Oceanside player commits to Arizona

You know, I didn't go to El Camino, but you don't have to go to El Camino High to hate Oceanside High. They're kinda like the Yankees of local football, especially since they've won a record five straight CIF titles.

However, the hatred doesn't change the fact that John Carroll (no relation to USC's Pete) is a damn good coach and he creates good athletes, so I'm really happy to hear that one of Oceanside's players committed to Arizona for the 2010 season.

Jerry Whittaker grew up rooting for the underdog.

When it came to Pac-10 football, that meant following somebody other than USC and UCLA, the two powerhouses located just a two-hour drive from his Oceanside, Calif., home.

"I always liked Arizona, probably because I was always rooting against USC and UCLA," he said. "Even when I was a kid, I thought, 'Arizona — that'd be a nice place to go.'"

Now, he's going.

Whittaker, a 5-foot-11-inch, 170-pound defensive back, verbally committed to the Arizona Wildcats late Monday. The seventh member of the UA's 2010 recruiting class chose the UA over offers from Texas A&M, Washington, Washington State, San Diego State and New Mexico.

Whittaker registered four interceptions as a junior at Oceanside High School, one of the San Diego area's football powerhouses. He was also a stellar wide receiver, catching 30 passes for 543 yards and seven touchdowns.

Whittaker said he's happy playing defense; he spurned interest from Cal and Wyoming, in part because both schools preferred him at receiver.

I really hope that this is a sign of things to come for Arizona. Recruiting out of Southern California is a gold mine year in and year out, so things will definitely turn out well for Arizona if this turns into a trend. As long as Sonny Dykes chooses to stay with us instead of taking teams up on head coach offers (which he'll definitely be getting in the future, count on it) things just continue to look up for Arizona.

Speaking of Arizona football, I've added a countdown timer to Arizona's home opener on the left sidebar.

Arizona's recruiting class: #12 in the nation

In three months, Sean Miller has taken us from no recruiting class whatsoever to #12 in the nation. Just imagine what he'll do with a full recruiting period.

I could not be any prouder of our basketball program at this moment. Actually, that's not true, but our next national championship is yet to come. I'll save the true pride for when Sean cuts down the net.

Things just keep getting better and better

Released from USC, point guard commits to play for Miller, Cats

NEW YORK — Lamont "Momo" Jones on Wednesday became the second straight Oak Hill Academy starting point guard to commit to Arizona.

Only this time, ironically on the eve of Brandon Jennings' ascension into the NBA draft, Jones says he's coming for sure.

Whereas Jennings opted to go straight from Oak Hill to Italian pro ball last season, rather than enroll at UA, Jones said he decided to become a Wildcat guard after taking an impressive visit to Tucson last weekend and meeting with new coach Sean Miller. Jones originally planned a Monday news conference but said Wednesday he did not need to wait.

"Sean Miller is a great coach," Jones said. "I watched him at Xavier and, with what he did there, I have no doubt he will do the same at Arizona. Me and my mother sat down with him and listened to him talk, and we believe this is the best place for us."

Jones signed with USC in April but was released from his letter of intent after USC coach Tim Floyd resigned this month.

This is absolutely great news. Arizona seemed like it was MoMo's #1 school after he left USC, so this isn't surprising. I'm really happy to see him coming to Tucson and he'll definitely be a big asset to us. Interestingly enough, he has a family connection to Arizona's staff: Emanuel 'Book' Richardson, one of our assistants, is Jones' godfather.

What makes this so good is next year. If Miller can put this good of a recruiting class together in this short of a time as our coach, imagine what he'll be able to do for our 2010 class when he's got a full recruiting period to work with. I'm extremely happy about this and I can't wait to get back to McKale Center next year.

One other thing from the article that really stood out to me:

Miller "getting (the UA) job proves how much of a great coach he is," Jones said. "You don't just give anybody the University of Arizona coaching job. You have to be some type of special coach."

Although Miller has not yet coached a game at Arizona, he is drawing praise for his recruiting. Since being hired in April, Miller has lined up four Top100 freshmen, including Parrom, Solomon Hill and big man Kyryl Natyazhko. Arizona could get a fifth after Southern California wing Derrick Williams visits the UA this weekend.

Williams said via text message Tuesday, during a visit to Memphis, that he will visit Tucson this weekend and probably make a decision early next month.

Clark Francis of HoopScoop recruiting service said Jones' addition already gives the UA a 2009 recruiting class tied for 24th.

"This shows Sean Miller can recruit good players, and (Jones) is as good as it's going to get right now," Francis said. "If I were an Arizona fan, I'd be very excited."

Huzzah!

Solomon Hill "bleeds ... red and blue"

Yes!

Daily Star:

Solomon Hill is back in Arizona’s recruiting class, and this time he’s expected to stay.

Hill, a Top 75 wing forward from Los Angeles Fairfax High School, confirmed via text message this morning that he is committing to Arizona after he de-[committed] to the Wildcats in the wake of Lute Olson’s retirement last October and instead chose USC.

Hill was not immediately available for additional comment but his father, Solomon Crawford, said his son would sign a binding letter-of-intent after the spring signing period begins Wednesday now that he has spoken several times with new UA coach Sean Miller.

...

Hill “committed to Lute but Lute retired and I didn’t want him to go there not knowing who the coach was going to be,” Crawford said. “He always loved the school. He bleeds more red and blue than (USC’s) crimson and gold.”

This is absolutely great news. If Miller is working this fast, he'll definitely get a lot done by the time the recruiting period is over, even if he's got the clock working against him, and just think about how great he'll be when recruiting next year.

Solomon Hill update

The Arizona Daily Star now reports that Hill sent them a text message last night stating that he had not committed yet. I'd definitely prefer him to have committed, but there's no use in rushing something like this. At least he's not a definite commit to USC.

More basketball news

Logo changes at McKale Center:

The unique cactus-and-sunset logos, which for 22 years immediately identified UA basketball to television viewers, will be eliminated. The center circle, which read "Lute and Bobbi Olson Court" will also be redone. The school's block A will be inserted at center court.

I don't mind the cactus/sunset logo being removed, but I definitely disagree with moving the Lute and Bobbi Olson Court logo. That's just not right. I don't care if the logo isn't being completely removed like the cactus/sunset are. Lute and Bobbi gave so much to this program. They deserve to be front and center.

In recruiting news, Solomon Hill, who was originally going to come to Arizona but left for USC after Lute left the team, has come back to Arizona after never having officially signed with USC. Unfortunately, I can't find a good link for a story (Rivals.com requires a subscription) but it's all over the internet. However, they all link back to Rivals.com, thus I'm screwed.

I've heard good things about Hill, so I'm glad he's coming back. The fact that Miller is recruiting this quickly is a really good sign for us. Three weeks ago, we had no recruiting class whatsoever for next year. Things are looking up.

Arizona no longer recruiting class-less

Via Bleacher Report:

Sean Miller has [wasted] no time in making an impact at Arizona.

Miller and Whitford had been going after 6'11" center Kyryl Natyazhko from IMG Academy while at Xavier.

In less than a week they convinced the talented big man to join them in Tucson, Ariz.

Natyazhko is the sixth-ranked center, and the number 39-ranked player overall.

Natyazhko is a versatile inside-outside player who will immediately become a starter for Miller.

Natyazhko is a good corner for Miller to build around. He has the big shoes of Jordan Hill to step into.

Miller and his staff are still in play for small forward Solomon Hill, who originally committed to Arizona. He withdrew his commitment when Lute Olson retired, and re-opened his commitment when Miller was named head coach.

Hill appears to prefer Miller's up-tempo system to Tim Floyd's deliberate system.

Victor Rudd, a 6'8" small forward from Las Vegas, is also considering the Wildcats.

Stealing Hill from USC would be great. I'm really happy to see that Miller's getting this program back to stability so quickly. A lot of people are talking about this program not being back on its feet until the 2010-2011 season, but I think that at the pace Miller's going, we could easy be ready to go this coming season. I don't see anything standing in the way of Miller and the program. Plus, what with the Scum Devils losing Pendergraph and Harden, I think that their "streak" of beating us is over.