Has Villanova figured out a way to build a dynasty in the one-and-done era?
The Mercury News' Jon Wilner compares Arizona's approach in recruiting and style with that of the suburban-Philly-based Wildcat team that is reminiscent of the old Big East.
(Similarly, the Oregonian's John Canzano compared Villanova with Oregon's approach.)
Wilner noted that Villanova has averaged a recruiting class ranking of 37 (per 24/7 Sports) over the past five years while UA's classes have averaged sixth, although Villanova has been far more successful in the past three NCAA Tournaments.
Wilner analyzes the difference this way:
"Villanova’s success is, above all, a reflection of coach Jay Wright’s system — not just the offense but the entire system of recruiting, development and on-court structure.
"Unlike Arizona’s Sean Miller, Wright doesn’t stock his roster with has many one-and-done, Lottery Pick-level talents as it can hold.
"Instead, Wright recruits very good players — even a few elites, like Jalen Brunson — who fit ideally into his system and are likely to remain in school for several years.
"The lack of dizzying roster turnover creates cohesion within the system. (That turnover helps account for the disparity in the number of recruits Villanova and Arizona sign each year.)
"And let’s not discount the significance of the system itself, a free-flowing perimeter approach that creates mismatches and open shots and defines the postmodern game."
Then again, there is that five-star talent who has ties to both programs. Five-star New Jersey point guard Jahvon Quinerly was alluded to as the subject of alleged agent payments via former UA assistant coach Book Richardson, then decommitted from Arizona in the wake of the investigation and ... chose Villanova instead.
In any case, Miller is now being forced to re-set his recruiting because the Wildcats have lost all three of their 2018 recruits while several other five-star targets dropped them in the wake of the federal investigation and ESPN report.
UA's significant recruiting deficit, meanwhile, leads us to throw out the latest wave of "way-too-early" picks.
Sports Illustrated and CBS both noted that Oregon should be the conference favorite in part because of Arizona's situation.
"With Arizona set for a precipitous drop-off, the Pac-12 may run through Eugene in 2018–19," SI said.
CBS put it this way: "Dana Altman's Ducks should be the favorite to win the Pac-12 while Arizona goes through a total rebuild."
Overall, the early Top 25s ignored Arizona completely (though USA Today said it considered the Wildcats) while also not having a significant Pac-12 presence:
-- FanRag ranks Oregon 13, Washington 22 and ASU 24.
-- USA Today has Oregon 11 and no other Pac-12 teams.
-- Sports Illustrated has Oregon 14, UCLA 19.
--- CBS has Oregon 19 and UCLA 20.
Oregon, however, took an expected hit Tuesday when Troy Brown announced he is leaving.
Arizona fell out of the final USA Today coaches Top 25 poll (the AP Top 25 does not have a poll after the NCAA Tournament). The Wildcats were ranked No. 5 in the preseason coaches poll and No. 15 before the tournament.
Wilbur and the UA cheerleaders made a split-second appearance in One Shining Moment.
One Shining Moment. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Fn6ev4c1Km
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 3, 2018
Rivals' Corey Evans says Arizona "looks to be the team to beat" for former UConn commit James Akinjo.
"The Wildcats only have six scholarship players returning to next year's squad, and the idea of 25-plus minutes per game as a freshman could be very enticing to Akinjo," Evans wrote.
Evans also says Arizona is one of a number of schools reaching out for Old Dominion grad transfer forward Trey Porter.
Grad transfers could be Arizona's best bet in recruiting this spring since those players are immediately eligible for only one season -- and the NCAA's indication that it won't start investigating until the feds are done with their investigating might suggest UA won't be facing any possible penalties until at least 2019-20.
Plus, obviously, UA has tons of minutes and opportunities to sell upward minded grad transfers, who are typically aiming to showcase themselves in a power conference right away as Mark Tollefsen (San Francisco) and Mark Lyons (Xavier) did.
