When the door swung completely open to rising high school juniors this week, the Arizona Wildcats revealed a familiar recruiting strategy.
Allowed to directly contact 2022 players for the first time under NCAA rules Monday, Arizona talked with a lot of five-star targets, as usual. Some four-star targets. The younger brother of a top 2021 target. And one international target, with more potentially lurking behind the scenes.
Among the new scholarship offers the Wildcats dished out included ones to Irish forward ND Okafor, Minnesota forward Cam Heide, Las Vegas point guard Milos Uzan, Texas center Lee Dort and Long Beach guard Christian Watson.
They also checked in directly with previously offered 2022 players such as Los Angeles forward Kijani Wright, Tennessee guard Skyy Clark, and Gilbert center Dylan Anderson.
Of those players, five are rated among the top 50 in 247Sports.com’s 2022 player rankings. Wright is ranked 10th, with Dort 13th, Clark 18th, Heide 39th, Anderson 42nd and Uzan 87th. The website does not rank international players until they sign with colleges.
Okafor averaged 16.1 points and 14.3 rebounds in the FIBA U16 European Championships in 2019; Josh Gershon, an analyst with 247Sports.com, said he would be ranked if based in the United States.
“He’s really talented,” Gershon said.
Arizona landed six international players in its 2020 spring signing class, and UA coach Sean Miller said last month of international recruiting that it’s been a plan in recent years to “mix it in and make it part of what we do.”
Typically, though, many of the UA’s international targets remain under the radar until the final stages of their recruitments because they often do not gain outsized attention on the U.S. club ball circuit and haven’t declared whether they will head to college or sign a pro contract in Europe.
The younger brother of 2021 UA target Peyton Watson, Christian Watson, is not ranked but already holds scholarship offers from Cal and Washington, according to Long Beach Poly High School’s Twitter page. Poly said Christian Watson has also been contacted by Stanford, USC, Arkansas, Arizona State, UCSB, Hawaii, Cal Poly SLO, San Diego State and Pepperdine.
Among the other 2022 players Arizona has been involved with, according to Stockrisers.com, is four-star Los Angeles forward Ramel Lloyd, three-star Concord (California) forward Chris Bunch and three-star Dallas-area guard Noah Shelby.
Williams cleared to play, stepdad says
Brandon Williams’s surgeon has cleared the sophomore guard for full basketball activities, according to his stepfather, Chris Wright.
“He feels 100 (%) and he is much bigger and stronger since last season,” Wright said.
However, where Williams will wind up playing basketball next season still remains very much in doubt.
Arizona has the maximum of 13 players lined up for next season in addition to Williams, and Wright said Williams has been having trouble finding places to play because of California’s coronavirus restrictions.
“We are in the same boat” with a future decision, Wright said. “Until he gets back on the court and is participating day-to-day, we really don’t know where the future lies.”
Dates still uncertain
Although UA basketball players have been scheduled to report on July 27, the date and potential participants are subject to change.
UA football players began working out this week, but UA’s basketball facilities in the Richard Jefferson Gymnasium and McKale Center remained closed, giving players no incentive to move back to Tucson this month.
“It’s hard to give an exact date,” said Ryan Reynolds, the UA’s director of basketball operations. “The thing that’s hopeful is that our guys will be able to return sometime in July, but the workout schedule is up in the air.”
The UA’s international players might need even more time to report, considering potential travel restrictions and quarantines upon their arrivals. Paris center Daniel Batcho said in a text message Tuesday that he was unsure of his travel plans to Tucson; several others could not be reached for comment.
Rim shots
• Grad transfer Terrell Brown has nearly completed his Seattle U undergraduate degree. He is waiting for his last classwork to be recorded before receiving the degree that will allow him to play immediately at Arizona next season. Brown said he believes he will arrive at the UA at some point in July.
• Top UA target Paolo Banchero of Seattle was listed the No. 3 overall prospect in ESPN’s updated player rankings for the class of 2021. Of the UA’s other 2021 targets, Henderson (Nevada) guard Jaden Hardy was No. 4, Oregon center Nate Bittle was No. 8, Sunrise Christian forward Kendall Brown was No. 16 and Peyton Watson was No. 24.
• ASU was the highest-ranked Pac-12 team (at No. 18) in NBC Sports’ early Top 25. UCLA (23) and Stanford (25) also made the list.
