"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Elite youth kick off busy AAU summer schedule with competitive events

By Anthony Gimino and Javier Morales

In the old days, Memorial Day weekend for potential basketball recruits meant hanging out with buddies at the playground, developing their skills against some guys from down the street. Nowadays, high school standouts of all ages work on their game and show their wares to potential recruiters (either in person later this summer or via film in this time frame) in elite-level national tournaments. Such is the case this Memorial Day weekend, as two top-flight traveling-team tournaments will take place in Los Angeles and various sites in North Carolina. Potential Class of 2011 recruit for Arizona — Damien Leonard of Greenville (S.C.) J. L. Mann High School — started competition Friday night in the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions on the North Carolina campus. Starting today in Los Angeles at the Hangar Athletic Xchange (HAX), these UA targets will compete in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL): Sidiki Johnson, Angel Nunez, Anrio Adams, Jamal Branch, Torren Jones, Dominic Artis, Josiah Turner, Nick Johnson, Jabari Brown, Brandon Ashley and Jahii Carson.

Since this is not an approved summer evaluation period by the NCAA, college coaches can not attend these events, but they can receive video to watch. Of particular interest is Leonard, Sidiki Johnson of Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill, Nick Johnson of Henderson (Nev.) Findlay, Carson of Mesa, and Nunez of Winchendon (Mass.). Those names have been mentioned the most as potential Class of 2011 recruits for UA coach Sean Miller. Leonard, Nunez and Nick Johnson have already unofficially visited the UA campus and Carson is scheduled to unofficially visit after the current UA players report for the first summer session June 7. Sidiki Johnson has already verbally committed and he told us this week that he wants to use the HAX event as a way to “get better with my foot work, work on my outside game, and just become an all-around player on both ends.” He should only improve in top-flight tournaments such as this one, whereas in years past, most of an athlete’s maturity came in the first two years at the collegiate level. It’s a Catch-22 for recruiters such as Miller. Welcoming a more developed player is a plus at the outset of his collegiate career, but it also invites the opportunity for an early departure to the NBA, or at the very least an increased demand for playing time. If the AAU circuit was as significant 25 to 30 years ago as it is today, who knows if Sean Elliott would have stayed his entire four years at Arizona? If Elliott left after a year or two that changes the face of Arizona basketball as we know it today. …

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Richardson already turned down St. John’s and Rutgers offers

Book Richardson

By Javier Morales

Consider it a sign of flattery: Kentucky coach John Calipari is not only giving potential UA recruits a look, he is now reportedly targeting Sean Miller’s lead recruiting assistant to fill a vacancy on his staff.

Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal reported this afternoon that Richardson is one of three assistant coaches Calipari is looking at to replace Rod Strickland, who was moved to an administrative position at Kentucky after he was arrested on a DUI charge earlier this year.

The others mentioned in Bozich’s blog are Oregon assistant Kenny Payne, who insiders believe will get the position, and Jerrance Howard of Illinois.

Please read the rest of this entry at TucsonCitizen.com

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Lavin recruits Polee Jr. to St. John’s

Dwayne Polee Jr.

• Dwayne Polee Jr., the Los Angeles City Section player of the year from Westchester High, said Thursday he has accepted a scholarship to St. John’s and will sign a letter of intent on Friday. Polee, who is excited to play for former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, was a teammate of UA signee Jordin Mayes. FYI, St. John’s visits UCLA next Feb. 5 in a made-for-TV event. Polee’s signing is like Arizona in reverse — a West coast prospect heads to New York.
• Remember how Robert Morris almost upset Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament? Their coach, Mike Rice, was hired at Rutgers and is reportedly going after UA assistant Book Richardson. They say coaching is all about relationships; Sean Miller has one with Richardson, while it appears Rice is tapping into Richardson’s recruiting ability in the New York area. Richardson is at a more traditionally strong program where the name helps its recruiting, while Rutgers is closer to his Queens, N.Y., home.
• Lavin likely sought the input of former UA coach Lute Olson for the reported hiring of assistant Mike Dunlap. New Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey also called upon Olson last month to get his thoughts on one of his former Hawkeye players before adding him to his staff.
• Seth Davis of SI.com offers his viewpoint of the coaching carousel this offseason, including Oregon’s hire of Dana Altman, which could have (should have?) happened six weeks ago.
• Danny Ainge‘s towel-throwing into the air to distract Cleveland’s J.J. Hickson at the free-throw calls to mind a similar maneuver performed this year by Mike Bibby when the Hawks played Toronto.
• The Wears twins — Travis and David — are in the news because of their transfer out of the North Carolina program, and UCLA is a good bet to sign them although this L.A. Times reporter brings up Arizona.

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Former Florida player to visit UA after he finishes classes April 30

RELATED LINKS:

• In case you want some clarification, the NCAA site offers recruiting definitions
• To go with that: The 2009-10 recruiting calendar
• And with that: The 2010-11 recruiting calendar
• The New York media coverage concerning Doron Lamb’s decision to play at Kentucky
• Kentucky coach John Calipari echoes an argument former UA coach Lute Olson once had: Players should be required to play two or three years in college if they don’t turn pro out of high school

By Javier Morales

Editor note: This blog was posted on TucsonCitizen.com on Sunday evening. I intended to post information here as well but the site was down. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Potential Arizona recruit Eloy Vargas, formerly of Florida and now attending Miami-Dade Junior College, had an in-home visit Saturday night with UA coach Sean Miller and assistant coach Book Richardson.

With the NCAA-scheduled recruiting contact period finishing Wednesday, Miller and Richardson took advantage of the opportunity to meet Vargas and discuss the Arizona program.

Also attending the visit was Vargas’ AAU coach Kenny Gillion, who told me Sunday night that “Coach Miller did a good job of explaining what he’s trying to do with the Arizona program and Book did a good job talking about the school, the team and what kind of atmosphere is out there.”

Vargas, a 6-10, 230-pound power forward, will finish his classes April 30 and take an official visit to Arizona “possibly within a week after that,” Gillion said.

Please read the rest of this entry at TucsonCitizen.com. Some interesting items in the blog: Vargas is a “straight-A student” at Miami-Dade, according to Gillion, and the AAU coach mentions that a Class of 2011 guard in Florida wants to attend whatever college Vargas chooses.

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UA coach featured on Petros and Money Show

RELATED LINKS:

• UCLA loses its top assistant coach Donnie Daniels and center J’mison Morgan
• Daniels was rumored to be a candidate for the UC-Irvine job before leaving to become Mark Few’s top assistant at Gonzaga
• Does Daniels’ addition to Few’s staff mean that the Gonzaga coach is not interested in the Oregon job?

UA coach Sean Miller tells Petros and Money that Duke is the best team in the Final Four

By Javier Morales

UA coach Sean Miller was one of the guests on Fox Sports Radio’s Petros and Money Show this afternoon.

Fox Sports college football analyst Petros Papadakis and co-host Matt “Money” Smith touched on a variety of subjects with Miller, including the young coach’s thoughts about what it was like to not coach in the NCAA tournament after his personal four-year run at Xavier.

Miller also touched on the UA’s fan base, mentioning the Wildcats still drew 14,000 fans at McKale Center despite their 16-15 record. “This is a place there aren’t many of, so for me to have that opportunity, I was fortunate.”

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RELATED LINK AT TUCSONCITIZEN.COM: Jack of all trades: Recruit emerges from soccer background to hoops stardom

By Javier Morales

Arizona’s newest recruiting target, Kadeem Jack, an athletic power forward from Rice High School in Harlem by way of Trinidad and Tobago, is one of the freshest faces in the Class of 2010 circuit — or is it the Class of 2011?

Some quick observations after talking to Jack on the phone Monday night (he is scheduled to officially visit the UA on Jan. 26):

• The shot-blocking wonder sounds convinced that attending prep school instead of a Division I institution in 2010-11 will benefit him more as a player and student. He is using upcoming recruiting visits to prove that wrong.
• If North Carolina coach Roy Williams called Jack today to offer a scholarship, Jack would immediately wear a Tarheels cap and ask where he must sign. Jack idolizes the North Carolina program because of its dominance. This should sound familiar to UA fans. Miles Simon, the 1997 Final Four MVP, idolized North Carolina and former coach Dean Smith before he committed to Arizona. Posters of North Carolina players, including Michael Jordan, decorated his bedroom walls. The Tarheels never did recruit Simon, fortunately for Arizona, which defeated the Tarheels twice that 1997 season, including the Final Four.
• The New York connection Arizona has bears no significance to Jack, who was not coached by UA assistant Book Richardson in the New York Gauchos program. Richardson left the Gauchos in 2007 to coach at Xavier with Miller. That’s the same time Jack started playing in that program for new Gauchos director Mo Hicks.
• Similar to the Cats’ recruitment of Rod Odom, the UA must put its best presentation forward concerning its academic benefits for Jack, who is an accomplished student. At the back of Jack’s mind will be the question: Will I develop here more than I would in prep school? Development is the key word. My belief is this: Jack can develop as a player at Arizona next season without any undue pressure. He will have senior Jamelle Horne and talented sophomores Derrick Williams, Solomon Hill and Kevin Parrom playing around him as he develops. And at the same time, he can get plenty of playing time because of his defensive presence and rebounding ability.

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Some UA targeted recruits show their dunking delights

By Javier Morales

Thought you all would like to watch some of the best players out there in the Class of 2010 and 2011 who are jumping through the high school gyms now that the prep hoop season is upon us.

The Class of 2010 players in the video who are linked to UA’s recruitment include Baltimore Lake Clifton point guard Josh Selby and Raleigh (N.C.) Stevens Prep Academy forward Chris Hill. I communicated with Hill on Tuesday night and he said UA assistant coach Book Richardson talked to him in the last couple of days. Hill said Richardson wants to visit the athletically gifted player but he needs to find the time within the UA’s schedule.

One Class of 2010 point guard — a great need for Arizona — who remains unsigned is K.C. Ross-Miller of Dallas God Academy who is also shown in the HoopMixTape.com video.

The Dallas Morning-News listed Ross-Miller as a possibility for the Cats in April when he backed out of his commitment to Kentucky after the Billy Gillispie firing. However, Ross-Miller was never discussed as a possibility for Arizona during the summer evaluation period.

Selby, who will visit the UA on Jan. 9-10, was not mentioned either.

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