is correct, then Neal would have three years to play starting in 2014.
Neal's case was that he wanted to be closer to home with his girlfriend and their daughter, who live in Phoenix. In order to win the appeal, the NCAA must find that circumstances out of Neal control caused him to transfer. Had it been to, say, Arizona State - obviously closer to Phoenix compared to Tucson - then maybe the chances would be greater.
Clearly, Arizona could use an extra receiver right now - especially in light of Tyler Slavin's sudden departure, David Richards' foot surgery and the ACL tear that could force Austin Hill to miss the entire 2013 season.
* Speaking of Richards, the surgery in question is related to the broken foot he suffered this offseason, prior to spring camp.
Our own Kyle Kensing reported on media day that Rodriguez said the receiver was "a little dinged up."
GOAZCATS.com has since learned that it is not necessarily an injury, either, as much as it is to clean up what was done the first time around and give Richards a better chance of performing at full speed without the risk of breaking it again. The Palmdale, Calif., announced the news of his surgery Friday on Twitter and eventually told one of his followers - a former Arizona volleyball player - that he needed a "bigger screw for my foot."
Richards is expected to miss four weeks and could return after the second week of the season.
* With the recent events that have changed the outlook at receiver, Terrence Miller will now open the year at his old spot instead of the tight end position that he was moved to in the spring.
Miller, a senior, told GOAZCATS.com at media day that he sees the opportunity to step up in a leadership role. A good chunk of the returners are young, including redshirt freshmen Trey Griffey and Clive Georges.
The depth at the position should not necessarily be confused with the word "thin," as much at it is simply short on experience. The talent is there, but the progress in development will now be that much more important.
* The other big news to come out of media day is fairly old news to those of you on this board.
An updated roster was released at media day - it still has not been uploaded on the official Arizona site, however, as of Sunday night (the staff has been dealing with technical issues since the facelift) - and not included were 2013 signees David Maka, T.J. Johnson, Mauriece Lee and Lee Walker.
At the end of June, we confirmed that Johnson, Lee and Walker did not qualify. But the program does have intentions of allowing Johnson to clean up his grades and attempt to get him enrolled in the future. Arizona is very high on him.
As for Maka, it was actually one of our more credible posters, axaadvisor, who tipped the board off on a "big" signee not making it. As it turns out, the 6-5, 330-pound lineman fit the bill.
Reports from media day suggest that Rodriguez is not too crushed about losing Maka, as the second-year head coach all but outright questioned his commitment to the team.
This much is clear when you think about others who have been dropped in Rodriguez's short time at Arizona: If you do not conform to the team policy, the staff will find someone else who will.
* Also at media day, the Pac-12 unveiled its new practice policy that will be mandated league-wide. Note, this is not a set of NCAA rules:
- Teams will be allowed TWO (2) full contact practices per week during the regular season
- Teams will be allowed TWO (2) full contact practices per week in the spring
- Teams will be limited in the amount of contact that can take place during preseason two-a-days, meaning that one of the practices must be limited to just helmets and shoulder pads. "If full-contact practices are scheduled consecutively around one of the two-a-day full-contact practices, only one of those practices shall be more than 50 percent full contact. By way of example, if a morning session of a two-a-day practice is full contact, that morning session practice or the preceding one-a-day practice would be limited to no more than 50 percent full contact," according to the Pac-12's guidelines.
The Pac-12's definition of "full contact" is as follows: "Any live tackling, live tackling drills, scrimmages or other activities where players are generally taken to the ground. 'Full contact' shall not include 'thud' sessions or drills that involve 'wrapping up' where players are not taken to the ground and contact is not aggressive in nature."
"I think our league and about every coach in the country has went to those guidelines anyway, if not even less contact than that," Rodriguez said at media day. "Because as a coach you have to be concerned about the welfare of your team and you know your team and you know how beat up you are and what you have to do, and how hard you have to work on hitting and what you have to do.
"So I think everybody has worked hard on it and I think most of the coaches in our league and most throughout the country are already kind of doing that anyway."
Basketball
* It may have been a big recruiting week in Las Vegas, but the current Arizona team - and, specifically, Aaron Gordon - was on plenty of minds in the gyms all across Sin City.
Thinking back on the past five days, it is easy to recall five separate conversations - not including the one initiated with Jahlil Okafor - started by others about the electric forward.
One of the conversations was completely out of left field, as former Arizona fullback David Hill (2010-11) was one of the workers at adidas Super 64. It kind of makes sense because he is a Las Vegas native.
But aside from the conversation we had about the football program, Hill said he was excited to see what next year's team could do with Gordon in the fold.
Others who came up to us included coaches from the Big West and Big Sky, as well as various other scouts. You already know that the rest of the Pac-12 has to be thinking about Gordon, too.
The overwhelming thought on Gordon from others we spoke to the past five days: What can't he do, outside of connect from the perimeter?
* Since we all know that fall football camp begins Aug. 3, this also is a reminder about the NCAA's rule change this offseason that will allow basketball programs to begin regular practices 42 days prior to the start of the first game.
The change is a two-week difference from the previous rule, which was later in the calendar. Instead of electing to go with a more round 40 days, the NCAA council realized that day would fall on a Sunday. But because many schools put on a Midnight Madness showcase, the 42 days would allow for the date to fall on a Friday - which would line up with your typical start day for an official visits.
Teams are allowed to practice 30 times during the six-week period. So, you're looking at a late September start date as opposed to waiting for October.
Fall classes at Arizona start Aug. 26.
* Former Arizona walk-on Bret Brielmaier (2005-08) was hired this offseason by the Cleveland Cavaliers, joining Mike Brown's staff as an assistant.
With more on the recruiting side of the this week, here is Matt Moreno's War Room recruiting update.
Well one of the biggest weekends of the year on the recruiting front came and went pretty much as expected. The Wildcats picked up a ton of commitments on the football side of things over the last week, and the basketball program positioned itself for what it hopes will be some commitments in the near future. Rich Rodriguez and the 'Cats hosted their red-carpet event to show off the new Lowell-Stevens Football Facility and while the program didn't get some of the commitments it was expect - yet - it still pulled in some key pieces for the future.
On the basketball side of things the Wildcats were out in full force in Las Vegas checking in on some old targets and taking a better look at some new ones. There were certainly some storylines to come out of the final weekend of the July evaluation period and we'll take a look at some of those this week.
So with plenty to discuss, here is this week's recruiting portion of the War Room.
Football recruiting
Well, where to start with Arizona's red-carpet event. First off, the Wildcats put plenty of thought into what it wanted the event to become and when you consider what the end result was I'd say things went pretty well for the 'Cats. In all UA picked up seven new commitments over the last week starting with defensive end recruit Jerod Cody last week and finishing up the weekend with Sharif Williams Sunday morning.
While Cody and Williams will be big additions to the defensive line, there were some other recruits who came between who really are some nice additions to key positions moving forward.
* The one who really got things started off for UA over the weekend was in-state recruit Trevor Wood. The three-star recruit, who has the potential to move to a four-star once he gets his senior season under his belt has plenty of ties to the Wildcats already, and it always seemed as if he would take a long route to get back to the program he grew up watching.
According to plan the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral tight end made his decision first out of all the recruits in attendance at Saturday's event.
"I couldn't see myself going anywhere else after some of my visits here," Wood told Rivals.com. "I'm going to carry on the tradition in my family at play at Arizona with my brother."
It started somewhat of a chain reaction as others looked at Wood's decision and decided the time was right for them as well.
* Two members of the B2G 7on7 squad made their decisions after that and Kwesi Mashack just felt it was the right time to make his choice after seeing one his buddies make his choice.
"Well I mean everybody was excited," Mashack told GOAZCATS.com. "Trevor and DJ ( Darrell Cloy) had already committed. I had already thought about it, and I talked with DJ about committing before all this. So me and him had thought it out, then once we committed the others jumped on board.
"After they showed us the tour everybody felt like this place is about to be great and they're actually going to be doing something. They've got something special here and everybody is just real excited and ready to be a Wildcat."
* The last recruit to make his decision Saturday came a little bit later than the rest of the bunch. Safety prospect JR Hunt has held an offer from the Wildcats for quite some time now, and he's been on Arizona's campus before as well. However, this time felt like the right time for a number of recruits and that included the Chandler, Ariz., standout.
"I always had a big interest in U of A, but I didn't know I was going to commit going into Saturday," Hunt told Rivals.com. "But with everything I saw and talking to coaches, it really convinced me."
For Hunt it was the event itself that really made an impact on his recruitment and helped make his decision a little bit easier.
"It was really, really nice," Hunt said. "They brought us in and we ate dinner. Then we went into a meeting hall, where coach Rodriguez talked to the players and parents. Then we took a tour of the new facility, which is extremely nice. It turned out really well."
* So that is what went down during Arizona's weekend event, but things got started a little earlier with a mid-week commitment from a recruit at a position of importance for UA. Three-star quarterback recruit Brandon Dawkins made his decision to join Arizona's 2014 class a couple days prior to the red-carpet event.
Since he wasn't going to be able to make it down for the event, the Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian signal caller decided to get things out of the way a little early.
"They've always been there, but it wasn't always that serious," Dawkins told GOAZCATS.com. "When I went down there about a month ago and I got to meet everybody, and talk with coach Rodriguez. They said they really liked me and all that. I felt like that went really well and I felt really comfortable with the program.
"I've been talking to people who are already at the school and people from California who are are freshmen over there now and they love it. So I just started doing all my research on the University of Arizona and I just fell in love. I knew a couple weeks ago that's where I was going to end up going, so I decided not to wait any longer."
* So what's next now that Arizona is at 18 commitments for the 2014 class? Well we feel confident saying that Arizona isn't done adding recruits who attended Saturday's event, and that could bring some more prospects on board in the coming days. At this point one of the biggest names to keep an eye on is Natrell Curtis.
The four-star offensive lineman prospect was one of the most notable recruits many thought would be making his choice Saturday. That wasn't the case, but the chances are very good that it happens at some point.
For now I'd still keep an eye out for at least a couple more commitments soon. We'll have plenty more throughout the week with recruits who attended the event and what their thoughts were on the big day in Tucson, so keep checking back for more.
Basketball recruiting
After three separate weeks of five-day recruiting periods the Arizona Wildcats coaching staff is off the road. It was a busy month for Sean Miller and his staff and they saw plenty of recruits over those three weeks. GOAZCATS.com was on the road as well taking in events from South Carolina to Southern California and Las Vegas.
You can expect plenty of original GOAZCATS.com content from the final five-day period this week, but we're going take some time to look at some of the notable story lines to come out of the final live weekend and the events in Las Vegas.
* One of the prospects we've been keeping an eye on all during the live period is four-star guard Aaron Holiday. The Cal Supreme guard has played well during the month of July and that continued through the final live weekend of the period. Holiday, the younger brother of former Pac-12 players Jrue and Justin, has a great feel for the game and can really score with the best of them.
The one topic that has had many people perplexed is that he hasn't really picked up any offers yet. For a recruit who was previously rated as a five-star recruit that's a little odd. A lot of that might have to do with his size as he is around 6-feet tall, but it's still a little strange that a prospect who can score like the 2015 recruit does wouldn't have any offers.
Arizona has shown some interest, but it hasn't offered yet so we'll have to see if that changes at some point considering he really fits all the things that make up a higher level recruit. When all is said and done it wouldn't be surprising to see Holiday have his choice of any Pac-12 school outside of Washington by the time he's ready to make his decision.
* GOAZCATS.com has been following four-star prospect Rex Pflueger since last spring, and he has certainly had his ups and downs. Right now the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei prospect is on an up as he has really started to turn the corner in his development. He's a much more confident player than he was during his sophomore season, and he plays the game with somewhat of a different approach now.
All that has helped him raise his stock, and he was named co-MVP at the adidas Super 64 on Sunday. Plenty of people have known about the 6-foot-4 recruit, but he was never really seen as a top prospect, but it's interesting that he has worked his way from where he was into now holding a top-five spot on the SportsCenter top 10 last week for one of his many highlight dunks.
Like Holiday, Pflueger has received some interest from the 'Cats, but so far an offer hasn't come his way. If the rising junior continues to play the way he has he will certainly see his options expand.
* Another team - and prospect - we have followed for quite some time is Michael Bibby, Jr., and his Team Bibby squad that features some key players from his Phoenix (Ariz.) Shadow Mountain squad. Team Bibby, which is coached by former Wildcat star Mike Bibby, made it to the 15u championship game in the adidas Super 64 Sunday and narrowly lost to Compton Magic 2016. There has started to be some traction on the recruiting front with Bibby Jr., who has started to receive interest from Northern Arizona and Memphis.
Bibby Jr., has continued to develop his game and he's getting a little bit bigger as time goes on, but his frame is still a little bit behind where it could be. The basketball IQ is there and his feel for the game is also quite good, but once he can really put it all together it will be interesting to see who starts calling.
The 2016 recruit really showed off his ability to shoot the ball in the two games we watched Sunday, and that could really end up being a huge part of his game as he continues to develop.
* As you get to the end of the road in July there always comes a time when the rising senior class plays its last games on the travel circuit. That was once again the case with a number of Arizona targets who saw their AAU careers come to an end over the weekend in Las Vegas. Different recruits took the ending in different ways. Some teams and players simply just disappeared after tough losses, while it was clear that it was an emotional time for some others.
Then there were the two front court prospects who play for the Mac Irvin Fire. Both Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander know they'll be playing the game - barring any unforeseen circumstances for quite a long time. So Sunday's finale wasn't too much of an emotional moment for the duo. Both mentioned how much the ride has been a learning experience and an opportunity to get better.
For both Alexander and Okafor Sunday was more of a time of reflection rather than a time of sadness.
"It was amazing," Okafor said of his time with the Mac Irvin Fire. "I'll stay Fire for life, and I'll be a part of their organization as long as I'm alive. It's been great and it all started when I was a freshman playing with Jabari (Parker) and all those guys, and the last two or three years have been just awesome."
With the evaluation period over you can expect plenty of content from Las Vegas throughout the week. So continue to check back with GOAZCATS.com for all the interviews and breakdowns of who we saw in Las Vegas.
