let's talk '21

[ChooChooCat]

Good odds another one joins him by next month.

[baycat93]

Good odds another one joins him by next month.

Choo, assume you are referring to Gregg, although I would hope for Mashack.

Hearing anything on Caleb Houstan? He seems like a good roster fit skillwise/need.

[ChooChooCat]

Good odds another one joins him by next month.

Choo, assume you are referring to Gregg, although I would hope for Mashack.

Hearing anything on Caleb Houstan? He seems like a good roster fit skillwise/need.

At this moment I wouldn’t bet on landing Mashack, there’s still time though. I haven’t heard anything on Houstan.

[baycat93]

Good odds another one joins him by next month.

Choo, assume you are referring to Gregg, although I would hope for Mashack.

Hearing anything on Caleb Houstan? He seems like a good roster fit skillwise/need.

At this moment I wouldn’t bet on landing Mashack, there’s still time though. I haven’t heard anything on Houstan.

Damn, disappointing on Mashack. Seems a prototypical CSM player. Would be great to have a couple of young dogs like simpson and mashack coming off the bench behind akinjo / kerr

[ChooChooCat]

Good odds another one joins him by next month.

Choo, assume you are referring to Gregg, although I would hope for Mashack.

Hearing anything on Caleb Houstan? He seems like a good roster fit skillwise/need.

At this moment I wouldn’t bet on landing Mashack, there’s still time though. I haven’t heard anything on Houstan.

Damn, disappointing on Mashack. Seems a prototypical CSM player. Would be great to have a couple of young dogs like simpson and mashack coming off the bench behind akinjo / kerr

Rick Barnes is selling some good shit down in Knoxville. I’m just not sure what shit it is.

[azcat49]

So Choo, we have only two “ships” given the roster make up currently. Just seems doubtful that’s all we sign. Give us your best guess on how many we sign and maybe a thought or two on how we get to that number(who is likely to go pro or transfer)?

[ChooChooCat]

So Choo, we have only two “ships” given the roster make up currently. Just seems doubtful that’s all we sign. Give us your best guess on how many we sign and maybe a thought or two on how we get to that number(who is likely to go pro or transfer)?

My guess is 4. Too early to say on who transfers/goes pro.

[baycat93]

Good odds another one joins him by next month.

Choo, assume you are referring to Gregg, although I would hope for Mashack.

Hearing anything on Caleb Houstan? He seems like a good roster fit skillwise/need.

At this moment I wouldn’t bet on landing Mashack, there’s still time though. I haven’t heard anything on Houstan.

Damn, disappointing on Mashack. Seems a prototypical CSM player. Would be great to have a couple of young dogs like simpson and mashack coming off the bench behind akinjo / kerr

Rick Barnes is selling some good shit down in Knoxville. I’m just not sure what shit it is.

I saw kennedy chandler list Mashack and Banchero as guys he is recruiting to come play with him. Both near perfect fits for next years roster unfortunately.

[ChooChooCat]

I saw kennedy chandler list Mashack and Banchero as guys he is recruiting to come play with him. Both near perfect fits for next years roster unfortunately.

Yeah we're not getting Banchero. Mashack being a Tennessee lean was not something I saw coming, but here we are.

[dmjcat]

https://zonazealots.com/2020/08/15/ariz ... ion-sharp/" target="_blank

With Arizona Basketball making recruiting moves for the future, Sean Miller and the Wildcats have offered rising JUCO star, Jamarion Sharp.
Who doesn’t love Arizona Basketball recruiting news? Well, if you’ve been paying attention recently to Sean Miller and the Wildcats, they have been busy recruiting, giving out more offers, one of which is to rising Junior College star, Jamarion Sharp.

A standout at John Logan College in Carterville, IL, Jamarion is a kid that is still a bit of an interesting prospect and comes in a bit under the radar in the class of 2021. However, it’s worth noting that he is quickly rising in the recruiting ranks and rightfully so.

Already drawing interest from Oregon and Cincinnati, it appears Arizona and Sean Miller are joining the fold as well!

Making news via social media yesterday, Jamarion wanted to proudly announce that he has now received an official offer from Arizona. And to be quite honest, I am a big fan of this offer.

So what I do find particularly like with Jamarion? Well aside from standing an impressive 7-feet-2-inches 220 pounds, Jamarion also has tremendous length, with an official wingspan of 7-feet-7-inches!

He is a good athlete with great size and length! He also is the type of player that can continue to add plenty of muscle and weight to his frame and be a mid-to-high-level contributor in my opinion.

[HiCat]

Kenneth Simpson Jr is commiting tomorrow, 4 star kid. We gave him a virtual tour a couple months back. Any shot we land him?

I’d feel good about it.

Committed per Scheer!

KJ Simpson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=942-gLyzCKw" target="_blank

https://twitter.com/courtsidefilms/stat ... 1916865542" target="_blank

[Jefe]

So what I do find particularly like with Jamarion? Well aside from standing an impressive 7-feet-2-inches 220 pounds, Jamarion also has tremendous length, with an official wingspan of 7-feet-7-inches!

Wow. What was Loren Woods wingspan?

[pokinmik]

So what I do find particularly like with Jamarion? Well aside from standing an impressive 7-feet-2-inches 220 pounds, Jamarion also has tremendous length, with an official wingspan of 7-feet-7-inches!

Wow. What was Loren Woods wingspan?

Some site had Loren’s wingspan at 89.5”, just about 7’5”.

[NickyBCats]

Nathan Bittle just transferred to Prolific Prep. Mark Phelps was just hired as the head coach there yesterday. Choo, 2 questions. How is the relationship with Miller and Phelps? Does this help our chances in any way? Any feedback is appreciated.

[azcat49]

Talk about raised eyebrows should he come to us (which I doubt). I would love to see Dukie V’s response LOL

[ChooChooCat]

Nathan Bittle just transferred to Prolific Prep. Mark Phelps was just hired as the head coach there yesterday. Choo, 2 questions. How is the relationship with Miller and Phelps? Does this help our chances in any way? Any feedback is appreciated.

Miller and Phelps are still more than cool. Nah, Phelps will have literally zero impact on a recruitment that’s literally about over.

[A1RZONA]

Nathan Bittle just transferred to Prolific Prep. Mark Phelps was just hired as the head coach there yesterday. Choo, 2 questions. How is the relationship with Miller and Phelps? Does this help our chances in any way? Any feedback is appreciated.

Miller and Phelps are still more than cool. Nah, Phelps will have literally zero impact on a recruitment that’s literally about over.

good to hear miller and phelps are still on good terms for future recruitments.

[A1RZONA]

Paolo Banchero to Duke..

[Beachcat97]

Nathan Bittle just transferred to Prolific Prep. Mark Phelps was just hired as the head coach there yesterday. Choo, 2 questions. How is the relationship with Miller and Phelps? Does this help our chances in any way? Any feedback is appreciated.

Miller and Phelps are still more than cool. Nah, Phelps will have literally zero impact on a recruitment that’s literally about over.

So no chance on Bittle? He looks good.

[NickyBCats]

Nathan Bittle just transferred to Prolific Prep. Mark Phelps was just hired as the head coach there yesterday. Choo, 2 questions. How is the relationship with Miller and Phelps? Does this help our chances in any way? Any feedback is appreciated.

Miller and Phelps are still more than cool. Nah, Phelps will have literally zero impact on a recruitment that’s literally about over.

Good to hear on Miller and Phelps. Thanks

[ChooChooCat]

Nathan Bittle just transferred to Prolific Prep. Mark Phelps was just hired as the head coach there yesterday. Choo, 2 questions. How is the relationship with Miller and Phelps? Does this help our chances in any way? Any feedback is appreciated.

Miller and Phelps are still more than cool. Nah, Phelps will have literally zero impact on a recruitment that’s literally about over.

So no chance on Bittle? He looks good.

Oregon.

[gronk4heisman]

So back to back years of strike outs on all the top guys? Is this a truly concerted effort to not recruit one and dones or are we in a recruiting slump? Multiple year players are great but I still think you need a few stars to win big.

[baycat93]

So back to back years of strike outs on all the top guys? Is this a truly concerted effort to not recruit one and dones or are we in a recruiting slump? Multiple year players are great but I still think you need a few stars to win big.

Definitely feels slumpish. Losing out on guys like Mashack is concerning. Have to imagine the NOA hanging over the programs head is part of all of this. Hope DukieV is right and that thing is about to drop.

This becomes an even bigger issue if CSM cant hang on to Terry and Mathurin. If the only guy you lose next year is Tubelis, then you are starting with a very deep and experienced team. Not a ton of PT for Freshman next year in that scenario. But the roster will likely be gutted the year after. Not getting a guy like Mashack hurts a lot. As of right now we are likely looking at 2 returning players in '22/'23 and neither is a top 100 player.

[Beachcat97]

Of course it's slumpish, guys. I even wonder if some of our recent international recruiting success has to do with these guys being less familiar with the ESPN smears and residual anti-AZ vibe stemming from the FBI thing. Not sure how many of these Euros know who Book Richardson is.

Miller's now being given time to try a different approach to winning: target mainly 3 to 4 year players, lots of international recruiting, emphasis on player development. No idea how many seasons of finishing 4th or lower is going to cut it. Barring a FF run in the next two to three seasons, it still feels like a coaching change is on the horizon.

[ChooChooCat]

Do any of you guys really believe that say if Terry and/or Mathurin left that Sean Miller would not be able to find a capable replacement even at the last second? How many of you heard of Kerr Kriisa, Azuolas Tubelis (you still can’t pronounce his name correctly), Ben Mathurin, etc., at this point last year? There are certainly obvious reasons for our slump with certain guys and you all have already pointed them out, but this is a very resourceful staff and one guy hasn’t even gotten his feet on the ground in regards to recruiting yet (Terry). I wouldn’t stress one bit. As it is we have good odds of receiving good news next month.

[baycat93]

Do any of you guys really believe that say if Terry and/or Mathurin left that Sean Miller would not be able to find a capable replacement even at the last second? How many of you heard of Kerr Kriisa, Azuolas Tubelis (you still can’t pronounce his name correctly), Ben Mathurin, etc., at this point last year? There are certainly obvious reasons for our slump with certain guys and you all have already pointed them out, but this is a very resourceful staff and one guy hasn’t even gotten his feet on the ground in regards to recruiting yet (Terry). I wouldn’t stress one bit. As it is we have good odds of receiving good news next month.

Fair response CCC. and great point on Terry.

Is the good news Ben Gregg (mid level 4*) or something more intriguing.

[prh]

Do any of you guys really believe that say if Terry and/or Mathurin left that Sean Miller would not be able to find a capable replacement even at the last second? How many of you heard of Kerr Kriisa, Azuolas Tubelis (you still can’t pronounce his name correctly), Ben Mathurin, etc., at this point last year? There are certainly obvious reasons for our slump with certain guys and you all have already pointed them out, but this is a very resourceful staff and one guy hasn’t even gotten his feet on the ground in regards to recruiting yet (Terry). I wouldn’t stress one bit. As it is we have good odds of receiving good news next month.

But...but!! We need 5 star OADs so we can flame out and then complain we don't recruit multi-year guys!!

[RawleArenas]

Do any of you guys really believe that say if Terry and/or Mathurin left that Sean Miller would not be able to find a capable replacement even at the last second? How many of you heard of Kerr Kriisa, Azuolas Tubelis (you still can’t pronounce his name correctly), Ben Mathurin, etc., at this point last year? There are certainly obvious reasons for our slump with certain guys and you all have already pointed them out, but this is a very resourceful staff and one guy hasn’t even gotten his feet on the ground in regards to recruiting yet (Terry). I wouldn’t stress one bit. As it is we have good odds of receiving good news next month.

For once, I actually agree with Choo. Strange thing is, we have another big three this year (Mathurin, Tubelis, Akinjo), they're just not as heralded as last years. Mathurin is slated to go late in the first round next year. And in many ways I like Tubelis more than Zeke. And Akinjo is better than Remy, although many people are sleeping on him. The one big difference though is we have quality depth this year versus just depth with experience. Both Akinjo and Kriisa are NBA quality guards, something we've never had before.

I will say this about next year, we need a needle mover to push us over the top, I'm not sure who fill that role for us. Maybe another Euro?

[ChooChooCat]

Do any of you guys really believe that say if Terry and/or Mathurin left that Sean Miller would not be able to find a capable replacement even at the last second? How many of you heard of Kerr Kriisa, Azuolas Tubelis (you still can’t pronounce his name correctly), Ben Mathurin, etc., at this point last year? There are certainly obvious reasons for our slump with certain guys and you all have already pointed them out, but this is a very resourceful staff and one guy hasn’t even gotten his feet on the ground in regards to recruiting yet (Terry). I wouldn’t stress one bit. As it is we have good odds of receiving good news next month.

Fair response CCC. and great point on Terry.

Is the good news Ben Gregg (mid level 4*) or something more intriguing.

As of this moment there’s no surprises or anything. Too early to need one of those. You literally know of every thing going down.

[midnightx]

Of course it's slumpish, guys. I even wonder if some of our recent international recruiting success has to do with these guys being less familiar with the ESPN smears and residual anti-AZ vibe stemming from the FBI thing. Not sure how many of these Euros know who Book Richardson is.

Miller's now being given time to try a different approach to winning: target mainly 3 to 4 year players, lots of international recruiting, emphasis on player development. No idea how many seasons of finishing 4th or lower is going to cut it. Barring a FF run in the next two to three seasons, it still feels like a coaching change is on the horizon.

I'm trying to figure out why it didn't hurt UNC when that program was under scrutiny and facing potential sanctions during the academic scandal, or how Louisville and Kansas have continued to recruit well under the same FBI cloud. Arizona seems like it is the one program that has been hurt the most under the investigation cloud.

[ChooChooCat]

Of course it's slumpish, guys. I even wonder if some of our recent international recruiting success has to do with these guys being less familiar with the ESPN smears and residual anti-AZ vibe stemming from the FBI thing. Not sure how many of these Euros know who Book Richardson is.

Miller's now being given time to try a different approach to winning: target mainly 3 to 4 year players, lots of international recruiting, emphasis on player development. No idea how many seasons of finishing 4th or lower is going to cut it. Barring a FF run in the next two to three seasons, it still feels like a coaching change is on the horizon.

I'm trying to figure out why it didn't hurt UNC when that program was under scrutiny and facing potential sanctions during the academic scandal, or how Louisville and Kansas have continued to recruit well under the same FBI cloud. Arizona seems like it is the one program that has been hurt the most under the investigation cloud.

Eh UNC’s situation didn’t get half the media play ours did. They were confident in a positive outcome too and they were right. As far as Louisville goes, they changed coaches and we didn’t. As far as Kansas goes they did land one five star last year and then three 3 stars. This year they have two mid level 4 stars, which is similar to what we’re gonna be looking at at the very least. Also Kansas is Kansas.

[mofo]

I'm trying to figure out why it didn't hurt UNC when that program was under scrutiny and facing potential sanctions during the academic scandal, or how Louisville and Kansas have continued to recruit well under the same FBI cloud. Arizona seems like it is the one program that has been hurt the most under the investigation cloud.

If you're talking about recruiting rankings, I wouldn't say we're struggling unless Top 3 is the expectation. This is subjective depending on which ranking service you're looking at, but according to 24/7 rankings (they were the first one to pop up), we've beat everyone below the last 4 years. I realize some of these are based on total recruit points, not necessary quality, and a teams needs and scholie availability come into play, but the 4 year average should take that into account for all the schools below.

AZ: 5, 6, 22, 3, 9 (2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, AVG)
UNC: 2, 9, 13, 19, 11
Louisville: 26, 12, NR, 7, 11
KU: 22, 15, 5, 9, 13

Perhaps more intriguing rankings are of Virginia, Gonzaga, Villanova and Mich St from the last 4 years:

Virginia: 18, 23, 65, 98, 51 (2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, AVG)
Gonzaga: 14, 13, 69, 120, 54
Villanova: NR, 5, 9, 28, 11
State: 46, 26, 17, 49, 35

My point is, we've still done better than UNC, Louisville and KU on average the last 4 years, and much better than the bottom group (slightly better than Nova). We're getting recruits, we just haven't been living up to expectations with them the last several years for various reasons.

[Beachcat97]

Do any of you guys really believe that say if Terry and/or Mathurin left that Sean Miller would not be able to find a capable replacement even at the last second? How many of you heard of Kerr Kriisa, Azuolas Tubelis (you still can’t pronounce his name correctly), Ben Mathurin, etc., at this point last year? There are certainly obvious reasons for our slump with certain guys and you all have already pointed them out, but this is a very resourceful staff and one guy hasn’t even gotten his feet on the ground in regards to recruiting yet (Terry). I wouldn’t stress one bit. As it is we have good odds of receiving good news next month.

I'd never doubt Miller's recruiting ability. It's beyond question.

I'm looking more at the current trajectory (8th place finish in '19, 5th place finish in '20) coupled with the revised recruiting strategy. Given this roster and what's happening around the Pac, a top three finish this year would be a little surprising, and we'd then have a sunnier outlook for 2021-22.

It's not all that interesting to forecast our recruiting strength/success because this is probably the most consistent, most predictable element of AZ hoops for a while now. It's more interesting, for me at least, to ask how long Miller has to convert the recruiting success into a high conference finish and a better tourney run. Basically, to get back to what he was doing from 2011 to 2015.

[ChooChooCat]

Don’t look now, but both Daron Holmes and Ben Gregg have crystal ball picks for Arizona on Rivals now.

[Beachcat97]

Don’t look now, but both Daron Holmes and Ben Gregg have crystal ball picks for Arizona on Rivals now.

That's great news. Gregg looks very promising. Haven't watched Holmes yet.

[BeardownZonaZona]

Tubelis twins have arrived in Tucson! Pic via Jack Murphy on Twitter!

[azcat49]

Don’t look now, but both Daron Holmes and Ben Gregg have crystal ball picks for Arizona on Rivals now.

Gonzaga just offered the Oregon kid. Any worries there Choo?

[ChooChooCat]

Don’t look now, but both Daron Holmes and Ben Gregg have crystal ball picks for Arizona on Rivals now.

Gonzaga just offered the Oregon kid. Any worries there Choo?

It could certainly complicate things as they’re a “dream school” for him. I guess it just depends how slighted he feels to only get an offer literally two weeks before he announces and if they can make up on the strong relationship he has with the AZ staff. We’ll see.

[ChooChooCat]

Don’t look now, but both Daron Holmes and Ben Gregg have crystal ball picks for Arizona on Rivals now.

Gonzaga just offered the Oregon kid. Any worries there Choo?

It could certainly complicate things as they’re a “dream school” for him. I guess it just depends how slighted he feels to only get an offer literally two weeks before he announces and if they can make up on the strong relationship he has with the AZ staff. We’ll see.

Well sounds like he’s not slighted at all by the late offer. Oh well.

[Chicat]

Don’t look now, but both Daron Holmes and Ben Gregg have crystal ball picks for Arizona on Rivals now.

Gonzaga just offered the Oregon kid. Any worries there Choo?

It could certainly complicate things as they’re a “dream school” for him. I guess it just depends how slighted he feels to only get an offer literally two weeks before he announces and if they can make up on the strong relationship he has with the AZ staff. We’ll see.

Well sounds like he’s not slighted at all by the late offer. Oh well.

Big “undefeated in conference” energy?

[prh]

Gonzaga being a dream school sounds kinda lame. Even with our recent struggles, we still have more players currently in the NBA, we still play on a bigger stage, we still get more exposure. I can understand if someone would rather play for Mark Few or the program in general, but "dream school" seems silly.

[ChooChooCat]

Gonzaga being a dream school sounds kinda lame. Even with our recent struggles, we still have more players currently in the NBA, we still play on a bigger stage, we still get more exposure. I can understand if someone would rather play for Mark Few or the program in general, but "dream school" seems silly.

Family is from Spokane.

[azcat49]

Choo is he still our to lose?

[UAEebs86]

Choo is he still our to lose?

Sounds to me like Choo is saying he's gone.

[ChooChooCat]

Not 100% he’s gone, but chances are yeah he’s headed for Gonzaga.

[prh]

Gonzaga being a dream school sounds kinda lame. Even with our recent struggles, we still have more players currently in the NBA, we still play on a bigger stage, we still get more exposure. I can understand if someone would rather play for Mark Few or the program in general, but "dream school" seems silly.

Family is from Spokane.

Ahh thanks Choo, I suppose that’s more reasonable then.

[Beachcat97]

There had to be *some* kind of fallout from the scandal, right? Not saying the scandal directly caused us to lose this recruit. It didn't. But it feels disingenuous to say we haven't skipped a beat recruiting-wise.

Also, losing a recruit to Gonzaga these days shouldn't be surprising. They're the current strongest program in the West. It's not even close, really.

[SCCats]

There had to be *some* kind of fallout from the scandal, right? Not saying the scandal directly caused us to lose this recruit. It didn't. But it feels disingenuous to say we haven't skipped a beat recruiting-wise.

Also, losing a recruit to Gonzaga these days shouldn't be surprising. They're the current strongest program in the West. It's not even close, really.

And that should be a huge problem for Cat fans.

But apparently it isn’t; keeping on keepin on is apparently what people want.

[Beachcat97]

There had to be *some* kind of fallout from the scandal, right? Not saying the scandal directly caused us to lose this recruit. It didn't. But it feels disingenuous to say we haven't skipped a beat recruiting-wise.

Also, losing a recruit to Gonzaga these days shouldn't be surprising. They're the current strongest program in the West. It's not even close, really.

And that should be a huge problem for Cat fans.

But apparently it isn’t; keeping on keepin on is apparently what people want.

I have very little doubt that AZ will re-emerge as the top program in the West, just not sure when. I'm inclined to say it won't happen under Sean Miller, but who knows? But no other program in our region has the natural advantages, history, resources and support that AZ does, including UCLA. May be a while, but we'll be back.

[SCCats]

There had to be *some* kind of fallout from the scandal, right? Not saying the scandal directly caused us to lose this recruit. It didn't. But it feels disingenuous to say we haven't skipped a beat recruiting-wise.

Also, losing a recruit to Gonzaga these days shouldn't be surprising. They're the current strongest program in the West. It's not even close, really.

And that should be a huge problem for Cat fans.

But apparently it isn’t; keeping on keepin on is apparently what people want.

I have very little doubt that AZ will re-emerge as the top program in the West, just not sure when. I'm inclined to say it won't happen under Sean Miller, but who knows? But no other program in our region has the natural advantages, history, resources and support that AZ does, including UCLA. May be a while, but we'll be back.

The 8th best program in the nation needs to stop functioning like the 25th best program in the nation.

But alas, it seem as though some people need to see it function as the 25th best for a while longer.

Me = /shrug