These 13 recruits are considering the Arizona Wildcats for 2019
Aug 5, 2018 Updated 2 hrs ago
Bruce Pascoe runs through 13 of the top recruits who Sean Miller and the Arizona Wildcats have offered for 2019.
As many top basketball recruiting prospects do now, Dallas-area four-star forward Drew Timme posted a top 10 on Twitter on Thursday, complete with logos of Arizona and the other nine schools he is considering.
During a travel-ball tournament in Las Vegas last month, Timme also said he was considering the same sort of things many top prospects are, too.
“Versatility within the program, education is obviously important, and the relationship with the coaching staff,” Timme said. “Those are the things I’m looking for.”
In the back of his mind, there's one other thing Timme is considering: Whether any NCAA issues could result from the federal investigation into college basketball. The scandal has touched three of the schools on Timme’s list: Arizona, Alabama and Louisville.
“Yeah, I want to go to the (NCAA) Tournament, you know?” Timme said. "That’s what I want: March Madness. That’s obviously quite a factor.”
However, most of the UA targets the Star talked to in Las Vegas said the investigation was not a factor in their recruitments. Serbian big man Balsa Koprivica says he is not really concerned, despite having been thrown into the issue himself.
A 7-footer once regarded as a top-10 prospect in the class of 2019, Koprivica was held out at Windermere Prep early last season after his name was connected to the investigation.
The director of Koprivica's travel-ball club, Brad Augustine, was arrested on wire fraud charges after the FBI said he was handed $12,700 as part of a scheme to direct Koprivica to Louisville. Koprivica denied ever receiving any money, and the charges against Augustine were later dropped. Koprvica later transferred to Montverde Academy.
Now, Gonzaga, Baylor and Florida State are chasing Koprivica the most, according to Zagsblog, while Koprivaca told the Star that Arizona still calls him every few days.
“I know I’ll probably be safe,” Koprivica said. “If a school is in any trouble, I’m not going to go to that school.”
Meanwhile, UA coaches' communication about the issue may be helping the Wildcats in their recruitment of Minnesota four-star forward Zeke Nnaji.
“We talked about it,” Nnaji said of the UA staff. “They apologized and stuff like that. They explained everything, and that’s not a concern of ours.”
For players in the class of 2020, it may be even less so. The investigation’s effects, if any, could be clear by the time those players reach college — and there’s still a small chance the NBA will begin allowing players to jump directly from high school by then, anyway.
Two five-star 2020 players, Seattle guard MarJon Beauchamp and Fresno guard Jalen Green, told the Star that the investigation and potential changes from it are not a concern in their recruitments.
“That’s on the NBA and colleges; I’m not really keeping up with it,” Green said. "I’m just gonna keep hooping.”
Here’s a look at the recruitments of top UA 2019 targets heading into the fall recruiting season. All player comments are from interviews with the Star in Las Vegas last month unless noted:
https://tucson.com/sports/arizonawildca ... ac1.html#1" target="_blank
