Already holding the nation’s second-best fall recruiting class, the Arizona Wildcats learned Wednesday they can’t win ’em all.
Five-star guard Lonnie Walker announced via Twitter that he will play for Miami, fooling the vast majority of analysts on 24/7 Sports “Crystal Ball” who predicted he would sign with the Wildcats.
After a recruitment that has been kept close to the vest, Walker dressed his Twitter announcement up with an explanatory statement and a doctored photo featuring his face and that of Miami coach Jim Larranaga on separate poses of a celebrating Muhammad Ali, with Sonny Liston sprawled out on the canvas.
“I feel it’s best for me, on and off the court, and will make (me a) greater individual on the court,” Walker said in his statement. “Thanks to all the schools that recruited me, but I’m officially a Cane. #GoCanes.”
Walker’s decision appeared to leave Arizona’s recruiting class at four players entering the fall deadline to sign Wednesday night, but the class is still possibly the Wildcats’ best fall group ever. Arizona signed the top-rated overall player in 2017, center DeAndre Ayton, along with four-star talents in guard Alex Barcello, wing Brandon Randolph and forward Ira Lee.
The Wildcats are still involved with a number of top 2017 targets — such as forward Brandon McCoy of San Diego, forward Brian Bowen of Michigan and guard Hamidou Diallo of Queens, N.Y. — but they were not expected to make decisions until after the fall signing period ended Wednesday.
Bowen has long been believed to be a Michigan State lean, but ESPN’s Jeff Borzello tweeted that Arizona coach Sean Miller was expected to visit Bowen on Wednesday and that UA could be the favorite.
Meanwhile, Delaware’s Trevon Duval, the consensus No. 1 point guard in the class of 2017, also included Arizona on a list of top five finalists he tweeted out Tuesday even though the Wildcats have not been considered a front-runner for him.
In any case, UA is well beyond last year’s pace in recruiting. At this point last fall, the Wildcats had signed only forward Lauri Markkanen, forcing them to scramble throughout the winter and fall to assemble a class that eventually included Kobi Simmons, Rawle Alkins, Keanu Pinder, Dylan Smith, Talbott Denny and Terrance Ferguson (though Denny suffered an ACL tear, and Ferguson opted instead to play pro ball in Australia).
New-look Alkins
After UA beat Cal State Bakersfield 78-66 on Tuesday, Simmons said the suddenly hot shooting of fellow freshman guard Alkins was a result of hard work in the gym and the confidence his teammates are giving him.
Alkins appeared to tweet out another theory.
“Maybe it’s the haircut, lol,” he tweeted, posting a photo of himself in Tuesday’s game sporting a fresh, closely cut look.
Whatever made the difference, Alkins shot a much-needed 4 for 6 from 3-point territory and scored 15 points in his biggest offensive outburst of the young season.
Alkins missed all five three-point shots he took over UA’s two exhibition games and was 1 for 4 from the field against Michigan State on Friday, missing his only three-point try and being twice called for charging as he tried to bulldoze his way to the basket.
“He’s a streaky shooter, but he’s a much improved three-point shooter,” Miller said. “If he gets his feet set, it’s a great shot for our team. He may have taken one ill-advised three, but the ones he took when his feet were set were great shots.”
Freak concussion
With all the adversity the Wildcats have faced already this season, maybe it was no surprise that redshirting transfer guard Dylan Smith suffered a concussion without contacting anyone.
“Dylan was in a three-on-three, and he’s the first player I’ve seen just slip, hit his head and get a concussion,” Miller said. “So he’s not practicing now, either, which is amazing. It’s almost like ice was on the court. I don’t know when he’ll return.”
UA had just seven healthy scholarship players Tuesday, and Miller said he isn’t sure how long guard Kadeem Allen (knee sprain) will be out, though the injury is not major.
Smith is ineligible to play this season as a transfer from UNC Asheville, but his injury impacts the scout team, which mimics opposing teams while playing against the regulars in practice.
Smith’s injury, plus the fact that Miller now wants to get walk-ons some reps with the first or second teams, prompted Miller to say he’s planning to add a fourth walk-on to the group of Cruz, guard Tyler Trillo and forward Jake DesJardins.
Miller said UA has already held a walk-on tryout.
Cruz’s long minute
While he played in six home games last season, Cruz’ two brief appearances Tuesday equaled the most significant minute he has played in his career so far.
Cruz entered the game twice in the first half, allowing some much-needed rest for a team that needed to play both Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Simmons for 34 minutes against an opponent who constantly pressed. He was officially credited with a minute played, though the statistics software rounds down (so anyone playing between 1:00 and 1:59 logs one minute).
“Paulo did a really good job the second time he came in, just killing a couple of minutes, and allowing one of our starters to take a deep breath,” Miller said.
Cruz, a 6-foot-4-inch guard from San Diego, is the son of Brazilian Olympic medalist runner Joaquim Cruz, who helped carry the Olympic flag in Rio. Joaquim Cruz won the gold medal in the 800 meters in the 1984 Olympics and a silver in 1988 in the same event.
PJC gets edgy
Miller wasn’t complaining after Jackson-Cartwright was called for a Flagrant 1 personal foul Tuesday, when replays showed he pushed off a Bakersfield player and then swiped him in the face while trying to cut past him to get along the baseline.
Jackson-Cartwright was also called for a technical foul against Michigan State when he kept jawing with Miles Bridges even after an official warned them both to stop. Bridges was also called for a technical.
“I’ve always told him to play with a chip on his shoulder. He’s just doing what the coach asked,” Miller said, smiling, then added: “We don’t want any of our players to get a technical, but you know what? Parker has a different seat on the bus, and there’s nothing wrong with having a little bit of toughness to you.
“Obviously you want to keep that under control, but he had two people denying him. He had traps. They picked him up full-court for 40 minutes, and he played with four fouls. Believe me, if you look at him right now, he’s as tired as he’s ever been. There’s a big difference playing 34 minutes (as he did Tuesday) and playing 28. Big. It does things to your body that you can’t imagine.”
