On NFL Wildcats, Becky Burke’s recruiting, men’s hoops’ ceiling, more | Michael Lev

Current and former Arizona Wildcats are making news. We’ve got views.

News: Multiple ex-Wildcats play key roles for NFL teams in Week 3.

Views: I gotta admit — I’m not used to this.

Arizona didn’t regularly send players to the NFL until the last few years, and those who did make it were typically role players.

The past two drafts have produced two first-round picks and twice as many starters. Let’s take a look at how some of the former Cats are faring through three weeks:

WR Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers: McMillan leads the Panthers in receptions (14) and has more than twice as many yards (216) as any of his teammates. He hasn’t been that efficient (51.9% reception rate) and, surprisingly, has two drops. But he’s drawn rave reviews, even from some of his pre-draft skeptics, and is thriving despite the Panthers’ lack of complementary weapons.

OG Jonah Savaiinaea, Miami Dolphins: Savaiinaea has played all 165 of Miami’s offensive snaps at left guard, and it’s been a struggle. Savaiinaea is the lowest-graded guard in the league, per Pro Football Focus (minimum 52 snaps). Pass blocking has been the biggest issue. Savaiinaea hasn’t allowed a sack, but he has yielded nine quarterback pressures in the past two games. Knowing how hard a worker he is, I expect Savaiinaea to adjust and improve.

PK Tyler Loop, Baltimore Ravens: Loop has missed only one kick so far, and it was costly. It happened in the opener vs. Buffalo — an extra-point attempt that would have given Baltimore a 41-25 lead. The Ravens ended up losing 41-40. Otherwise, Loop has delivered, including four field goals from 40-plus yards. One oddity to note: One of Loop’s kickoffs fell short of the “landing zone” Monday night, resulting in a penalty. Most NFL teams are instructing their kickers to boot kickoffs short of the end zone because a touchback now puts the ball at the 35-yard line.

RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders: The seventh-rounder, who played only one game in his one season at Arizona, has carved out a role with Washington. Croskey-Merritt leads the team in rushes (22), rushing yards (125) and rushing touchdowns (two) despite coming off the bench. Croskey-Merritt is sharing snaps with Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Jeremy McNichols after Austin Ekeler suffered a season-ending injury. Croskey-Merritt’s overall offensive grade of 81.4 is tied for fourth among all running backs, per PFF (minimum 13 snaps).

OL Jordan Morgan, Green Bay Packers: After missing most of his rookie season because of injury, Morgan has played three positions for the Packers — both guard spots and right tackle. He’s been inconsistent and, like most of his linemates, struggled against Cleveland’s nasty front in Week 3 (three pressures and one sack allowed, per PFF). Close followers of the Packers believe Morgan would be better served focusing on one spot on one side of the line.

Others: Defensive back Christian Roland-Wallace, who played four seasons at Arizona before finishing his college career at USC, had four tackles and his second career interception for Kansas City in the Chiefs’ victory over the New York Giants on Sunday night. ... Kicker Nick Folk is still going strong at age 40. Back with the New York Jets, for whom he played from 2010-2016, Folk has made all 11 of his placement kicks this season, including two field goals from 50-plus yards.

News: First-year UA women’s basketball coach Becky Burke continues to rebuild the program.

Views: Burke has hit the ground running (and swimming and cycling, as illustrated by her recent foray into triathlon).

Not only has she constructed a roster for the 2025-26 season from scratch, she has secured verbal commitments from four recruits for the class of ‘26. The last two commits, guards Jasleen Green and Makayla Presser-Palmer, are ranked in the top 60 in ESPN’s SportsCenter NEXT 100.

Burke’s success on the recruiting trail has led to some over-the-top reactions on social media — even from members of the media. I get it. Commitments provide a unique adrenaline rush. They’re inherently exciting.

But while Burke and her staff undoubtedly deserve praise, I would suggest holding your applause for a bit.

Landing a commitment is just the first step. Can Burke and her staff develop those players? Can they keep them? That will be the true measure of success for the program.

Remember: Burke’s predecessor, Adia Barnes, signed the No. 6-rated recruiting class in 2022 and the No. 1-rated class in ‘23.

For a variety of reasons, those classes didn’t deliver on their promise. The only player who’s still here is Montaya Dew, who’s battled multiple knee injuries. All the others were gone before their junior years.

Nowadays, it’s all about retention. The early signs suggest Burke can create a culture that’s conducive to that. Whether she has the financial support to compete in the NIL space — a frequent Barnes complaint toward the end of her tenure — remains to be seen.

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News: UA baseball places six players in Perfect Game’s top 500 high school recruits to make it to college campuses.

Views: Chip Hale has proved over four seasons that he not only can recruit better than most expected — he’d be the first to give a tip of the cap to his staff, led by Trip Couch — but can retain quality players.

Arizona has lost only a handful of players to the transfer portal that it didn’t want to lose under Hale’s watch. Outfielder Mac Bingham (who left to play for Jay Johnson and a payday at LSU) and pitcher Aiden May are the headliners in that small group. (I’m not counting two other UA-to-LSU transfers, Jacob Berry and Riley Cooper, because they never played for Hale.)

Last year, Hale and his staff persuaded top in-state pitching prospects Mason Russell and Smith Bailey to forgo the draft and attend Arizona. Bailey turned out to be one of the best freshman pitchers in the country. Russell — the higher rated of the two — remains a work in progress.

What will right-hander Jack Lafflam, who’s No. 21 on Perfect Game’s list, become? Lafflam is 6-6 and throws in the mid-90s. He had a four-pitch mix at Brophy College Prep, including what Baseball America described as a “high-spin sweeping slider.” Hopefully, we’ll get a glimpse of Lafflam during the Mexican Baseball Fiesta; Arizona typically uses nine pitchers in that game.

The other UA newcomers appearing on PG’s list are catcher/first baseman Caleb Danzeisen (No. 168), catcher Joe Forbes (174), right-hander Benton Hickman (380), infielder Gavin Triezenberg (444) and right-hander Andrew Jacobs Jr. (474).

News: UA softball adds to its highly rated 2027 recruiting class.

Views: Desireé Reed-Francois has yet to make a long-term commitment to Lowe. That isn’t stopping Lowe from building for the future — even beyond the current terms of her contract.

Arizona has six commitments for the class of ‘27. That class is ranked seventh nationally by Softball America.

Assuming they end up here, those players — currently juniors in high school — won’t play in official games as Wildcats until 2028. A lot can change between now and then.

Arizona is coming off a season that ended disappointingly as the Wildcats failed to win an NCAA regional at home for only the second time in 27 attempts.

The program then lost two of its best players, Dakota Kennedy and Kaiah Altmeyer, to the transfer portal, along with four pitchers. The Wildcats added two arms, Jalen Adams (Iowa) and Jenae Berry (Indiana), and enter fall ball with only four pitchers on their roster.

After Arizona used a committee approach the past two seasons, that’s a big philosophical shift. Quality over quantity sounds good, at least on paper.

Arizona returns two all-conference position players in Sydney Stewart and Regan Shockey, and transfer Grace Jenkins was the Big East Player of the Year in 2025. But it’s hard to make the case that the current roster is more talented than the previous one.

It’s also hard to sell the future at Arizona when you’re expected to win in the present. Lowe has to hope she can point to both when contract talks resume next spring.

News: UA men’s basketball lands at No. 15 in Lindy’s preseason Top 25.

Views: I found four other way-too-early Top 25s — CBS, ESPN, Field of 68 and USA Today — and the average ranking for Arizona in those is ... 15. The Wildcats are as high as 11 (CBS) and as low as 17 (Field of 68, USA Today).

Although Arizona returns some well-known veterans such as Jaden Bradley and Tobe Awaka, much about the 2025 Wildcats is unknown. Seven of Arizona’s 12 scholarship players are true freshmen.

My way-too-early read on the team: It’s the most talented squad Tommy Lloyd has assembled since his first season here (2021-22). The ceiling is way higher than No. 15.

There might be some head-scratching setbacks along the way because the team is so young — and will be relying so heavily on some of those young players. But if Lloyd can get them to peak at the right time — March — Arizona could break through and get to an Elite Eight for the first time in over a decade.