Bear Down Wildcats

Beachcat97 wrote:Can’t private schools let in whoever the hell they want?

Any school can let in any athlete they want, so long as they meet the minimum NCAA standard - basically a 2.3 GPA and a 900 SAT (out of 1600).

After that it's just a matter of your reputation - how far are you willing to bend for athletes. And that's where private schools gain their advantage... they don't publicly report those scores for their players (in an aggregated average to remain anonymous) like the public schools.

So while it's clear that Cal gives up nearly 2 points of GPA and 500 points of SAT score to basketball players, we have no clue what Duke is giving up. My suspicion is that anything goes for them.

YoDeFoe wrote:
So while it's clear that Cal gives up nearly 2 points of GPA and 500 points of SAT score to basketball players, we have no clue what Duke is giving up. My suspicion is that anything goes for them.

Absolutely. But we have to keep in mind that we’re talking about a sport where one of the most elite teams/programs (UNC) engaged in one of the most heinous instances of academic corruption/dishonesty I’ve ever seen, and yet there they are: unpunished, rolling along, not even a slap on the wrist. So fretting over entrance academic requirements feels absurd when there’s a school out there creating fake classes to keep athletes eligible.

Beachcat97 wrote:

midnightx wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:It’s just interesting that while Wright racks up titles, K and Calipari are all in on their NY Yankees model: get as much talent as you can and hope for the best.

That recruiting class ranking database is terrific. It’s remarkable how few FF trips there’ve been among teams ranked consistently in the top 10.

And while the sports media loves to fawn over Coach K, he ultimately sold out. He won titles without Kentucky-style recruiting. What changed? Did Coach K's ego not like all the Calipari's press? Did Coach K decide to try to take the easy path to winning and simply stock up with 5-stars instead of player development?

I still find it very interesting that no one in the sports media questions how all of these 5-star players, many who are not known as being strong academics (there are exceptions), continue to qualify for Duke, perhaps one of the top ten academic institutions in the country. Coach K could have gotten Brandon Jennings into school.

Can’t private schools let in whoever the hell they want?

I imagine their board of regents have minimum requirements. You still have to make grades competing against real students. Which is true for many public schools too. Many if not most Div I schools allow the Athletic Departments to admit athletes outside of the normal admission process. I think only a couple of PAC schools require athletes to apply and compete against regular students.

800 SAT gets you into Duke as an athlete on scholarship. 1120 for Stanford. Unless things suddenly changed.

BigSkyCatinMT wrote:800 SAT gets you into Duke as an athlete on scholarship. 1120 for Stanford. Unless things suddenly changed.

those would be abysmal scores nowadays. SAT has been out of 2400 instead of 1600 for like 10 years now.

Most athletes take Mickey mouse classes and have a joke of a major. How many players are majoring in a science or business? Tarc was a real student athlete with a real major. Bob Elliott was an accounting major.

Minute Distribution:
PG: JC (22), BW (13), AB (5)
SG: BW (13), BR (20), DD (7)
SF: EA(20), DS (20)
PF: RL (24), EA (6), OT (10)
C: CJ (24), IL (16)

Total minutes:
JC (22), BW (26), AB (5)
BR (20), DS (20), DD (7)
EA(26), OT (10)
RL (24), IL (16)
CJ (24)

My guess/hopeful minute distribution.

That’s a good projection, Sunny. What’s so crazy about next season is how little we really know about what we’re getting. Numerous first year players and numerous 2nd/3rd year guys getting big minutes for the first time. Frontcourt is the biggest concern, clearly. If CJ and RL aren’t protecting the glass, we’re gonna struggle vs. teams with deeper, more athletic frontcourts. Hopefully a break-out star emerges this year and makes an immediate impact. We need 3 point shooting and shot creation.

It’s funny: I do my best work by taking prior performance, adding a little qualitative context, and projecting out to future production.

I’ve got nothing to work with on this team. No clue. We’ve got limited sample sizes and totally new circumstances for each of these guys. Literally every single one.

So yeah: no insights from me. I’m running in hopes and feelings.

YoDeFoe wrote:It’s funny: I do my best work by taking prior performance, adding a little qualitative context, and projecting out to future production.

I’ve got nothing to work with on this team. No clue. We’ve got limited sample sizes and totally new circumstances for each of these guys. Literally every single one.

So yeah: no insights from me. I’m running in hopes and feelings.

It’s both exciting and unnerving. Miller really has his work cut out.

But really, given the craziness and near-disaster scenarios of the past few months, I’m just happy to have a solid freshmen class, some good players returning and our coach getting back to business. If this team reaches the NCAA tourney, I’ll be ecstatic. Mainly because it means my friends and I go to Vegas, lol.

Beachcat97 wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:It’s funny: I do my best work by taking prior performance, adding a little qualitative context, and projecting out to future production.

I’ve got nothing to work with on this team. No clue. We’ve got limited sample sizes and totally new circumstances for each of these guys. Literally every single one.

So yeah: no insights from me. I’m running in hopes and feelings.

It’s both exciting and unnerving. Miller really has his work cut out.

But really, given the craziness and near-disaster scenarios of the past few months, I’m just happy to have a solid freshmen class, some good players returning and our coach getting back to business. If this team reaches the NCAA tourney, I’ll be ecstatic. Mainly because it means my friends and I go to Vegas, lol.

Will be a steep hill to climb. The dumpster fire that is the PAC12 typically gets no more than 3 teams into the tourney. Right now, Arizona is looking to be in the 6-10 range.

enfuego wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:It’s funny: I do my best work by taking prior performance, adding a little qualitative context, and projecting out to future production.

I’ve got nothing to work with on this team. No clue. We’ve got limited sample sizes and totally new circumstances for each of these guys. Literally every single one.

So yeah: no insights from me. I’m running in hopes and feelings.

It’s both exciting and unnerving. Miller really has his work cut out.

But really, given the craziness and near-disaster scenarios of the past few months, I’m just happy to have a solid freshmen class, some good players returning and our coach getting back to business. If this team reaches the NCAA tourney, I’ll be ecstatic. Mainly because it means my friends and I go to Vegas, lol.

Will be a steep hill to climb. The dumpster fire that is the PAC12 typically gets no more than 3 teams into the tourney. Right now, Arizona is looking to be in the 6-10 range.

Why are you on here? Why waste your time going on an opponents message board (not even a main rival either) to be Debbie downer? I feel sorry for you. Honestly

Unless I'm mistaken, the only non-AZ fans this board attracts are fans of Kansas and UCLA. It's weird because you'd think these teams have their own boards with discussion more focused on those actual teams. I wonder how many regulars on here post on non-AZ sites.

Anyway, I like AZ's chances to finish top three in the Pac. That may sound like a stretch, but Miller is still either the best or second best coach in the league.

Any news on Obiagu from FSU? If I had a choice on scholarships, that would be the top of my list.

Beachcat97 wrote: I like AZ's chances to finish top three in the Pac. That may sound like a stretch, but Miller is still either the best or second best coach in the league.

Here's a fun piece of trivia: Arizona has finished below fourth in the conference only four times since Lute Olson stepped onto campus.

1) His first season.
2) His championship season.
2) His last season.
3) The transition year before Miller.

That's it. Since 1983-84, we've finished above fourth 30 of 34 years. Sean Miller has never in his nine seasons finished lower than fourth.

Past is not prologue, but success is a habit. I like our chances.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:Any news on Obiagu from FSU? If I had a choice on scholarships, that would be the top of my list.

Yes pls.

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:Any news on Obiagu from FSU? If I had a choice on scholarships, that would be the top of my list.

Yes pls.

Why? He can block shots great and all, but he's absolutely awful at every thing else.

ChooChooCat wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:Any news on Obiagu from FSU? If I had a choice on scholarships, that would be the top of my list.

Yes pls.

Why? He can block shots great and all, but he's absolutely awful at every thing else.

7 feet tall with a 7'6" wingspan and he can take a year to learn to play basketball.

Like I said, I'm a sucker for wingspan.

ChooChooCat wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:Any news on Obiagu from FSU? If I had a choice on scholarships, that would be the top of my list.

Yes pls.

Why? He can block shots great and all, but he's absolutely awful at every thing else.

Incredible defensive player. Would have 2 years of experience before he plays here. Would play with Jeter year 1 and be in a maybe starting position for the first time in his 4th year of college.

YoDeFoe wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:Any news on Obiagu from FSU? If I had a choice on scholarships, that would be the top of my list.

Yes pls.

Why? He can block shots great and all, but he's absolutely awful at every thing else.

7 feet tall with a 7'6" wingspan and he can take a year to learn to play basketball.

Like I said, I'm a sucker for wingspan.

Yeah that's cool that his arms are long, but when he's physically incapable of holding onto a ball at any point what good is that wingspan outside of blocking shots? Maybe he can develop, but at the moment he makes Zeus look like a major league catcher with how bad his hands are. I'll pass ten times over. Theres no upside here for Arizona. Go balls out for Christian Koloko in 2019.

I'd be all for Obiago if we didn't expect recruiting to recover. However, we've already seen it start coming back. And after seeing him a few times, I'm with Choo, I can't handle his general lack of anything other than defensive ability. Again, if we were going to be stuck with what things looked like a month ago, then yeah I'd take him. But I don't foresee us having space/time for him in a couple years when he'd be eligible.

prh wrote:I'd be all for Obiago if we didn't expect recruiting to recover. However, we've already seen it start coming back. And after seeing him a few times, I'm with Choo, I can't handle his general lack of anything other than defensive ability. Again, if we were going to be stuck with what things looked like a month ago, then yeah I'd take him. But I don't foresee us having space/time for him in a couple years when he'd be eligible.

It's a small sample size, but his Block % was better than Mo Bamba. You can make a case he was the best shotblocker in CBB last year. His rebounding rate was good for his size.

I would 100% take a chance on an elite defender and good rebounder learning offense enough to not be a liability. We aren't getting a defender that quality in the next class.

prh wrote:I'd be all for Obiago if we didn't expect recruiting to recover. However, we've already seen it start coming back. And after seeing him a few times, I'm with Choo, I can't handle his general lack of anything other than defensive ability. Again, if we were going to be stuck with what things looked like a month ago, then yeah I'd take him. But I don't foresee us having space/time for him in a couple years when he'd be eligible.

How can you possibly make that assumption??

For all we know Book is going to get up on the witness stand and claim Miller and the UA knew all about the bags of money.

The NCAA may decide to clobber the schools who had assistants charged by the FBI.

Until we are out of the FBI cloud I think it would be a good idea to keep the cupboard stocked...........Obiago would be a nice insurance policy if recruiting goes off a cliff next year due to NCAA sanctions.

dmjcat wrote:

prh wrote:I'd be all for Obiago if we didn't expect recruiting to recover. However, we've already seen it start coming back. And after seeing him a few times, I'm with Choo, I can't handle his general lack of anything other than defensive ability. Again, if we were going to be stuck with what things looked like a month ago, then yeah I'd take him. But I don't foresee us having space/time for him in a couple years when he'd be eligible.

How can you possibly make that assumption??

For all we know Book is going to get up on the witness stand and claim Miller and the UA knew all about the bags of money.

The NCAA may decide to clobber the schools who had assistants charged by the FBI.

Until we are out of the FBI cloud I think it would be a good idea to keep the cupboard stocked...........Obiago would be a nice insurance policy if recruiting goes off a cliff next year due to NCAA sanctions.

Because I've witnessed what Sean has done the last month. Recruiting is clearly improving. And if the doomsday scenario you're hoping for comes true, we'll have bigger things to worry about than having Obiago on the roster.

Guys there is no doomsday scenario

NONE

Sean Miller and Arizona are clear by the FBI

NCAA isn’t going to do shit

Newportcat wrote:Guys there is no doomsday scenario

NONE

Sean Miller and Arizona are clear by the FBI

NCAA isn’t going to do shit

You're literally pointing this out to a total of 2 posters here.

Newportcat wrote:Guys there is no doomsday scenario

NONE

Sean Miller and Arizona are clear by the FBI

NCAA isn’t going to do shit

You sir are correct but there are a few people who keep obnoxiously pushing for its existence and likelihood.

prh wrote:

Newportcat wrote:Guys there is no doomsday scenario

NONE

Sean Miller and Arizona are clear by the FBI

NCAA isn’t going to do shit

You sir are correct but there are a few people who keep obnoxiously pushing for its existence and likelihood.

We should self-sanction and give ourselves the death penalty. It’s the only way to be sure the NCAA doesn’t give us the death penalty.

Wait, that doesn’t add up.....

ChooChooCat wrote:

Newportcat wrote:Guys there is no doomsday scenario

NONE

Sean Miller and Arizona are clear by the FBI

NCAA isn’t going to do shit

You're literally pointing this out to a total of 2 posters here.

I know just those two posters frustrate me so much as it’s so obvious nothing bad is going to happen to us

NCAA let Penn State off sanctions early...yet even though our school was named the victim in an FBI investigation and we fired the said coach in question we are going to get major sanctions...just doesn’t add up at all

I understand nico is a hard Arizona lean once he reclassifies to 2019. How much should we worry about the Duke offer he just picked up?

3goggles wrote:I understand nico is a hard Arizona lean once he reclassifies to 2019. How much should we worry about the Duke offer he just picked up?

Pretty sure we should worry. I can't remember the last time a guy picked us over Duke. Did AG or SJ have offers from Duke?

ChooChooCat wrote:

Newportcat wrote:Guys there is no doomsday scenario

NONE

Sean Miller and Arizona are clear by the FBI

NCAA isn’t going to do shit

You're literally pointing this out to a total of 2 posters here.

Yay!!!

Who is the other doomsdayer?

"The whole point of the doomsday machine.... Is lost.... if you KEEP IT A SECRET, why didn't you tell the world, eh?"

Oregon on fire. Okoro (PF, ‘19) just committed. He could reclassify and enroll this year.

Think the Ducks are the clear Pac faves this year.

The Ducks can suck my duck.

rgdeuce wrote:The Ducks can suck my duck.

So far, they're the greatest beneficiaries of the Book scandal and fallout. AZ has more or less owned the Pac the past five years, but Oregon's been steadily rising. Altman is a witch in training.

Beachcat97 wrote:Oregon on fire. Okoro (PF, ‘19) just committed. He could reclassify and enroll this year.

Think the Ducks are the clear Pac faves this year.

I welcome competition. Better to have legit teams in the Pac than a bunch of teams that drag our RPI down.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Oregon on fire. Okoro (PF, ‘19) just committed. He could reclassify and enroll this year.

Think the Ducks are the clear Pac faves this year.

I welcome competition. Better to have legit teams in the Pac than a bunch of teams that drag our RPI down.

Agreed. I'd much rather get third in the West Coast ACC than first in a quasi-AAC.

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Oregon on fire. Okoro (PF, ‘19) just committed. He could reclassify and enroll this year.

Think the Ducks are the clear Pac faves this year.

I welcome competition. Better to have legit teams in the Pac than a bunch of teams that drag our RPI down.

Agreed. I'd much rather get third in the West Coast ACC than first in a quasi-AAC.

I'm all for the Pac12 getting better, but I disagree with this statement for several reasons. I would always rather win in a worse conference than 2nd/3rd in a Big 12 type (no where even close to ACC yet). Especially since there are only 5-ish programs fighting for West Coast recruits (UofA, USC, UCLA, Oregon and Gonzaga). Have to stay a step ahead of those teams.

USC is also dealing with the FBI Investigation, yet they just got a five-star commit for '19. Perhaps the added ESPN story has soiled AZ a bit more than the others.

well no one else had a full college game day devoted to them. No doubt that smear campaign took some wind out of our sails. Can't wait till Miller rises and gets interviewed by some of those tools. If it is live our fans will make a guy like Larry Scott look like a favorite alum compared to how we will reign down boo's on some of those fools

azcat49 wrote:well no one else had a full college game day devoted to them. No doubt that smear campaign took some wind out of our sails. Can't wait till Miller rises and gets interviewed by some of those tools. If it is live our fans will make a guy like Larry Scott look like a favorite alum compared to how we will reign down boo's on some of those fools

If College Game day ever comes to Tucson again for basketball, that has to be the first major Beardownwildcats.com get together.

I just doubt it ever happens as I am not sure if Jay Bilas makes it out alive of McKale. The boos would be amazing.

midnightx wrote:USC is also dealing with the FBI Investigation, yet they just got a five-star commit for '19. Perhaps the added ESPN story has soiled AZ a bit more than the others.

The fun part is that they had a player held out all year, had a recruit named, AND they had two more players (Metu and Boatwright) named in the court document revealed in the Yahoo follow-up report...

Which promptly got buried by the "I heard someone heard Miller said" ESPN story.

midnightx wrote:USC is also dealing with the FBI Investigation, yet they just got a five-star commit for '19. Perhaps the added ESPN story has soiled AZ a bit more than the others.

USC is not dealing with any FBI Investigation. USC is the Victim just like Arizona is per the FBI report. A Former USC assistant coach was arrested by the FBI and then fired by USC.

USC found out someone was doing something illegal and they fired the coach for it just like Arizona did.

And about two weeks ago Arizona added a 5 star commit for 2018 so think we are doing just fine.

I am telling everyone, trust me when I say we are fine from a legal perspective. And NCAA is not going to do anything major at all.

btfd16 wrote:

YoDeFoe wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:Oregon on fire. Okoro (PF, ‘19) just committed. He could reclassify and enroll this year.

Think the Ducks are the clear Pac faves this year.

I welcome competition. Better to have legit teams in the Pac than a bunch of teams that drag our RPI down.

Agreed. I'd much rather get third in the West Coast ACC than first in a quasi-AAC.

I'm all for the Pac12 getting better, but I disagree with this statement for several reasons. I would always rather win in a worse conference than 2nd/3rd in a Big 12 type (no where even close to ACC yet). Especially since there are only 5-ish programs fighting for West Coast recruits (UofA, USC, UCLA, Oregon and Gonzaga). Have to stay a step ahead of those teams.

Recruiting is national, and national prestige matters to recruits. Having a conference that is really a power conference would help us with that. Right now, the Pac is not a prestige conference. That hurts us.

Beachcat97 wrote:Pretty sure we should worry. I can't remember the last time a guy picked us over Duke. Did AG or SJ have offers from Duke?

Only "2" players over the last 16 seasons



&

Newportcat wrote:

midnightx wrote:USC is also dealing with the FBI Investigation, yet they just got a five-star commit for '19. Perhaps the added ESPN story has soiled AZ a bit more than the others.

USC is not dealing with any FBI Investigation. USC is the Victim just like Arizona is per the FBI report. A Former USC assistant coach was arrested by the FBI and then fired by USC.

USC found out someone was doing something illegal and they fired the coach for it just like Arizona did.

And about two weeks ago Arizona added a 5 star commit for 2018 so think we are doing just fine.

I am telling everyone, trust me when I say we are fine from a legal perspective. And NCAA is not going to do anything major at all.

I never said USC or Arizona was being investigated. They are dealing with the investigation, i.e. they had assistant coaches who were named, arrested and ultimately fired. As such, both programs are dealing with the fall-out, and both could potentially be targets of NCAA investigations.

AZ fans should be able to get a sense of how damaged recruiting will be moving forward as the 2019 class materializes. Yes, receiving a re-commit from Williams was very good, and bringing in a quality 4-Star guard was another impressive acquisition after such a drama-filled 2018 recruiting year, but is AZ legitimately in the lead or in a competitive position with any major 2019 prospects?

midnightx wrote:

Newportcat wrote:

midnightx wrote:USC is also dealing with the FBI Investigation, yet they just got a five-star commit for '19. Perhaps the added ESPN story has soiled AZ a bit more than the others.

USC is not dealing with any FBI Investigation. USC is the Victim just like Arizona is per the FBI report. A Former USC assistant coach was arrested by the FBI and then fired by USC.

USC found out someone was doing something illegal and they fired the coach for it just like Arizona did.

And about two weeks ago Arizona added a 5 star commit for 2018 so think we are doing just fine.

I am telling everyone, trust me when I say we are fine from a legal perspective. And NCAA is not going to do anything major at all.

I never said USC or Arizona was being investigated. They are dealing with the investigation, i.e. they had assistant coaches who were named, arrested and ultimately fired. As such, both programs are dealing with the fall-out, and both could potentially be targets of NCAA investigations.

AZ fans should be able to get a sense of how damaged recruiting will be moving forward as the 2019 class materializes. Yes, receiving a re-commit from Williams was very good, and bringing in a quality 4-Star guard was another impressive acquisition after such a drama-filled 2018 recruiting year, but is AZ legitimately in the lead or in a competitive position with any major 2019 prospects?

At least two 5 stars yes, yes they are.

ChooChooCat wrote:At least two 5 stars yes, yes they are.

Nico and...?

Beachcat97 wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:At least two 5 stars yes, yes they are.

Nico and...?

Josh Green.

ChooChooCat wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:At least two 5 stars yes, yes they are.

Nico and...?

Josh Green.

Green has offers from almost every elite program. Not Villanova, though. Wright is quietly putting together his next sneaky-good roster, while the rest of these programs stalk Josh Green.

Sorta think Nico is the more important of these two, but what do I know?