Three days after attending the Arizona Wildcats’ Red-Blue Game, four-star forward Ira Lee says he’s ready to pick a college.
That’s probably a good sign for the Arizona Wildcats. Then again, there have been a lot of good signs for Arizona when it comes to Lee’s recruitment.
A Los Angeles product now playing for Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, Lee — who tweeted that he will make his college choice this week — has had a number of factors that could point him toward the Wildcats. He’s also considering Cal and Oregon.
Lee lived in the Phoenix area until he was 12, considers former UA wing Stanley Johnson a mentor and has worked out with the same trainer as Derrick Williams and Aaron Gordon.
Moreover, Lee said last summer he believed he could fit into the UA combo forward mold of Gordon or Solomon Hill, an idea that Sean Miller pitched to him.
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“I was born (in Arizona), so that’s home for me,” Lee said in Las Vegas in July. “Secondly, I love the atmosphere they play in. How would you not want to play in that?
“Coach Miller is a great coach. He teaches well and puts out good players.”
It isn’t clear when Lee will actually announce his choice, however. Crossroads athletic director Ira Smith said Tuesday he wasn’t sure but that it could be Wednesday or Friday, and that he had no idea which school Lee might choose.
“He’s been pretty tight-lipped,” Smith said.
Trier on West award list
Arizona’s Allonzo Trier was one of 20 players named Tuesday to the Naismith watch list for the Jerry West Award honoring college basketball’s top shooting guard.
Among the opponents UA will face that are also on the list: Michigan State’s Eron Harris, Gonzaga’s Jordan Mathews, Oregon’s Tyler Dorsey and UCLA’s Isaac Hamilton.
Pac-12 hype coming
The Wildcats are likely to be picked to finish second behind Oregon in the league race at Friday’s Pac-12 media day in San Francisco, if the early preseason publications are any indication.
Lindy’s, Athlon, the Sporting News and Blue Ribbon Yearbook all ranked Oregon highest of the Pac-12 teams, with Arizona next and UCLA third.
The Pac-12 will hold its women’s basketball media day Thursday in San Francisco, with the men’s event the following day.
Trier is scheduled to represent Arizona at Friday’s men’s media day, and LaBrittney Jones and Malena Washington are scheduled to be on hand for the UA women’s team Thursday.
The Pac-12 men’s media day show will be carried on Pac-12 Networks from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday. Pac-12.com will also stream the podium interviews.
Miller will appear on the Pac-12 TV show at 10:25 a.m., and Trier is scheduled to appear on the show along with USC’s Elijah Stewart at 10:45 a.m. on Friday. Miller and Trier are also scheduled to appear on the podium together at 12:10 p.m.
Olson hosts ’97 dinner
Turns out, Friday’s Red-Blue Game only started the party for the members of Arizona’s 1997 national championship team.
Former UA coach Lute Olson said the players, along with their wives and children, all met for dinner at his house on Saturday evening after the Arizona-USC football game. Total guests numbered into the 40s.
“It worked out really well,” Olson said. “It was just the team, our trainer and managers so it was really a lot of fun.”
