Earlier this summer, the Arizona received a late addition to its incoming recruiting class when five-star forward Emmanuel Akot reclassified from the 2018 to 2017, making him immediately eligible to join the Wildcats after he had initially committed to play for UA as part of its 2018 recruiting class.
Now another recruit is reportedly considering a similar move, and this one's a slightly bigger deal — that would be five-star forward Marvin Bagley, the No. 1-rated recruit in the class of 2018 according to all the major online recruiting services. He's also been considered the early favorite to be the No. 1 NBA Draft pick in 2019.
Jerry Meyer of 247sports.com wrote early on Friday about how Bagley was considering the possibility of reclassifying to 2017, though Meyer wrote that his recruitment has the feel of a "Duke and USC showdown." Bagley is from California and currently plays at Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles.
Bagley told reporters at Nike Peach Jam on Thursday that he intended to officially visit Duke next week, followed by USC and Arizona in some order. He also has listed Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA as schools he was considering.
If Bagley does reclassify and chooses Arizona, the Wildcats would have to make changes to the current roster in order to bring him into the fold. The late addition of Akot, coupled with Duke transfer Chase Jeter, put the Wildcats at the maximum of 13 scholarships. Jeter will sit out the 2017-18 season due to transfer rules.
As it stands, here are the 13 players taking up those 2017-18 season scholarship slots, starting with returners.
- Parker Jackson-Cartwright
- Allonzo Trier
- Rawle Alkins
- Dusan Ristic
- Dylan Smith
- Keanu Pinder
- Talbott Denny
- DeAndre Ayton (fr.)
- Brandon Randolph (fr.)
- Emmanuel Akot (fr.)
- Alex Barcello (fr.)
- Ira Lee (fr.)
- Chase Jeter (Duke transfer)
Arizona announced its schedule for its upcoming Spanish Foreign Tour, which will take place in August.
The Wildcats will spend time in Barcelona and Valencia from Aug. 11 through Aug. 19, and the first game of the trip will take place in Valencia on Saturday, Aug. 13 at 10 a.m. (Tucson time) against Combinado Valenciano at the Pabellon Municipal Fuente de San Luis.
Arizona's second game will be against the Mataro All-Stars on Wednesday Aug. 16 at 10:10 a.m. in Barcelona inside the Pavello Municipal Teresa Maria Roca. The final exhibition game will take place two days later against Mataro Parc Boet in the same arena.
All three games will be streamed online by FloHoops.com, which requires a subscription.
The Wildcats will also partake in some sightseeing, with visits to Camp Nou Stadium, the 1992 Olympic Games sites and more.
