"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Becomes second Washington recruit to pick Kentucky instead

Terrence Jones of Portland (Ore.) Jefferson will likely leave the Pac-10 region for Kentucky

By Javier Morales

The next time a recruit announces he will sign with Washington, rest assured coach Lorenzo Romar will see to it that the prospect actually brings along a national letter of intent.

Portland (Ore.) Jefferson forward Terrence Jones, a top-flight member of the Class of 2010, went back on his commitment to Washington last month by signing a financial-aid agreement Wednesday with Kentucky (as was reported to likely happen at TucsonCitizen.com Tuesday).

The agreement is non-binding, meaning that Jones can sign with Washington instead and his eligibility status will not be affected. However, as long as Kentucky coach John Calipari is in Lexington, Jones should be right there with him.

“I felt like they (Kentucky) played a better schedule and had a lot better team,” Jones told the Oregonian.

For more information, including a complete rundown of Pac-10-area recruits, please go to TucsonCitizen.com

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Eloy Vargas reportedly will not visit the UA campus this weekend after visiting Seattle University

RELATED LINKS:

• Pooh Evans, brother of NBA Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, is in Tucson this week training Nic Wise in two-a-day workouts. Pooh Evans is known for his demanding workouts, which prompted Tyreke to say recently, “Pooh worked me hard, real hard, he’s the one who helped me improve my game.”
• Another informative article about Pooh Evans, who runs a player development program that trains athletes for Division I programs
• Bruce Pascoe of The Arizona Daily Star reports that Book Richardson is staying put while UA director of basketball operations Jamall Walker is leaving to Ohio
• Mesa guard Jahii Carson, a Class of 2011 recruit, has been offered a scholarship by Arizona and claims to The Arizona Republic that the Cats are “up there” in his pecking order
• Former UA recruiting target Kadeem Jack will likely visit Kentucky and North Carolina this week
• South Carolina prospect Damien Leonard confirms in a newspaper report that he will visit Arizona this weekend

By Javier Morales

When a recruit and his suitor go separate ways, that means their respective agendas are too contrasting.

That appears to be the case in Arizona’s recruitment of former Florida center Eloy Vargas, who reportedly will not visit the UA campus this weekend after all.

From what I understand, this is Vargas’ position (note that Vargas has not returned my phone calls or text messages): He is about to play for his third school in as many years, and he is thinking more about improving his professional stock.

From an individual standpoint, the direction makes sense for Vargas, who suffered through minor injuries and academic concerns in his lone season with the Gators. He wants to seize the golden opportunity as quickly as possible.

From a team standpoint, or team frame-of-mind standpoint, it does not make sense for UA coach Sean Miller.

Please read more of this entry at TucsonCitizen.com

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Potential UA recruit wants another year to develop

By Javier Morales

I received a text message in the last hour from Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice senior forward Kadeem Jack that announces: “Kadeem Jack to South Kent”.

That basically announces what was a foregone conclusion after what was reported last week. Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com reported that Jack was set to visit South Kent (Conn.) Prep School with his mother and it appeared likely he was headed in that direction instead of signing with a Division I school.

His text message tonight confirms that.

I texted Jack back, asking whether his opinion of Arizona changed during the process.

“Respect them,” Jack wrote, “and will keep them in my recruiting process.”

That is easier said than done because of the UA’s probable lack of scholarships for the Class of 2011.

Read the rest of this entry at TucsonCitizen.com

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One-time UA recruit to join high school teammate in Seattle

INTERESTING LINK: Is Terrence Jones really headed to Washington?

RELATED TOPIC AT TUCSONCITIZEN.COM: Another Pacific NW recruit eludes Arizona; Sean Miller still recruiting smart. Excerpt of this post:

How important is it to attract talent from the West coast? Upon his hiring, Miller said, “The one striking part about our program here is that it’s amazing to me where the greatest players at this university have come from: Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Chicago and obviously up and down the entire West Coast. We’re going to be selective and most importantly we have to take the players that can do what we want to do.”

Translation: The ability of the player and his adaptability to Miller’s philosophies outweigh where the recruit comes from, as should be the case. Furthermore, while researching the Rivals.com Top 50 recruits since 2003 — the year the site offers as its earliest rankings — the percentage of those recruits from Pac-10 locales (Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington) is only 15.3 percent (61 out of 400 prospects).

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Portland (Ore.) Jefferson forward Terrence Jones, a distant cousin of former UA players Damon and Salim Stoudamire, announced this afternoon that he will play for Washington.

“I wanted to stay close to home, and (Washington) coach (Lorenzo) Romar has always been like a father figure for me,” Jones said.

Jones was the highest rated prospect available according to Rivals.com (at 13th overall). He was recruited by UA coach Sean Miller and assistant Archie Miller earlier in the recruiting process.

Jones becomes the fifth West coast prospect rated in the Rivals.com Top 50 who will attend a Pac-10 school. The others: No. 23 Josh Smith, Covington, Wash. (UCLA); No. 26 Keala King, Compton, Calif. (ASU); No. 41 Tyler Lamb, Santa Ana, Calif. (UCLA); and Jefferson teammate Terrence Ross, the No. 48 prospect who is also headed to Washington.

“Like I’ve been saying since I was in the eighth grade, I wanted to play with Terrence,” Jones said.

Only Turkey-born Enes Kanter, who is a center rated No. 3 by Rivals.com, is leaving the Pac-10 region for another school (Kentucky). Kanter, a one-time Washington commit, played only one year of prep school in Tarzana, Calif., this past season.

Jones also considered Oregon, UCLA, Kansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma.

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By Javier Morales

Informative story by Adam Zagoria today about Kadeem Jack and his mother visiting South Kent (Conn.) Prep School this week.

Another point made in the story is that Jack, a 6-9 forward from Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice High School, can not attend St. John’s if his coach Maurice Hicks is hired there as director of basketball operations by new coach Steve Lavin. A new NCAA rule requires a program that hires an AAU coach or high school coach to wait two years before recruiting a prospect from those teams.

Hicks tells Zagoria in the article that he is not in favor of Jack going the prep school route.

“We spoke in September about him attending prep school if the year didn’t go as if we planned it to go,” Hicks told Zagoria. “But he had a great year so he was able to capture the eye of some pretty good schools.”

Jack, who averaged 16.9 points per game, officially visited Arizona, Miami and Arkansas. Big East schools UConn, Seton Hall and St. John’s were also in the picture.

“Do I think he needs to go?” Hicks told Zagoria, referring to prep school. “No, I don’t. I think he’s good enough to come right out of Rice High School and play at that high level. Ultimately, it’s his decision. I wish him the best.”

Hicks took over the New York Gauchos AAU program after Book Richardson was hired as an assistant by Sean Miller at Xavier in 2007. Jack’s recruitment to Arizona generated from Richardson’s background with the Gauchos and Hicks.

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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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Thoughts on UA: “It would be a great situation for me”

Kadeem Jack watched Wednesday’s McDonald’s All-American game, knowing he could have fit right in with some of the talent (Kadeem Jack photo)

By Javier Morales

Class of 2010 power forward Kadeem Jack, perhaps the most essential piece to Arizona’s recruiting puzzle, told me today that he has narrowed his choices to Arizona, Miami, UConn and Arkansas, thereby eliminating UCLA from consideration.

“Yeah, I crossed UCLA off my list,” said Jack, a 6-foot-8, 190-pound blooming prospect from Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice High School. “I just decided to narrow it down as I get closer to my decision.”

Jack, who officially visited UA on Jan. 27-28, has yet to visit another campus. He said he has visits remaining at Miami and Arkansas before he makes a decision. He was slated to visit UConn last month but a scheduling conflict forced him to cancel a visit there. UConn coach Jim Calhoun and his staff keep in contact with him.

The spring signing period is from April 14 to May 19.

“I would say they are pretty even, and I won’t announce anything until April 28,” Jack said when asked if there might be a leader among Arizona, Miami, Arkansas and UConn.

However, when asked about what Arizona has to offer, Jack said the Wildcats look very favorable.

“It’s a great situation there for me,” he said. “I can go in there and play right away. I like that a lot.”

Please read more comments by Jack about his current recruiting status at TucsonCitizen.com

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