Bear Down Wildcats

Ran into Jeter, Desjardins and Zeke Nnaji at the tailgate. They were showing Zeke around for his unofficial visit. Kid is huge! I was with a group of bball fans so we all did our part to fill him in on what to expect. He was having a blast

Tried to get some Coach K dirt out of Jeter but no luck

Good look!

Also, pretty sure Jake is the coolest Wildcat walk-on since David Bagga cause that dude is in every "Cats hanging out" photo.

Ya Jake and I talked for a little as well. Talked about his shoulder surgery and he expects to be ready for Red Blue. Good dude!

1st domino

What's his connection with Marquette?

azgreg wrote:What's his connection with Marquette?

Steve Wojciechowski is coach

No one from Arizona moves to Milwaukee on purpose.

Chicat wrote:No one from Arizona moves to Milwaukee on purpose.

Yeah they all do the reverse

Don’t wanna sound overconfident, but there’s no way he’s going to Marquette.

azgreg wrote:What's his connection with Marquette?

Stan Johnson, used to be an assistant at ASU. Marquette is still involved here as a courtesy to him.

Chicat wrote:

That's good news. I mean, nothing is a given, but we have a lot of positives vs Marquette. I was more worried about Duke and Nova.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Chicat wrote:

That's good news. I mean, nothing is a given, but we have a lot of positives vs Marquette. I was more worried about Duke and Nova.

They never had a chance.

ChooChooCat wrote:

azgreg wrote:What's his connection with Marquette?

Stan Johnson, used to be an assistant at ASU. Marquette is still involved here as a courtesy to him.

A courtesy? I hate recruiting.

ChooChooCat wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Chicat wrote:

That's good news. I mean, nothing is a given, but we have a lot of positives vs Marquette. I was more worried about Duke and Nova.

They never had a chance.

Fair enough, but I still feel better vs Marquette than vs the defending national champs and Coach K.

I looked for an active Marquette free board to see if anyone there was as confident as we are, but I failed.

There's this one. https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?PHPSE ... 8207.14725" target="_blank

This one has some posts in the last day
https://247sports.com/college/marquette ... ps-104085/" target="_blank

I haven't been this excited about a possible commitment since Aaron Gordon.

YoDeFoe wrote:I haven't been this excited about a possible commitment since Aaron Gordon.

Seriously. If B-Dub sticks around, our '19 backcourt is looking very, very good.

ASUHATER! wrote:This one has some posts in the last day
https://247sports.com/college/marquette ... ps-104085/" target="_blank

There are some...interesting takes on that board. My favorite is the one about how Trae Young spurned the blue bloods to stay in state, and Nico might choose to spurn the blue blood in Marquette to come to Arizona.

Miller had an in-home with Nico today. Will have one with Terry Armstrong tomorrow.

We need more chatter over here, I went over to the football board, man is that place depressing.

ChooChooCat wrote:Miller had an in-home with Nico today. Will have one with Terry Armstrong tomorrow.

Choo do you think Nico's timeline has moved up, to where he actually might be our first commit in the class of 2018?

goslingswagg wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:Miller had an in-home with Nico today. Will have one with Terry Armstrong tomorrow.

Choo do you think Nico's timeline has moved up, to where he actually might be our first commit in the class of 2018?

Yes.

ChooChooCat wrote:

goslingswagg wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:Miller had an in-home with Nico today. Will have one with Terry Armstrong tomorrow.

Choo do you think Nico's timeline has moved up, to where he actually might be our first commit in the class of 2018?

Yes.

ChooChooCat wrote:

goslingswagg wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:Miller had an in-home with Nico today. Will have one with Terry Armstrong tomorrow.

Choo do you think Nico's timeline has moved up, to where he actually might be our first commit in the class of 2018?

Yes.

Love it when Choo puts up his straight-forward, right-there "Yes." Yes!

Thanks Choo.

Thanks for the updates Choo.

This will be the highest rated PG signed since Mustafa Shakur....

One of the things I like about Nico is that I don't think he's a OAD type. Not that he doesn't have NBA potential; he does. But he's not the kind of athletic freak who would be drafted high simply because he can windmill dunk from the FT line. Nico looks like a solid 2-3 year player, imo.

Beachcat97 wrote:One of the things I like about Nico is that I don't think he's a OAD type. Not that he doesn't have NBA potential; he does. But he's not the kind of athletic freak who would be drafted high simply because he can windmill dunk from the FT line. Nico looks like a solid 2-3 year player, imo.

Choo - you're the man.

Beachcat - I would be very happy if we got 2 years out of Nico. Not sure he screams OAD but I have a gut feeling he may want to go OAD. Not sure if that is the reality though.

pc in NM wrote:This will be the highest rated PG signed since Mustafa Shakur....

My least favorite UA player since I started watching. Very much disliked his game.

goslingswagg wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:One of the things I like about Nico is that I don't think he's a OAD type. Not that he doesn't have NBA potential; he does. But he's not the kind of athletic freak who would be drafted high simply because he can windmill dunk from the FT line. Nico looks like a solid 2-3 year player, imo.

Choo - you're the man.

Beachcat - I would be very happy if we got 2 years out of Nico. Not sure he screams OAD but I have a gut feeling he may want to go OAD. Not sure if that is the reality though.

2 years is probably the plan. Just depends on his draft stock after the first year. Pretty much same plan as BWill.

SunnyAZ wrote:

pc in NM wrote:This will be the highest rated PG signed since Mustafa Shakur....

My least favorite UA player since I started watching. Very much disliked his game.

Kyryl Natyazhko averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds in 10min/g for two straight seasons. He had more fouls than points over his final two seasons. I just want to make sure we don't forget KReal even though I'd love to forget KReal.

I'm not even going to talk about three quarters of the 2011 class.

Although... Shakur's senior year of '06-07 was probably my least favorite year of Arizona basketball. By the time we lost in the first round to Purdue I was like "why the hell not."

Anytime I see a player inadvertently step out of bounds I think of Mustafa...

Rivals updated their rankings and Christian Koloko was not included as a top 150 prospect...I guess he's more of a developmental player anyway but still a bit concerning if they don't see a ton of potential there (which is assumed if he's not in the top 150). Scout is definitely higher on him than Rivals though.

Rivals did a little four person roundtable to make some guesses where some of the top recruits of the 2019 class will land.

Arizona was picked by all four for Nico Mannion (no surprise).

Others of note...

Josh Green (wing) - 2/4

Drew Timme (post) - 1/4

CJ Walker (wing) - 0/4

James Wiseman (post) - 0/4

Jeremiah Earl Robinson (post) - 0/4

I'm not big on Rivals as a source (I also much prefer Scout) but also it's content.

YoDeFoe wrote:Rivals did a little four person roundtable to make some guesses where some of the top recruits of the 2019 class will land.

Arizona was picked by all four for Nico Mannion (no surprise).

Others of note...

Josh Green - 2/4

Drew Timme (post) - 1/4

CJ Walker (wing) - 0/4

James Wiseman (post) - 0/4

Jeremiah Earl Robinson (post) - 0/4

I'm not big on Rivals as a source (I also much prefer Scout) but also it's content.

You missed Jaden McDaniels - 2/4

I knew I missed one... and that was the one I was most excited about. Thanks Choo - any thoughts on McDaniels? My initial thoughts are that if you want to be prepared for a career in the NBA, you don't go to a school that plays 100% zone defense.

YoDeFoe wrote:I knew I missed one... and that was the one I was most excited about. Thanks Choo - any thoughts on McDaniels? My initial thoughts are that if you want to be prepared for a career in the NBA, you don't go to a school that plays 100% zone defense.

Especially, when you are Jaden McDaniels, and can do what he does.

Most mysterious recruitment there is. I don't have a good read on it whatsoever, although I've heard Texas is definitely up there for him. Another words I have no idea where we ultimately stand in this one, especially since this will be a Spring decision and that leaves it completely up in the air for the blue bloods to jump in.

EastCoastCat wrote:Anytime I see a player inadvertently step out of bounds I think of Mustafa...

Every time a guard overpenetrates and gets stuck 10-12 feet from the basket and has to pivot searching for a passing lane, I think of Mustafa.

McDaniels has three picks in the Scout crystal ball for SDSU, can't see those proving out though despite his brother Jalen (a talent in his own right) playing there currently. This quote seems relevant from his interview in that D1circuit article I linked:

“Yeah, everything I heard, they weren’t lying.” McDaniels admitted. “It’s the best place to play. The toughest part was getting a feel of playing good players every day.”

Playing good players every day. He can get that at Arizona, much less so at Washington, and for sure can in the SEC or Big XII (though practicing at Texas is likely not a similar competition as a Kansas, he does get to lean into the KD comparison for whatever that is worth).

This quote from his father Will McDaniels is telling as well:

"Some of these coaches forget that I've gone through this with my older son," Will McDaniels said of Jalen McDaniels, who plays for San Diego State. "That's why I'm the way I am. You have one of these big old colleges calling you and they're saying this, 'Hey we love your game and we want you to come to our school and once you get here you're going to start immediately.' Man, that's not true. I have had coaches tell me that. This has always been my answer: 'Thanks, Coach, we appreciate it, but we don't want you to give Jaden anything."

While this recruitment is heavily controlled by the pater familias, this father isn't some kook. That's a pretty down to earth, no nonsense, "hard work wins out" attitude he shows there. Dude is a mechanic at Boeing where he's working on airline parts at 5:30am, and he's been around the block already with his older son's recruitment.

Jaden, for his part, mentioned that proximity to his mother (divorced from his father, but the two live nearby each other for Jaden's sake) is a low-key factor in play.

McDaniels called Kentucky his "dream school growing up" ...but it remains to be seen how much his dreams will influence the decision. Coach Cal seems like the kind of coach who would promise a starting role and a big feature, the kind of talk that the father Will McDaniels is highly skeptical of.

YoDeFoe wrote:McDaniels has three picks in the Scout crystal ball for SDSU, can't see those proving out though despite his brother Jalen (a talent in his own right) playing there currently. This quote seems relevant from his interview in that D1circuit article I linked:

“Yeah, everything I heard, they weren’t lying.” McDaniels admitted. “It’s the best place to play. The toughest part was getting a feel of playing good players every day.”

Playing good players every day. He can get that at Arizona, much less so at Washington, and for sure can in the SEC or Big XII (though practicing at Texas is likely not a similar competition as a Kansas, he does get to lean into the KD comparison for whatever that is worth).

This quote from his father Will McDaniels is telling as well:

"Some of these coaches forget that I've gone through this with my older son," Will McDaniels said of Jalen McDaniels, who plays for San Diego State. "That's why I'm the way I am. You have one of these big old colleges calling you and they're saying this, 'Hey we love your game and we want you to come to our school and once you get here you're going to start immediately.' Man, that's not true. I have had coaches tell me that. This has always been my answer: 'Thanks, Coach, we appreciate it, but we don't want you to give Jaden anything."

While this recruitment is heavily controlled by the pater familias, this father isn't some kook. That's a pretty down to earth, no nonsense, "hard work wins out" attitude he shows there. Dude is a mechanic at Boeing where he's working on airline parts at 5:30am, and he's been around the block already with his older son's recruitment.

Jaden, for his part, mentioned that proximity to his mother (divorced from his father, but the two live nearby each other for Jaden's sake) is a low-key factor in play.

McDaniels called Kentucky his "dream school growing up" ...but it remains to be seen how much his dreams will influence the decision. Coach Cal seems like the kind of coach who would promise a starting role and a big feature, the kind of talk that the father Will McDaniels is highly skeptical of.

I still find it very odd that Kentucky up to this point hasn't offered McDaniels.

Josh Green will be taking his official visit for the Red/Blue game (Nico will be there with him). He'll officially visit UNC some time this month.

ChooChooCat wrote:Josh Green will be taking his official visit for the Red/Blue game (Nico will be there with him). He'll officially visit UNC some time this month.

Love it.

Unbelievable how quickly Sean has regrouped with recruiting. Let's hope it's smooth sailing for the foreseeable future!

pc in NM wrote:This will be the highest rated PG signed since Mustafa Shakur....

2003

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

EastCoastCat wrote:Anytime I see a player inadvertently step out of bounds I think of Mustafa...

Every time a guard overpenetrates and gets stuck 10-12 feet from the basket and has to pivot searching for a passing lane, I think of Mustafa.

Every time I see an Arizona player average 7 assists a game, I think of Staf.

Yeah, haven’t really been thinking about him.....

YoDeFoe wrote:

SunnyAZ wrote:

pc in NM wrote:This will be the highest rated PG signed since Mustafa Shakur....

My least favorite UA player since I started watching. Very much disliked his game.

Kyryl Natyazhko averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds in 10min/g for two straight seasons. He had more fouls than points over his final two seasons. I just want to make sure we don't forget KReal even though I'd love to forget KReal.

I'm not even going to talk about three quarters of the 2011 class.

Although... Shakur's senior year of '06-07 was probably my least favorite year of Arizona basketball. By the time we lost in the first round to Purdue I was like "why the hell not."

That was the game where the guy made the shot on his knees from the free throw line right...I remember watching that and basically saying why the hell not