Told they have a No. 4 NCAA Tournament seed at this point, the Arizona Wildcats probably have their best remaining chance to improve it Thursday.
The Wildcats are 3-3 in βQuadrant 1β games and ASU is the only remaining Quadrant 1 opportunity left on their schedule under the current RPI ratings, unless they meet Washington (46) or USC (50) in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Quadrant 1 games, the highest tier of games now used by the NCAA selection committee to judge a teamβs performance, are those against teams with RPIs between 1-30 (if played at home), 1-50 (if at a neutral site) or 1-75 (if on the road). The rest of Arizonaβs regular-season schedule contains road games at Oregon (80) and Oregon State (159), plus home games against Stanford (99) and Cal (190).
But Arizona coach Sean Miller had little reaction to the announcement NCAA selection committee placed the Wildcats as the Westβs No. 4 seed.
βI canβt control that,β he said.
Miller later added of his teamβs current focus, βFor us, itβs just so much about staying in the mode of what we can control. We have a big road game against ASU. We have our hands full in preparation for that game. If you do a great job taking care of every day, those other things seem to work out.β
Phelps admitted violation
Arizona assistant coach Mark Phelps disclosed that he committed an NCAA violation that led to his five-day suspension in November, according to a letter Miller sent Phelps on Nov. 9.
The specific rule broken was not disclosed in the letter, which was released in response to a public records request filed by the Star on Nov. 11.
Phelps was suspended from Nov. 10-14 without pay, a period that included UAβs first two-regular season games, while UA forward Keanu Pinder was suspended for the first game because of an unspecified NCAA violation.
Arizona declined the Starβs accompanying request for written record of the reason for Pinderβs suspension, citing student-privacy law.
Arizona has still not responded to four public-records requests that the Star filed with the school in the weeks following the announcement of the federal investigation into college basketball.
On Monday, Arizona also denied the Starβs Oct. 4 request for records of visiting recruits and their schedules while on campus between Jan. 1, 2017 to Sept. 25, 2017, citing NCAA bylaws prohibiting the publicity of unsigned recruits and visits they take.
After the federal probe became public, Arizona commissioned an independent investigation into potential NCAA issues, which may have resulted in the suspensions to Phelps and Pinder. A school official said the suspensions were not a result of the federal investigation.
Miller mum on recruit
While the father of Los Angeles point guard Brandon Williams says his son remains firmly intent on playing for the Wildcats next season, Miller indicated heβs no longer able to discuss him.
When asked during his weekly news conference Monday about the strong senior season Williams is having for Crespi High School, Miller said βIβm not sure I can speak on that because of NCAA rules.β
Williams signed a financial aid agreement for Arizona on Nov. 10, while Los Angeles forward Shareef OβNeal signed the same agreement on Nov. 16, and Miller publicly acknowledged both additions. Through Dec. 17, UAβs official game notes also included bios on Williams and OβNeal, with comments from Miller about both.
βWe are looking at him to have an immediate impact,β Miller said of Williams. βWe are thrilled to have him.β
While UA compliance director Brent Blaylock declined to comment Monday, the change in Millerβs approach may be due to a small wrinkle in NCAA rules. According to an NCAA official, schools are allowed to comment on players who sign binding letters-of-intent or non-binding scholarship papers but only if they sign either of those during a letter-of-intent signing period.
The fall letter-of-intent signing period was Nov. 8-15, which indicates Miller can talk about Williams but not OβNeal.
Akot role increasing
Freshman Emmanuel Akot is averaging 10.3 minutes in his past three games, after playing five minutes or less in eight games and not at all in four others, in part because he had he tendinitis in his knee.
While Akotβs statistical contributions have been modest, he brings the Wildcats a bigger β and improving β defender off the bench at 6-foot-7.
βI think when he comes in off the bench he has a good sense about him,β Miller said. βHe defends, I think his purpose is good. Heβs not coming in trying to score as much as he is to play his role.β
Rim shots
β’ Oregon Stateβs Tres Tinkle was named the Pac-12βs Player of the Week after leading the Beavers to a sweep of Washington State and Washington over the weekend. Tinkle averaged 24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists in the two games, with 29 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in OSUβs double-overtime win over Washington.
β’ UA dropped from No. 13 to No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. ASU (19-6) jumped back in at No. 25, making their game with Arizona on Thursday a second straight Top 25 matchup.
• Former UA commit Jahvon Quinerly will announce his new college choice Wednesday, according to MADEhoops.com. Quinerly, who decommitted from Arizona in the wake of the federal investigation, is expected to pick Villanova.
