Wildcats the hunted now, and that's a good thing
The most telling item I read from Sean Miller’s Friday media day transcript was this: “(The Pac-12) coming after us is a good thing.”
Who isn’t “coming after” Arizona? After a long period of stagnation, in which Arizona re-established itself as the league’s power broker, competition is as strong as any time since the late 1990s.
The race is on.
On Friday, as Cal began its practice sessions, coach Cuonzo Martin said: “If you have talent, you’re in the ballpark to do special things.”
Cal has its most talented roster since 1997 and spent $12 million in the offseason to help turn stodgy Haas Pavilion into a more modern facility. It finally has modern video and message boards.
Utah last week unveiled its $36 million basketball facility: 90,000 square feet of splendor. The Utes, like Cal, have a Top 25 roster, a potential conference champion.
“I honestly feel like we’ve won the national championship,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said during the grand opening celebration at Huntsman Center. “We can cut the nets down and celebrate.”
Arizona’s competition is quietly hoping that Miller’s recruiting Class of 2016, which currently is empty, stays that way. On Friday, Miller said “the hay doesn’t enter the barn until April.”
Can you imagine the stress inside McKale Center? Recruiting is always stressful; when you get to October and there’s no hay in the barn, it’s worrisome no matter how well you’ve recruited in the past.
Ten years ago, Arizona went deep in to a recruiting cycle with just a single commitment. That was Fendi Onobun, who was a bust. The Wildcats were then shut out until late September 2004. That’s when Seattle forward Marcus Williams became that group’s second commitment. He was followed in early October by Memphis guard J.P. Prince.
On paper, Williams, Onobun and Prince were ranked as highly as any threesome in the country. By the time they left Arizona, the UA program was in tatters and Lute Olson was gone. Prince finished at Tennessee, Onobun was an end-of-the-bench sub and Williams played in the NBA D-League after two reasonably good seasons at UA.
There is no science nor accurate timetable to basketball recruiting.
Any UA fan about to panic about Miller’s empty Class of 2016 should remember the Class of 2009. The five-man class didn’t get its first commitment (Kyryl Natyazhko) until April 2009. But Miller then added Solomon Hill, Derrick Williams, MoMo Jones and Kevin Parrom in a two-month blur.
UA basketball was saved.
Miller’s outlook improved on Saturday when Michigan State got a commitment from top-10 wing recruit Miles Bridges. That would seem to remove the UA’s top competition from the chase for top- 10 prospect Josh Jackson, also a wing, who has listed Michigan State and Arizona among his leading choices.
