Arizona’s current crop of freshmen hasn’t hit the court yet, but Becky Burke isn’t wasting any time putting the next class of Wildcats together.
Arizona on Tuesday received a verbal commitment from Celsy Colombo, a four-star forward from Yorkshire, New York.
Colombo announced her decision on social media. It included a thank-you for Burke, assistant coach James Ewing “and the entire Arizona women’s basketball staff for giving me this opportunity and making me feel like Arizona is where I belong.”
Colombo is the second recruit with a four-star rating from the class of 2027 to commit to the Wildcats, joining wing Brieana Brown of San Diego.
Colombo, who’s listed at 6-foot-3, averaged 10.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game as a junior at St. Mary’s High School in Lancaster, New York, according to MaxPreps. Lancaster is a suburb of Buffalo, where Burke coached before coming to Arizona.
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Celsy Colombo, a four-star forward in the class of 2027, committed to Arizona women’s basketball on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.
While Brown landed at No. 40 in ESPN’s SportsCenter NEXT 100, Colombo did not make the latest version of the ranking. Her profile on 247Sports lists 19 offers, including one from Big 12 rival TCU.
ESPN ranked Arizona’s 2026 class 17th nationally.
The Wildcats are set to open Burke’s second season on Nov. 2 vs. Stanford in Las Vegas. They play a pair of exhibition games Oct. 22 and 27 at McKale Center.
Contact sports reporter/columnist Michael Lev at mlev@tucson.com. On X (Twitter): @michaeljlev. On Bluesky: @michaeljlev.bsky.social
Michael Lev
Sports Reporter/Columnist
Becky Burke, Wildcats truly can begin building with ‘Year Zero’ behind them | Michael Lev
