While Arizona lost leading scorer Azuolas Tubelis to the NBA Draft, the Wildcats have gained ground overall in several updated early top 25 projections because of their spring acquisitions.
ESPN moved Arizona up from No. 23 to No. 11 while the Athletic's Seth Davis elevated UA from 22 to 15. CBS' Gary Parrish has the Wildcats at No. 16, while SI has them at No. 15 and 247 ranks Arizona at 17th.
Meanwhile, Andy Katz placed UA as a No. 4 seed in the East, while putting USC as a No. 3 in the West, implying that the Trojans are still the favorites to win the Pac-12.
CBS has USC at 12, four spots ahead of Arizona, and SI put USC at No. 13. But ESPN has the Trojans at No. 19, eight spots below the Wildcats. The Athletic also had USC at No. 19, while 247 put USC at 23.
Behind all this: Arizona's "transfer portal" class of 2023 was ranked 13th nationally by 247 Sports, which called it one of the "sneaky-great" portal hauls even before Caleb Love committe.
On3 ranked Arizona at No. 14 among teams who helped themselves in the portal relative to its losses, having individually rated North Carolina transfer Caleb Love the No. 3 overall transfer, Jaden Bradley at No. 60 and San Diego State transfer Keshad Johnson at 123. On3 had Kerr Kriisa, who left Arizona to play for West Virginia, the No. 16 top transfer in 2023.
Rivals ranked Love the No. 9 transfer and had Bradley at No. 54 (its rankings did not include Johnson but have not been updated since April 9, before Johnson entered the portal).
In its individual transfer rankings, CBS had Kriisa at No. 7, Love at 17 and Bradley at 39. Its ranking of 50 players did not include Johnson.
The Circuit named Jamari Phillips a second-team pick for the EYBL's Memphis session last weekend, after the Arizona commit averaged 20.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.0 steals over five games in which his Paul George Elite team went 4-1.
Over the EYBL's four spring weekends, Phillips is 18th overall in scoring with an average of 17.2 points a game. Paul George Elite is in 11th place in the B group of EYBL teams.
Fellow UA commit Carter Bryant is averaging 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds for PGE.
All EYBL player and team stats can be sorted through on the EYBL's website.
The Section 7 high school showcase in Phoenix has added a "Fiesta Bowl opening night" that sounds similar to the hype over some shoe-ball opening nights. To be held on June 14, before the girls' event, and June 22 before the boys' event, it will feature a 3-point and dunk contests among other events.
The boys' Section 7 event, which typically includes most UA targets playing for Western-based high schools, will be held June 23-25 at Glendale's State Farm Stadium.
Section 7, in partnership with the Fiesta Bowl, announced the inaugural Fiesta Bowl Opening Night‼️The Girls’ Fiesta Bowl Opening Night event will be held on Wednesday, June 14, & the Boys’ on Thursday, June 22, and will only be open to players, coaches, and Floor Pass holders. pic.twitter.com/IUXeM41n7I
— Section 7 (@Section7Az) June 2, 2023
