Realistically, landing five-star forward Jordan Brown was probably too much for the Arizona Wildcats to ask.
Brown cited a long-term relationship and comfort level with Nevada while choosing the Wolf Pack over Arizona and Cal on Friday morning, much like longtime UA target Brandon Williams spoke of his heart when recommitting to the Wildcats a week earlier.
But it was a question worth asking.
Over the past five weeks, Arizona has landed Williams and four other well-regarded players to put together a potential postseason team in 2018-19 — after having only six non-starters set to return following a dismal first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Buffalo.
Suddenly, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine Arizona jumping in late to land Brown or anybody, really.
“I don’t think anyone could have predicted this class would turn out to be as good as it is, given the program’s (earlier) perception and what it was going through,” 247Sports analyst Josh Gershon said.
Brown could have ideally capped the Wildcats’ class. Arizona needs one more quality big man, and Brown was the best one left. A slender but skilled 6-foot-10-inch forward from Roseville, California, Brown could have considerably strengthened a UA post core that now includes Duke transfer Chase Jeter, Pitt transfer Ryan Luther and sophomore Ira Lee.
But Nevada had recruited Brown for three years and was coming off a 29-win, Sweet 16 season that has made it one of the hottest programs in the West.
“I honestly felt like it would be a good fit for me,” Brown said of Nevada to 247Sports. “They were the first school to offer me so I’m just really comfortable with the coaching staff and the whole program. It’s a good veteran team and they have a good chance at making to the NCAA Tournament again. I want to be a part of that.”
Arizona will now turn elsewhere for help. The Wildcats have two open scholarships remaining and their biggest need remains up front.
Unranked Kansas forward Parker Braun is the only known UA target left in the class of 2018, though it is always possible that the Wildcats find a bigger player via the grad transfer or junior college markets.
Although UA has not been publicly linked with any remaining grad transfers, there are a handful of big men remaining with Division I ability, including New Mexico’s Connor MacDougall, NJIT’s Abdul Lewis, South Florida’s Malik Martin, Colorado’s Tory Miller-Stewart and UMass’ Malik Hines.
There’s also the possibility that UA pursues a grad transfer who hasn’t even hit the market yet.
“I think they would still look at one more,” Gershon said. “There’s a lot of guys who haven’t graduated yet who are trying to get that done, or who haven’t announced their plans. I haven’t heard any names, but I think it’s a route they will take if they can.”
