Bear Down Wildcats

3goggles wrote:Any low to mid 4 kids Arizona can try to add in the spring or are they still going after the big players? Hey I am trying to bring some energy to the thread!

I've got a couple in mind for Arizona, but at the moment they haven't decided to pursue any. I think the focus was wrapping up Reef and Williams as much as feasible (the financial aid papers was the best most realistic outcome) and see where things are going with the FBI probe before we get aggressive anywhere. I still think the 3 remaining spots will be filled by some mix of grad transfers and Euros, although I have some hope for some HS guys, but who knows.

There will be some talent available in the spring. Lets just hope the optics have been made clearer by then.

3goggles wrote:Any low to mid 4 kids Arizona can try to add in the spring or are they still going after the big players? Hey I am trying to bring some energy to the thread!

I'm still trumpeting Bryan Penn-Johnson as a potential development player. 5th ranked Center out of Akot's school in Utah. Shot into the top 100 this year, could continue to rise but definitely not an immediate high impact player at Arizona.

Great length, knack for shot blocking, needs to develop his body and his general skill set. Pangos highlights.

Akot and Randolph are 1a and 1b in recruiting

baycat93 wrote:Akot and Randolph are 1a and 1b in recruiting

Truth. Akot, Randolph, and Smith will be huge for us next year.

I love what I'm seeing out of Smith actually, his shooting is uber confident. Forcing it less than Randolph.

YoDeFoe wrote:

3goggles wrote:Any low to mid 4 kids Arizona can try to add in the spring or are they still going after the big players? Hey I am trying to bring some energy to the thread!

I'm still trumpeting Bryan Penn-Johnson as a potential development player. 5th ranked Center out of Akot's school in Utah. Shot into the top 100 this year, could continue to rise but definitely not an immediate high impact player at Arizona.

Great length, knack for shot blocking, needs to develop his body and his general skill set. Pangos highlights.

I'm in.

Also if we can get back in with Jairus Hamilton that should be done yesterday. Devonaire Doutrive is another we should get on, it's almost criminal how under recruited he is.

What are the needs?

C & SF?

Barcello/Williams
Randolph*/Smith
Akot*
Lee/'reef
Jeter

Feel like we need a SF even if akot comes back, and of course a big man who's taller than 6'8 to back up Jeter.

Hamilton & Penn-Johnson would fit well

NYCat wrote:What are the needs?

C & SF?

Williams/Barcello
Randolph*/Smith
Akot*
Lee/'reef
Jeter

Feel like we need a SF even if akot comes back, and of course a big man who's taller than 6'8 to back up Jeter.

Hamilton & Penn-Johnson would fit well

Post is the biggest one. As it stands, we would need Lee, Jeter and Shareef all to be major minute guys. It would help if we could use at least more of a post by committee approach.

If Akot, Randolph and Smith return, that is a solid 3 man rotation on the wing. It would be nice to have another PG option to allow us to play Barcello off the ball a bit more and develop depth on the wing. Funny, because Jahvon Quinerly is a perfect fit.

NYCat wrote:What are the needs?

C & SF?

Barcello/Williams
Randolph*/Smith
Akot*
Lee/'reef
Jeter

Feel like we need a SF even if akot comes back, and of course a big man who's taller than 6'8 to back up Jeter.

Hamilton & Penn-Johnson would fit well

The ultimate top need for certain is C. The 8 you named would be our top 8 in our rotation anyways. I'd prefer to add a capable wing, but if we have all of Randolph, Smith, and Akot then we have 3 guys that could play the position and you can argue even Reef can.

Another option at Center would be Marko Pecarski, but that's if he decides to go the college route.

https://247sports.com/player/marko-pecarski-46048822" target="_blank

ChooChooCat wrote:

NYCat wrote:What are the needs?

C & SF?

Barcello/Williams
Randolph*/Smith
Akot*
Lee/'reef
Jeter

Feel like we need a SF even if akot comes back, and of course a big man who's taller than 6'8 to back up Jeter.

Hamilton & Penn-Johnson would fit well

The ultimate top need for certain is C. The 8 you named would be our top 8 in our rotation anyways. I'd prefer to have a capable wing, but if we have all of Randolph, Smith, and Akot then we have 3 guys that could play the position and you can argue even Reef can.

Another option at Center would be Marko Pecarski, but that's if he decides to go the college route.

https://247sports.com/player/marko-pecarski-46048822" target="_blank

Has to be a positive sign Gonzaga's also in on him, right?

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

NYCat wrote:What are the needs?

C & SF?

Barcello/Williams
Randolph*/Smith
Akot*
Lee/'reef
Jeter

Feel like we need a SF even if akot comes back, and of course a big man who's taller than 6'8 to back up Jeter.

Hamilton & Penn-Johnson would fit well

The ultimate top need for certain is C. The 8 you named would be our top 8 in our rotation anyways. I'd prefer to have a capable wing, but if we have all of Randolph, Smith, and Akot then we have 3 guys that could play the position and you can argue even Reef can.

Another option at Center would be Marko Pecarski, but that's if he decides to go the college route.

https://247sports.com/player/marko-pecarski-46048822" target="_blank

Has to be a positive sign Gonzaga's also in on him, right?

Guy totally fits their M.O.

NYCat wrote:Bol to Oregon

Official now

Crazy. Put Oregon down as a chief beneficiary of the FBI investigation.

I fail to understand what has changed with regards to a potential recruit. Maybe it is my bias, but our facilities are the same our head coach is the same as evident from UNC an investigation will also not effect our exposure and are coeds are still damn hot. Do these guys really care that much about us potentially losing the 12th and 13th guy off the team? Or are they going to other teams to get paid where the heat is not on them?

Probably worried we will get a tourney ban affecting their exposure.

UAEebs86 wrote:Probably worried we will get a tourney ban affecting their exposure.

In that case shouldn't they have been more worried about Miller's lack of tourney success prior to the FBI thing?

I'm more pissed about losing Little and Quinerly than Bol. I wasn't at all convinced by his tape. He also just transferred to Findley (his third HS) so who knows about his academic eligibility.

I saw somewhere on Twitter that Oregon now has the number one rated class. Altman is a witch.

He did a Players Tribune post where he said he wears size 14 shoes. That seems small for a 7+ ft guy doesn't it?

az91 wrote:I saw somewhere on Twitter that Oregon now has the number one rated class. Altman is a witch.

Strange because Duke has 3 of the top 6 guys

It is aggravating watching what likely would have been AZ recruits committing elsewhere (Little, Bol). Hopefully this FBI drama is short-lived and just a bump in the road for recruiting. One lean year should not be the end of the world, but it will possibly impact the 2019 class as well.

midnightx wrote: One lean year should not be the end of the world, but it will possibly impact the 2019 class as well.

True, but keep in mind that the performance of this year's team could go a long way towards undoing some of Book's damage. Whenever a team reaches the FF or wins a national title, there are always recruiting benefits.

Beachcat97 wrote:

midnightx wrote: One lean year should not be the end of the world, but it will possibly impact the 2019 class as well.

True, but keep in mind that the performance of this year's team could go a long way towards undoing some of Book's damage. Whenever a team reaches the FF or wins a national title, there are always recruiting benefits.

Until the investigation (witch hunt?) is over, it is difficult to have any optimism about recruiting. I am not sure this will end up being a single lean year or the start of a prolonged down period similar to the early 1980s cratering of the program.

Beachcat97 wrote:

midnightx wrote: One lean year should not be the end of the world, but it will possibly impact the 2019 class as well.

True, but keep in mind that the performance of this year's team could go a long way towards undoing some of Book's damage. Whenever a team reaches the FF or wins a national title, there are always recruiting benefits.

Until this shit is over and our fate is known recruiting won't recover. It's the world we live in now. The results this year won't matter for 2018 recruiting or even 2019 recruiting until clarity comes.

ChooChooCat wrote: The results this year won't matter for 2018 recruiting or even 2019 recruiting until clarity comes.

Disagree. If this AZ team wins a national title, there will be benefits to their '18 and '19 classes.

Beachcat97 wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote: The results this year won't matter for 2018 recruiting or even 2019 recruiting until clarity comes.

Disagree. If this AZ team wins a national title, there will be benefits to their '18 and '19 classes.

Perhaps, but if opposing coaches and recruiters point out that AZ could lose post-season eligibility, a lot of 5-Stars/1-and-dones are going to bypass AZ. Those players want one year of prime exposure and a chance to shine in March. AZ needs to get this Book situation resolved ASAP.

Beachcat97 wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote: The results this year won't matter for 2018 recruiting or even 2019 recruiting until clarity comes.

Disagree. If this AZ team wins a national title, there will be benefits to their '18 and '19 classes.

Definitely not the '18 class considering the vast majority of worthwhile prospects are all spoken for.

ChooChooCat wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

midnightx wrote: One lean year should not be the end of the world, but it will possibly impact the 2019 class as well.

True, but keep in mind that the performance of this year's team could go a long way towards undoing some of Book's damage. Whenever a team reaches the FF or wins a national title, there are always recruiting benefits.

Until this shit is over and our fate is known recruiting won't recover. It's the world we live in now. The results this year won't matter for 2018 recruiting or even 2019 recruiting until clarity comes.

Completely agree and this only serves to reinforce my opinion that we need to get the scandal behind us ASAP even if it means sitting out the 2018 NCAA tourney. The UA needs to complete its investigation ASAP. IF, after investigating, it becomes clear that the UA has committed violations the UA needs to proactively approach the NCAA and offer up the 2018 tournament (and maybe a scholarship/fine) in order to get some quick finality out of this situation. I realize thats not a popular viewpoint among the vast majority of posters here, but its the surest way to put this mess behind us and get back to recruiting top-ranked classes. If we just continue to let the situation simmer we will continue to lose players in the 19,20...classes as Choo points out.

If we take out lumps quickly, we could recover in the recruiting-wars as early as next spring. Otherwise we will be fighting this problem for several years.............and the talent level will continue to drop.

dmjcat wrote:even if it means sitting out the 2018 NCAA tourney.

No.

I agree with putting every thing behind us as quick as possible, but you sacrifice next year's tournament and not this year's. Sorry, that's not up for debate, especially with nobody currently on the roster implicated in any thing. We take the hit for Quinerly (who will never play a game for us) next year and then move on.

ChooChooCat wrote:

dmjcat wrote:even if it means sitting out the 2018 NCAA tourney.

No.

I agree with putting every thing behind us as quick as possible, but you sacrifice next year's tournament and not this year's. Sorry, that's not up for debate, especially with nobody currently on the roster implicated in any thing. We take the hit for Quinerly (who will never play a game for us) next year and then move on.

No.........and it is up for debate.

Following your plan we will end up being screwed for at least 2 full recruiting classes. And by the way, the next two (or three) teams after this years end up being screwed anyway (and they certainly haven't been implicated) , instead of just one year.

How in the world would you assume that is self banning for one year would absolve us from any further punishment from the NCAA? You're wildly assuming that is self imposing would magically cure everything.

Win and Vacate is the motto this year. Just win.

ASUHATER! wrote:How in the world would you assume that is self banning for one year would absolve us from any further punishment from the NCAA? You're wildly assuming that is self imposing would magically cure everything.

Win and Vacate is the motto this year. Just win.

So what if the NCAA whacks us for two years?? All the more reason to self police...............if we wait for the NCAA to act in 2019 (hell they may not get around to acting until 2020 in which case we are really, really screwed) and THEN they whack us for two years our recruiting will be SCREWED for 18, 19 , and 20. By that time Bobby Hurley will be kicking our ass.

Sorry, there is no logical argument for continuing to drag this out further. The faster we get this behind us the better.

And remember.........win and vacate might look like last year. There is no guarantee that we will get past the Elite Eight (or Sweet 16 for that matter). Another Xavier might easily happen.

I think self imposing a ban is premature even for next year. Feds need to show more as I think all this asst/book stuff is circumstantial at best.

NCAA won't find anything other than what we give them or what the feds can prove. What UNC with academic fraud is so much worse and they couldn't prove much.

Like has been siad, at worst take the one year hit and fight like crazy

learn form north carolina and sue the NCAA and they'll do the right thing

Ha ha ronde shimmy nails it.

UNC had a better case because they made their bogus classes available to non-athletes. What would we sue over? Yes, we lost recruits but that's what happens when a FBI investigation takes down one of your main recruiters.

RondaeShimmy wrote:learn form north carolina and sue the NCAA and they'll do the right thing

Yep - win and get cleared of all charges!

dmjcat wrote:

ASUHATER! wrote:How in the world would you assume that is self banning for one year would absolve us from any further punishment from the NCAA? You're wildly assuming that is self imposing would magically cure everything.

Win and Vacate is the motto this year. Just win.

So what if the NCAA whacks us for two years?? All the more reason to self police...............if we wait for the NCAA to act in 2019 (hell they may not get around to acting until 2020 in which case we are really, really screwed) and THEN they whack us for two years our recruiting will be SCREWED for 18, 19 , and 20. By that time Bobby Hurley will be kicking our ass.

Sorry, there is no logical argument for continuing to drag this out further. The faster we get this behind us the better.

And remember.........win and vacate might look like last year. There is no guarantee that we will get past the Elite Eight (or Sweet 16 for that matter). Another Xavier might easily happen.

I don't get this argument. We will be negative recruited until a final NCAA judgment comes down. Self-imposing does not speed up that process, as the NCAA does not accept self-imposed sanctions as the end. So we gain nothing.

Plus, saying we should self-impose a tourney ban essentially rests on very little info. Why is that more appropriate than scholarship restrictions or making Miller sit the first 4-5 games of next year? Beyond the FBI complaint, we don't know what exists, if anything. The FBI complaint facts don't establish we have an eligibility issue this year.

Self-imposing a tourney ban does nothing to help us, is not necessarily appropriate but it is a good knee jerk reaction.

dmjcat wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

dmjcat wrote:even if it means sitting out the 2018 NCAA tourney.

No.

I agree with putting every thing behind us as quick as possible, but you sacrifice next year's tournament and not this year's. Sorry, that's not up for debate, especially with nobody currently on the roster implicated in any thing. We take the hit for Quinerly (who will never play a game for us) next year and then move on.

No.........and it is up for debate.

Following your plan we will end up being screwed for at least 2 full recruiting classes. And by the way, the next two (or three) teams after this years end up being screwed anyway (and they certainly haven't been implicated) , instead of just one year.

No, it's not, and no it wouldn't screw us for two recruiting classes. If all this takes is losing a NCAA tournament next year then that doesn't impact the 2019 class at all seeing as their class would be tourney eligibile from the get go. It may dick the 2018 class further, but that's it.

There is no debate here. We are not banning from this year's tourney, now move on to what other options we have.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

dmjcat wrote:

ASUHATER! wrote:How in the world would you assume that is self banning for one year would absolve us from any further punishment from the NCAA? You're wildly assuming that is self imposing would magically cure everything.

Win and Vacate is the motto this year. Just win.

So what if the NCAA whacks us for two years?? All the more reason to self police...............if we wait for the NCAA to act in 2019 (hell they may not get around to acting until 2020 in which case we are really, really screwed) and THEN they whack us for two years our recruiting will be SCREWED for 18, 19 , and 20. By that time Bobby Hurley will be kicking our ass.

Sorry, there is no logical argument for continuing to drag this out further. The faster we get this behind us the better.

And remember.........win and vacate might look like last year. There is no guarantee that we will get past the Elite Eight (or Sweet 16 for that matter). Another Xavier might easily happen.

I don't get this argument. We will be negative recruited until a final NCAA judgment comes down. Self-imposing does not speed up that process, as the NCAA does not accept self-imposed sanctions as the end. So we gain nothing.

Plus, saying we should self-impose a tourney ban essentially rests on very little info. Why is that more appropriate than scholarship restrictions or making Miller sit the first 4-5 games of next year? Beyond the FBI complaint, we don't know what exists, if anything. The FBI complaint facts don't establish we have an eligibility issue this year.

Self-imposing a tourney ban does nothing to help us, is not necessarily appropriate but it is a good knee jerk reaction.

Every thing is premature at this point, Arizona is still doing it's own internal investigation, but at the moment nobody outside of Book Richardson (players included) are implicated in anything regardless of rumors. In regards to Quinerly it's all a matter if Book did pay him or not, which to my knowledge there's nothing concrete one way or the other on. With all that being said a tourney ban ESPECIALLY this year is a knee jerk reaction. Of all things on the table a tourney ban for this season is not even remotely being discussed unless something major that is currently unknown comes to light which implicates more than Book giving 15k to a kid who will never step foot on campus.

In the short term we need to focus in on the kids that have grown up always wanting and dreaming of playing for AZ. Maybe not 5* guys... just talented guys that will play their ass off for AZ.

Alieberman wrote:In the short term we need to focus in on the kids that have grown up always wanting and dreaming of playing for AZ. Maybe not 5* guys... just talented guys that will play their ass off for AZ.

I'd amend slightly to developmental prospects, but I like that. Here's my best optimistic but not insanely so list of what I'd like.

NCAA wise: Get clarity by summer 2018. Hopefully the NCAA will openly communicate what they believe an appropriate sanction is if we are open to sharing and running a concurrent investigation. I am not on the sue them train bc I think there are subtler options. Goal here is to know where we are walking into the fall signing period of 2018.

Recruiting: 2018 probably can't turn into a monster class. If we could add two developmental prospects that would be awesome. I've talked about Penn-Johnson as an example. Choo says we aren't in, but he's the example. Exceptional length, but needs to sharpen his body and game before he is a real contributor.

Goal here is that we work to build a core of guys who will be an experienced base that when we hopefully get back into top prospects that we can add to. As we start to hopefully bring in all-americans again, we have the developmental guys coming into their own at the same time.

Expectations: 2018, we likely have a decent core but won't be a juggernaut. We need Akot and Randolph to stay and Jeter and Williams to be ready.

2019 is so heavily dependent on recruiting. Hopefully we have a core of at least Jeter, Lee and Barcello as upperclassmen and Williams and Shareef as sophs. If we get recruiting back on track by then, we could be legit title threats. If recruiting takes more time to restart, it could be another building year.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Alieberman wrote:In the short term we need to focus in on the kids that have grown up always wanting and dreaming of playing for AZ. Maybe not 5* guys... just talented guys that will play their ass off for AZ.

I'd amend slightly to developmental prospects, but I like that. Here's my best optimistic but not insanely so list of what I'd like.

NCAA wise: Get clarity by summer 2018. Hopefully the NCAA will openly communicate what they believe an appropriate sanction is if we are open to sharing and running a concurrent investigation. I am not on the sue them train bc I think there are subtler options. Goal here is to know where we are walking into the fall signing period of 2018.

Recruiting: 2018 probably can't turn into a monster class. If we could add two developmental prospects that would be awesome. I've talked about Penn-Johnson as an example. Choo says we aren't in, but he's the example. Exceptional length, but needs to sharpen his body and game before he is a real contributor.

Goal here is that we work to build a core of guys who will be an experienced base that when we hopefully get back into top prospects that we can add to. As we start to hopefully bring in all-americans again, we have the developmental guys coming into their own at the same time.

Expectations: 2018, we likely have a decent core but won't be a juggernaut. We need Akot and Randolph to stay and Jeter and Williams to be ready.

2019 is so heavily dependent on recruiting. Hopefully we have a core of at least Jeter, Lee and Barcello as upperclassmen and Williams and Shareef as sophs. If we get recruiting back on track by then, we could be legit title threats. If recruiting takes more time to restart, it could be another building year.

To be clear Spiff, I'm not sure if we're no longer trying with Penn-Johnson or he just wrote us off as well. I do know that we stopped pursuing long ago initially because we were going to land Bol. He's got a very strange top 3 schools at the moment with apparently DePaul being the frontrunner and I don't know if us putting in effort would change that at all. I do however agree that he is somebody we should be prioritizing, but I don't know what Miller has up his sleeve. The Euro kid I linked not too long ago is a considerably better player at the moment, so maybe there's hope there. I honestly have no idea what the plan is, but every thing I hear jives with Miller not changing recruiting strategies in the slightest. He rather go with high upside Euros and band aid grad transfers to fill any holes for next year's team and get life back to normal in 2019. There's still a lot left to sort out and a lot of time to do it, so a course correction may occur, but as of now if you want possibilities I'd look across the Atlantic and scope out possible Grad transfers to fill those 3 spots that Miller hopes to fill.

Darn you Book, GRRRR!

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... -cardinals" target="_blank

vanderbilt/bryce drew now has darius garland and simi shittu committed

are they also going to steal romeo langford from archie?

Beachcat97 wrote:http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... -cardinals

Does Bowen transfer or go pro? Wasn't he considering Oregon at some point in time?

Even if the Book stuff didn't go down I don't think Shittu would've ended up here. We would've landed Little and that would've been the end of the Shittu recruitment.

az91 wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... -cardinals

Does Bowen transfer or go pro? Wasn't he considering Oregon at some point in time?

If he isn't eligible at Louisville, I can't believe another school would think they can address the issue otherwise.

As Kurupt once stated, "you can't make a pro a amateur/housewife." That is a paraphrase, but the incident that imperiled Bowen's eligibility is not one that a transfer to any NCAA school will change.