As I have mentioned before things are now really moving with the 2016 class and the picture is starting to come together even more. To get you caught up on what's next for Arizona as it looks to figure out the rest of its class I thought it would be a good time to rest everything and give you the latest on what I know so you have a better understanding of the picture and how it will play out.
Let's start with the next month because that is when the picture nationally will clear up a lot. The big date to remember is Nov. 11 since that is the first day recruits can sign National Letters of Intent with the program of their choosing. That period will last one week and prospects will not be able to sign again until the spring. Now a prospect doesn't have to sign an NLI (most do) but if he wants to have that binding agreement with the school he must do so during that week or wait until the spring.
What that means is there will be a lot of prospects making decisions in the next month. Last year it felt like many of the top prospects thought it would be better to see how things played out and who would be leaving from programs before making decisions, but this year a lot of the top prospects have already made decisions are plan to early. That will give programs like Arizona a better feel for where it's at a little sooner and that is always helpful to a program.
* Obviously Arizona now has its first commit of the class again with Lauri Markkanen's decision over the weekend. The Finnish power forward is versatile and fills a position of need for the Wildcats. Markkanen takes the place of one-time UA commit TJ Leaf and while nobody knows for sure where he would rank if he were playing high school ball here in America he certainly has received plenty of good reviews and his game fits with what the original plans were with Leaf in the fold.
* Markkanen's decision has changed things for at least one Arizona target. Four-star forward De'Ron Davis decided to cancel his visit to Tucson - set for this weekend - last night after coming to the conclusion that there would be no room for him at UA with Markkanen on board. The Colorado native plans to visit Mississippi State and then he should be making a decision soon after that trip. At this point it would be a surprise to not see him end up at Indiana, a program that has recruited him since before he was even in high school. So now that door has closed as well.
* The hot new discussion topic to start this week is Kanas' surge for three-star big man Mitch Lightfoot after Markkanen's decision over the weekend. Going into last weekend it was all Arizona and like I have said before he was indicating to people around Tucson that he was bound for the Wildcats. The quick change would not be entirely surprising considering Lightfoot has already made a previous decision and decommitted. So there is a past of some indecision on his part. At this stage I am not 100 percent sold on Kansas being the ultimate decision, but at least Arizona will know where it stands Saturday when the former Tucson resident and current Gilbert Christian standout announces his choice.
As much as there has been talk about Lightfoot making his decision because the spot has been taken by Markkanen there actually would still be room for him in the class. As of now the 'Cats are trying to fill four spots for next season's roster with four seniors on this year's team. Three of those seniors (Tarczewski, Anderson and Tollefsen) all play in the front court. Arizona is going to need some help there so there is room and a guy like Lightfoot could always be used as at the five position although he would be a bit undersized. His skill set would allow him to do it in stretches.
* If Arizona does miss out on Lightfoot, however, the next immediate step would be to continue focusing on the two biggest remaining targets on the board. Josh Jackson will remain Arizona's top target in the class until he says no and decides on another program. The top-rated prospect in the class continues to look like he will make an early decision this fall but you can never know what is exactly going through his head at a given time. Michigan State feels confident that it is in the best spot to land him and with that class continuing to grow the Spartans are certainly trending in the right direction.
The Wildcats remain right in the thick of things though with Sean Miller's experience with Jackson and Team USA playing a huge part in it. There is a comfortability there and that is big for Arizona.
The other prospect Arizona will continue to go all in on is four-star guard Andrew Jones from Texas. The Irving native recently visited Louisville as his second official trip after previously visiting Arizona on an official. The fast-rising guard is now looking like he will draw out his recruitment until the spring so Arizona will likely have to wait until April to know if he will be part of its class. The good news for UA is that it has already had him on campus twice and it will likely get him again at some point this season unofficially. He had planned to make it out for the Red-Blue game but that didn't happen.
Still, the 'Cats remain in great shape for the speedy guard.
* So with those two out of the way, and if Lightfoot doesn't come on board, what does that mean for Arizona? Well, for now a lot of question marks. If Lightfoot does go with Kansas or some other program Arizona will be left in a different kind of situation than it is used to. The problem right now is that the class of bigs out West isn't particularly strong so if it were to move on a player like say Trevor Stanback it would be more of a project than an a guy who could step in right away.
It could always circle back around with players it offered that have either cut UA off the list or are committed to other programs, but that just isn't quite Miller's style. The other option is to wait it out and go the transfer route which has been big for Arizona under Miller. The Wildcats will always be in play for the top transfers every season if they choose to go into that market and there will undoubtedly be someone who could help right away for the 'Cats after this season.
As for wings and guards if Arizona misses on Jackson, that could be a whole different issue. There are some guards available but the top prospects have moved on from UA in a lot of cases and the lower-rated recruits have looked elsewhere too. So things could get very interesting here soon, but Jackson remains the big priority in the immediate future. If he doesn't pick UA then it will move on to the next step.
Let's start with the next month because that is when the picture nationally will clear up a lot. The big date to remember is Nov. 11 since that is the first day recruits can sign National Letters of Intent with the program of their choosing. That period will last one week and prospects will not be able to sign again until the spring. Now a prospect doesn't have to sign an NLI (most do) but if he wants to have that binding agreement with the school he must do so during that week or wait until the spring.
What that means is there will be a lot of prospects making decisions in the next month. Last year it felt like many of the top prospects thought it would be better to see how things played out and who would be leaving from programs before making decisions, but this year a lot of the top prospects have already made decisions are plan to early. That will give programs like Arizona a better feel for where it's at a little sooner and that is always helpful to a program.
* Obviously Arizona now has its first commit of the class again with Lauri Markkanen's decision over the weekend. The Finnish power forward is versatile and fills a position of need for the Wildcats. Markkanen takes the place of one-time UA commit TJ Leaf and while nobody knows for sure where he would rank if he were playing high school ball here in America he certainly has received plenty of good reviews and his game fits with what the original plans were with Leaf in the fold.
* Markkanen's decision has changed things for at least one Arizona target. Four-star forward De'Ron Davis decided to cancel his visit to Tucson - set for this weekend - last night after coming to the conclusion that there would be no room for him at UA with Markkanen on board. The Colorado native plans to visit Mississippi State and then he should be making a decision soon after that trip. At this point it would be a surprise to not see him end up at Indiana, a program that has recruited him since before he was even in high school. So now that door has closed as well.
* The hot new discussion topic to start this week is Kanas' surge for three-star big man Mitch Lightfoot after Markkanen's decision over the weekend. Going into last weekend it was all Arizona and like I have said before he was indicating to people around Tucson that he was bound for the Wildcats. The quick change would not be entirely surprising considering Lightfoot has already made a previous decision and decommitted. So there is a past of some indecision on his part. At this stage I am not 100 percent sold on Kansas being the ultimate decision, but at least Arizona will know where it stands Saturday when the former Tucson resident and current Gilbert Christian standout announces his choice.
As much as there has been talk about Lightfoot making his decision because the spot has been taken by Markkanen there actually would still be room for him in the class. As of now the 'Cats are trying to fill four spots for next season's roster with four seniors on this year's team. Three of those seniors (Tarczewski, Anderson and Tollefsen) all play in the front court. Arizona is going to need some help there so there is room and a guy like Lightfoot could always be used as at the five position although he would be a bit undersized. His skill set would allow him to do it in stretches.
* If Arizona does miss out on Lightfoot, however, the next immediate step would be to continue focusing on the two biggest remaining targets on the board. Josh Jackson will remain Arizona's top target in the class until he says no and decides on another program. The top-rated prospect in the class continues to look like he will make an early decision this fall but you can never know what is exactly going through his head at a given time. Michigan State feels confident that it is in the best spot to land him and with that class continuing to grow the Spartans are certainly trending in the right direction.
The Wildcats remain right in the thick of things though with Sean Miller's experience with Jackson and Team USA playing a huge part in it. There is a comfortability there and that is big for Arizona.
The other prospect Arizona will continue to go all in on is four-star guard Andrew Jones from Texas. The Irving native recently visited Louisville as his second official trip after previously visiting Arizona on an official. The fast-rising guard is now looking like he will draw out his recruitment until the spring so Arizona will likely have to wait until April to know if he will be part of its class. The good news for UA is that it has already had him on campus twice and it will likely get him again at some point this season unofficially. He had planned to make it out for the Red-Blue game but that didn't happen.
Still, the 'Cats remain in great shape for the speedy guard.
* So with those two out of the way, and if Lightfoot doesn't come on board, what does that mean for Arizona? Well, for now a lot of question marks. If Lightfoot does go with Kansas or some other program Arizona will be left in a different kind of situation than it is used to. The problem right now is that the class of bigs out West isn't particularly strong so if it were to move on a player like say Trevor Stanback it would be more of a project than an a guy who could step in right away.
It could always circle back around with players it offered that have either cut UA off the list or are committed to other programs, but that just isn't quite Miller's style. The other option is to wait it out and go the transfer route which has been big for Arizona under Miller. The Wildcats will always be in play for the top transfers every season if they choose to go into that market and there will undoubtedly be someone who could help right away for the 'Cats after this season.
As for wings and guards if Arizona misses on Jackson, that could be a whole different issue. There are some guards available but the top prospects have moved on from UA in a lot of cases and the lower-rated recruits have looked elsewhere too. So things could get very interesting here soon, but Jackson remains the big priority in the immediate future. If he doesn't pick UA then it will move on to the next step.
