I wouldn't undersell Ashley's defense at the PF. He's not an elite athlete, but he's very good, and understands how to use his body on the block better than most. He's a scrapper as well. Johnson was once considered an elite defender in the making, so I think he'll make some strides as well. It should be one of the tougher defensive teams in the Pac, for sure, with very good depth, assuming Parrom can return to anything of note at SF. The weak links are Mayes, York and Tarczewski as defenders. Neither do much, but Tarc should still run into a few blocked shots since he's 7-foot, but his post defense isn't where it needs to be yet. As he gets stronger he'll improve. Maybe same for Jerrett, but he's so smart and has such good fundamentals, I think he's a better defender already.
Even though they suck this year and are a long shot to make the tournament, I couldn't be more excited for next season. Turner and Chol have been so good on defense recently. If Jerrett or Tarc (prolly Jerrett since he seems more ready) can emerge next season as a big body next to Chol Miller will finally have the powerhouse defensive team he's wanted from the start. I don't see scoring being a problem at all with Solo as a senior, Turner hopefully working on his shot, Nick Johnson getting better, and Ashley being an immediate contributor. Defensively though they can be REALLY good next year the way Turner and Chol are playing.
I'm hearing rumblings that 5-Star RB Demetrius Hart may be transferring from Alabama, and that Arizona is a school he's strongly considering, as he formerly committed to Rodriguez at Michigan. He suffered a torn ACL in spring practice last year and medically red-shirted last season. I think he has 4 years to play 4. He is worried how over-recruited he has been, with Alabama bringing in three additional 5-Star backs since the injury, most of the 6-1, 220 size variety, rather than Hart's 5-9, 185. Also hearing Neal is likely going to switch his last official from Oklahoma to Arizona and visit next weekend. There are unconfirmed rumblings that he was seen on campus on an unofficial this weekend. Adding two athletes of Hart and Neal's stature would be a huge boost.
Haha... on cue, my guy said he heard that Neal tried to commit to Ohio State some time this weekend, but they refused to accept. I guess this has left a bad taste, and he's now moved up the Arizona visit to this weekend, and has made it an official. He now has several Chaparral teammates on Arizona, including best friend Cody Ippolito. This might explain his new-found confidence. This class looks much better with Neal, a borderline 5-star athlete.
I can understand, but if you look at his classes at West Virginia, they were littered with 2/3-star recruits from Florida, and many were his best players. His system needs speed and few states have it like Florida. As for the other states, this is what I'm hearing... Fuller has family in LA area and was wooed by the "Vick" factor and the promise of playing QB. Most I know say with certainty Fuller is not a good pro-style QB and likely won't be QB for long. Rippy has grade issues that are pretty scary. Some reports have him as an unlikely qualifier. No reason to waste the offer, hence why it was pulled when was favoring Arizona. Neal, my guy says, despite the trip to Oklahoma for his final official, is a slight lean to Arizona at this point. No guarantee, but Arizona is in it. There's lots of speed at the skill positions and key defensive spots. That's important. However, I have zero delusions that this is a strong class. Solid, but very Stoopsish, minus the speed.
I'm not sure why Rich Rod thinks 2 star prospects from Florida are better than 3 or 4 star prospects from other states, but hopefully his massive failure with this class is enough for him to realize that trying to build a Florida recruiting pipeline from Tucson is a really stupid idea.
Well... Things are in freefall at the moment. Neal still visiting, but now unofficially, with his last official being taken to Oklahoma. Arizona dropped it's recruitment of Rippy, most likely due to grades. Arizona is still in on several good prospects, but Fuller's announcement has killed momentum. Word is there are some transfers on the plate, but exactly who I am not privy to.
Fuller is an idiot then if Mora's experience with Vick sold him given that Mora did nothing special with Vick...
Not exactly sure how UCLA came on so fast for Fuller. It was a shock as of this morning. Big shock. Mora sold Fuller on his coaching experience with Vick from what I hear, plus LA's spotlight, but his entire camp wanted Arizona. Fuller went against his handlers. Will be interesting to see if he signs with UCLA of if his camp gets him to reconsider. Word is there's a few big-time silent commits. Not sure who, though. I'm hoping Neal is one. As I said earlier, Florida is now open and two more 3-star prospects from Florida are on board. I've long maintained 3-star in Florida is 4-star just about everywhere else.
Is this the handle you're mostly using now? With Schiano to Tampa, Fuller to UA is a good possibility. Rutgers can rally, but if he opts to stay his course of deciding Sunday, his most recent experiences for Arizona are all positive and for Rutgers almost all discouraging. Plus, Arizona is the only place he's guaranteed to play QB with Rutgers coaching/system up in the air. There's a good possibility Fuller, Neal and Rippy all join Arizona, giving them one borderline 5-star (Neal) and another two solid 4-star prospects with a solid class already (a few additional 4-stars, a few underrated 3-stars, a few FL kids).
