University of Arizona guard T.J. McConnell (4) screams at the Wildcat bench after the team forced Colorado into a timeout on March 13, 2014.

In an interview last week with Arizona point guardΒ T.J. McConnell, the Star’sΒ Bruce PascoeΒ asked about the progress of 5-foot-8-inch, 150-pound freshman point guardΒ Parker Jackson-Cartwright. β€œThe kid can play with the best of them,” McConnell said. β€œI learned that when he stopped on campus. He’s probably one of the best players I’ve played against. He’s deceivingly quick. He’s a smart player and a great point guard. He’ll definitely be able to lead this team to great things.” Wow. One of the reasonsΒ Sean MillerΒ recruited Jackson-Cartwright is because his top point guard at Xavier was 5-7, 153-poundΒ Drew Lavender, an exceptional playmaker and a double-figure scorer in 2007 and 2008. Size didn’t matter. On Saturday, the UA basketball program posted a photograph on Twitter from Drachman Stadium after the basketball players were clocked in the mile run. Jackson-Cartwright, standing next to 6-3 guardΒ Gabe York, barely reached York’s chin.


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