Because 247Sports.com has a policy of not ranking international-based players until they sign a college letter-of-intent, Arizona was due for a bump in team recruiting rankings at some point this spring.
Turned out, it was a pretty big bump: Thanks to newly created four-star ratings ofΒ guard Kerr Kriisa (63 overall), forward Daniel Batcho (95) and wing Bennedict Mathurin (110), Arizona now has the No. 7 class nationally and top class in the Pac-12 in 247 rankings.
The formula used to create team rankings combines both individual player ratings with overall quantity of players, so the fact that Arizona has more recruits than anyone else in the Pac-12 (with one possible addition ahead) alone is a significant factor in the team ratings.
But the fact that Arizona now has four four-star players, with the three international players joining fall signee Dalen Terry (49) bodes well for the Wildcats' future if they play to those expectations. A fifth recruit, Orange Lutheran wing Tibet Gorener (178), was rated with three stars but could be a niche role player right away because of his 6-8 size and outside shooting ability.
Overall, the Pac-12 has three five-star players coming in, with Stanford's Ziaire Williams, ASU's Josh Christopher and USC's Evan Mobley.
While UA missed out on Williams, the Wildcats still received the overall No. 1 team ranking in the Pac-12 even though transfers James Akinjo (Georgetown) and Terrell Brown (Seattle U) do not count.
The full 247Sports.com Pac-12 rankings:
1. Arizona (five players)
2. Stanford (four)
3. Utah (four)
4. ASU (two)
5. Colorado (four)
6. USC (two)
7. WSU (four)
8. Cal (two)
9. OSU (two)
10. Oregon (one)
11. UCLA (one)
(Washington doesn't have a 2020 commit or signee)
Thanks to permission from James Harden, Christopher will continue to wear his No. 13 at ASU.
The Athletic's Doug Haller pegs UCLA and ASU as the Pac-12's top contenders in his early predictions and has UA at No. 4.
