With Ryan Luther on board, weekend visitors could help Arizona Wildcats improve 2018 recruiting class

Arizona set to host two more recruits

Arizona’s spring recruiting scramble paid off again Wednesday when the Wildcats received a commitment from Pitt grad transfer forward Ryan Luther.

More could be coming, too. Now with three commitments in less than two weeks, the Wildcats have two more targets scheduled to visit campus within the next week: Lithuanian high school center Lukas Kisunas and grad transfer guard Justin Coleman (Samford).

A 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward from Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, Luther visited Arizona last weekend along with Belgian forward Omar Thielemans, who also committed to the Wildcats. Luther told 247Sports that he has a good relationship with UA coach Sean Miller, a former Pitt player, and enjoyed spending time with the Wildcat players last weekend.

Luther has struggled with injuries to his right foot over the past two seasons, missing 12 games in 2016-17 and 22 games last season. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Luther’s injury last season was a stress reaction involving the third metatarsal in his right foot while his 2016-17 injury was a stress fracture in the second metatarsal of his right foot.

However, Luther was leading the Panthers in scoring (12.7 points) and rebounding (10.1) when he was sidelined for good in January last season — and the fact that he only played in 10 games just barely qualified him to receive a medical redshirt and repeat his senior season in 2018-19.

Assuming he graduates from Pitt this spring or summer, Luther will also be able to play immediately for the Wildcats in 2018-19, joining a frontcourt that already includes Chase Jeter, Ira Lee, Emmanuel Akot and Thielemans.

“It’s going to be my fifth year and hopefully I can bring experience and leadership and skill and versatility at the four position,” Luther told 247Sports. “They have a great core of guys. I think it was a good match.”

Luther had an uneven experience at Pitt. Recruited by former Panthers coach Jamie Dixon, Luther averaged only eight minutes in 23 games as a freshman in 2014-15 and, after Luther averaged 5.0 points in 2015-16, Dixon left for TCU.

Luther then had two-injury plagued seasons under coach Kevin Stallings, and started looking into a grad transfer option after Pitt fired Stallings in March.

“I am disappointed with the decision to fire coach Stallings,” Luther posted on Twitter in March. “Our team wanted to be here and play for coach Stallings and his amazing staff.”

UA’s next wave of visitors all have reasons to move on, too.

Kisunas decommitted from UConn after the school fired coach Kevin Ollie.

Coleman, meanwhile, is considering a jump back to power conference basketball after becoming a part-time starter over two seasons at Alabama, sitting out 2016-17 at Samford, and then leading the Southern Conference in assists per game (6.3) last season.

Here’s a more detailed look at Arizona’s next visitors:

Lukas Kisunas

Position: Center

Age: 19

Size: 6 feet 9 inches, 255 pounds

Visit schedule: Arizona (Thursday/Friday), Stanford (April 27), Wake Forest (possible). Kisunas visited UConn and Illinois last fall before signing with the Huskies.

Game: Strong, physical presence who can screen, rebound and score inside.

2017-18 stats: 10.0 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game at Brewster last season. Also averaged 8.9 points and 6.4 rebounds for Lithuania’s U18 team in FIBA European Championship in summer 2017.

Worth noting: Kisunas has been the starting center for Lithuania’s U16, U17 and U18 teams in past summers. Also has a 3.5 GPA at Brewster, where former UA guard Justin Simon spent his senior season of high school.

He said it: “He’s very physical and a tremendous screener. He’s able to score in the post with both his left and right hand and over both shoulders. He has a very strong understanding of the game. Outstanding teammate and was one of our captains this year at Brewster.” – Brewster coach Jason Smith, to the Star via email.

Potential fit at UA: Kisunas would give the Wildcats size and strength inside on a team that so far lacks a player bigger than the 6-10, 230-pound Chase Jeter and the 6-7, 235-pound Ira Lee. The Wildcats lost 7-footers Deandre Ayton and Dusan Ristic, plus the 6-9 Keanu Pinder after last season.

Justin Coleman

Position: Point guard

Age: 22

Size: 5-10, 170

Visit schedule: Texas (April 9), Texas Southern (April 13), SMU (Saturday), Arizona (April 25). Also considering Marquette, Ohio State, UAB, Auburn, Saint Louis.

Game: Small but quick true point guard with good ballhandling and enough outside shooting to keep defenders honest.

2017-18 stats: Averaged 13.5 points and 6.3 assists per game while posting a 2.4-1 assist-turnover ratio. He also hit 80.6 percent of his free throws and 37.3 from 3-point range.

Worth noting: A four-star recruit out of Birmingham in 2014, Coleman spent his first two seasons at Alabama. He started 16 of 67 games for the Tide and put up the second-best season free-throw mark (89.0) as a sophomore in 2015-16. He then transferred to Samford, in the Birmingham suburbs.

He said it: “Even going back to his time in high school, you could definitely see that he’s an explosive playmaker and that he can get downhill, get in the paint and either create for himself, or set up an easy basket for others. He has a great work-ethic and love for the game. He also competes on every play and wants to win. Those are the things that definitely draw your attention as a coach.” — Samford coach Scott Padgett, in a statement on Samford’s website.

Potential fit at UA: The Wildcats don’t have an established point guard, with Parker Jackson-Cartwright graduating and sophomore Alex Barcello having fallen out of the Wildcats’ rotation last season. So Coleman could become the Wildcats’ starting point guard, bringing experience and speed to the UA backcourt.

Zach Johnson

Position: Shooting guard

Age: 22

Size: 6-2, 195

Game: Strong all-around playmaker who can drive to the basket and score or kick it out.

Was scheduled to visit Arizona on Sunday. Committed to Miami on Thursday.

2017-18 stats: Averaged 16.1 points per game while shooting 39.2 percent from 3-point range, 46.9 percent overall from the field and 78.1 percent from the free-throw line. Also averaged 3.0 assists to 2.25 turnovers per game.

Worth noting: Johnson has also declared for the NBA Draft without signing with an agent in an effort to get more feedback on his game. He must complete “quite a bit of summer course work” in order to graduate this summer, according to the Naples Daily News.

He said it:  "Zach has certainly come on strong of late, but he might have been our most consistent player all year. He's also often guarding the other team's best player, and that sometimes is overlooked with his offensive game." — Then-FGCU coach Joe Dooley, before the Eagles opened NIT play in March.

Potential fit at UA: Johnson would have hit on several needs for the Wildcats, bringing experience, scoring and defense to the backcourt. He also had potential to play at point guard.