The 6-foot-11 Zeke Nnaji, who has bulked up from 228 pounds to at least 240, likes to start his day with some piano playing. β€œI can just get away and just let my mind loose,” he said.

 Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire

The federal investigation into college basketball may have significantly compromised Arizona’s 2018 recruiting class, but Zeke Nnaji on Friday drove home the point that it’s no longer a problem for the Wildcats.

The four-star forward from Minnesota announced he will play for Arizona next season, boosting the Wildcats to the No. 1 spot in 247Sports.com’s team recruiting rankings for 2019. Arizona also has commitments from five-star guards Nico Mannion and Josh Green, plus four-star wing Terry Armstrong and three-star center Christian Koloko.

β€œWe are LIT!” Mannion posted on Twitter, commenting on a retweet of the No. 1 class ranking. β€œWelcome home Zeke!”

Nnaji’s addition gives the Wildcats some much-needed size in the recruiting class, since Arizona has only four players for the two post spots this season and will lose at least grad transfer Ryan Luther next season. Grad transfer forward Stone Gettings, at 6-foot-8-inches, is scheduled to replace him in 2019-20.

“They did a hell of a job recruiting him,” 247Sports.com analyst Evan Daniels said of Nnaji. “He’s a really good player; impacts the game with his activity level, rebounding and can shoot it.”

Rated No. 35 in the class of 2019 by 247, the 6-foot-11-inch, 220-pound Nnaji chose the Wildcats after an ambitious tour of unofficial and official visits since last summer.

After spending much of August taking unofficials, including a stop at Arizona late that month, Nnaji took official visits to Kansas, Kentucky, Purdue, UCLA and Arizona this fall, stopping at McKale Center for the Oct. 14 Red-Blue Game. He also took an unofficial visit to North Carolina last weekend after the Tar Heels made him a late scholarship offer.

The fact that Arizona has a wide-open opportunity to offer Nnaji may have made a difference in his decision.

Nnaji did not return a message seeking comment Friday, but he told the Star during a recruiting event at Las Vegas in July that he wanted to choose a program where he could make an immediate impact.

β€œDefinitely a place where I can play right away and a place that’s going to need what I have to offer,” Nnaji said of his potential choices. β€œI want to be able to go there, hopefully be one and done maybe, who knows. But not only play but also academics (is important) as well. I want a good education, too.”

Nnaji also said he liked Arizona because of its track record of developing players.

β€œEven players that you may not have heard of, they just prepare them for the next level,” Nnaji said. β€œThat’s my goal after college, and they know what it takes to get there.”

Nnaji made his announcement Friday at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, outside of Minneapolis, and quickly received support on Twitter from his future teammates.

β€œNo. 1 recruiting class,” Green said. β€œCongrats brother @zekeNnaji_Hoopz.”

Nnaji replied: β€œThanks bro. Looking forward to battling together!!,” adding emojis for bear down.

Nnaji will have a chance to start next season in a post group that could return Chase Jeter, Ira Lee and Emmanuel Akot, while Gettings is scheduled to play next season after graduating from Cornell next month and transferring to Arizona.

At the same time, Nnaji’s commitment could actually give UA coach Sean Miller the opposite problem he had last spring: While Miller entered last April with only six players lined up for this season, forcing him to scramble to find another five, the Wildcats’ five-player 2019 class now puts them at least one over the 13-player scholarship limit as of now.

UA currently has 10 scholarship players with eligibility remaining next season plus the five committed recruits for a total of 15, though the Wildcats could reduce it to 14 by returning forward Jake DesJardins to walk-on status next season. Arizona also has early spring departures after nearly every season, either via transfer or early pro departures.

Because he committed after the November signing period, Nnaji will only be able to sign non-binding scholarship papers, as Shareef O’Neal did when signing late last November before he decommitted in February. Nnaji could sign a letter of intent during the spring signing period or just stick with the scholarship papers and keep his options open.

However, Nnaji said last July that the federal investigation was not a factor in his decision regarding Arizona.

β€œWe talked about that,” Nnaji said. β€œThey apologized and stuff like that. They explained everything and that’s not a concern of ours.”

Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.