Despite the โMidnight Luteโ moniker that former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian famously slapped on him decades ago, for allegedly snatching high-profile recruit Tom Tolbert out of his hands at the last minute, Lute Olson sometimes watched things go the other direction.
At least Dedan Thomas Jr. would vouch for that. He says his dad, Dedan Thomas, actually once committed to Olson at Arizona, then decided instead to play a key role for Tarkanianโs final UNLV teams in the early 1990s.
It was the kind of story that was all too typical of the once-heated rivalry between the two college coaching legends, the kind Thomas Jr. has heard plenty about.
โAll the time,โ Thomas said. โEvery time Iโd see one of my dadโs old friends, they would tell me about it.โ
Three decades later, Dedan Thomas Jr. is being recruited by both UNLV and Arizona, among other schools, and Monday received a scholarship offer from the Wildcats.
A 5-foot-11 point guard from the class of 2024 for Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada, Thomas drew the attention of UA coaches during Section 7 play at Glendaleโs State Farm stadium last weekend.
Houston may be driving a wedge in a possible battle with Arizona and UNLV. Thomas said LSU, BYU, and Washington State are among those expressing interest while noting that he has already taken unofficial visits to UNLV, Arizona and Houston.
โWhen it comes the time to pick a school, I just feel like I need to be somewhere where I feel at home, feel comfortable with my situation and my living conditions,โ Thomas Jr. said, โand just most of all feels like family.โ
Having developed a reputation for only selectively offering scholarships under coach Tommy Lloyd, Arizona coaches evaluated Thomas and several other four-star class of 2024 point guards at the Section 7 event last weekend in Glendale.
Among the others that caught UAโs eyes were Zoom Diallo of Curtis Senior High School in the Tacoma, Wash., area and John โJuniโ Mobley Jr. of Las Vegasโ Bishop Gorman High School.
Both of them also have nicknames worth noting: Dialloโs name is actually a shortened version of Vazoumana โ โgrowing up not a lot of people knew how to say my name,โ he said โ while โJuniโ is a nod to Mobleyโs maternal Puerto Rican roots.
On the court, Diallo is a 6-foot-3, 180-pound guard who led Curtis to the Washington 4A title in February and expressed excitement for getting to play against top teams and players from high schools in other states at Section 7.
โI wanted to challenge myself, trying to keep up with them and guarding them,โ Diallo said. โBecause when I get to the next level, Iโm gonna play good, talented guards like that. Youโve gotta play hard and make a statement against those type of players.โ
Diallo said a lot of schools contacted him starting last Wednesday, the first day coaches could directly call or text rising high school juniors, noting that Arizona, UCLA, Oklahoma, Stanford, Washington and Washington State have all expressed interest.
The 5-11 Mobley said heโs heard from schools such as Arizona, ASU, UCLA, Ohio State and Missouri. Describing himself as a shooter, facilitator and defender, Mobley said heโs seeking a playing style that will fit him in college.
โIโm looking for a good relationship with the coach and a team that fits my game the bestโ in scoring and facilitating, Mobley said. One in which โthe guards lead.โ
