Miller once again does it again!

[Russ Smith]

I don't see why he just doesn't go overseas instead of a prep school so he can get paid legally.

Well he's connected to the same people that were around Chol when he was in HS. So I don't think even he wanted to play college ball Arizona would be the pick because Chol ended up on bad terms with Miller, of no real fault by Miller he just wasn't good enough.

UCLA stopped recruiting Chol going into his junior year because they were concerned the money he was getting from local people was not going to be ruled as a Michael Oher situation but as a situation where his amateur status was being violated. Ultimately the NCAA decided the family was acting as his legal guardians and helping him financially so he was cleared to play.

Some of the same people are now involved with Ayton which has of course raised the obvious question, why do these people keep "adopting" really tall and foreign kids who just happen to be really good at basketball? I think it's too late for them to care about Chol but the general perception is people think they have a deal where when Ayton turns pro, he will pay the family, and in the eyes of the NCAA, that means he's not an amateur.

his story is very similar to Jeremy Tyler, both he and Tyler were "discovered " by Shaun Manning a San Diego area guy who founded the Cal Supreme AAU program. Tyler was "stolen" from Manning when he took up with Master P and his AAU team and decided to turn pro after his junior year. Now Ayton has been "stolen" by the Prepschool coach he hand picked for Balboa Prep to hire, and that guy is allegedly connected to this family that was involved with Chol.

Wouldn't be a stunner if he winds up doing what Tyler did, although Tyler didn't do all that well, he never got fully paid overseas and his NBA career has not gone anywhere.

SI has the whole story spelled out http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/08/03/deandrey-ayton-recruiting-2017-top-prospect-bahamas

 

[overseascardfan]

In a mild surprise, Gilbert Christian's Mitch Lightfoot committed to KU yesterday. I thought he was as close of a lock to UA than the rest of their remaining targets. I know he was born in Kansas and his grandfather played there but I don't believe his comment at his press conference that he always wanted to go to KU because he took an awfully long time after his UNM decommitment to pick the Jayhawks. Looking at some UA message boards, fans could care less as most say they didn't want him because he wasn't UA good (he ended #99 in 2016 Top 100), I think he could be a good 4 year player if he can develop his body. He mentioned Markkenan's commitment did not factor into his decision as he felt he could have played with him with no problems.

Anyone have the skinny on UA's last remaining post target, PF/C De'Ron Davis? Last I heard he was down to a Final 3 with UA on his list but it looks like he may have expanded his list again and the latest update was he visited IU last month and doesn't have any other visits currently scheduled.

 

[TJ]

In a mild surprise, Gilbert Christian's Mitch Lightfoot committed to KU yesterday. I thought he was as close of a lock to UA than the rest of their remaining targets. I know he was born in Kansas and his grandfather played there but I don't believe his comment at his press conference that he always wanted to go to KU because he took an awfully long time after his UNM decommitment to pick the Jayhawks. Looking at some UA message boards, fans could care less as most say they didn't want him because he wasn't UA good (he ended #99 in 2016 Top 100), I think he could be a good 4 year player if he can develop his body. He mentioned Markkenan's commitment did not factor into his decision as he felt he could have played with him with no problems.

Anyone have the skinny on UA's last remaining post target, PF/C De'Ron Davis? Last I heard he was down to a Final 3 with UA on his list but it looks like he may have expanded his list again and the latest update was he visited IU last month and doesn't have any other visits currently scheduled.

He's a 6'7" center with very little upside. He would've been a 4-year hustle guy off the bench at best. Kind of glad we kept that scholarship.

When Lauri committed, Lightfoot changed his mind. He was Zona all of the way.

The smart move for Lightfoot would've been to go to Stanford, where he had an offer. 4-year guy with no nba talent. Might as well get a prestigious degree if you're gonna be a bench guy your college tenure.

 

[overseascardfan]

The smart move for Lightfoot would've been to go to Stanford, where he had an offer. 4-year guy with no nba talent. Might as well get a prestigious degree if you're gonna be a bench guy your college tenure.

Very true.

 

[Russ Smith]

FWIW I'm hearing Miller and staff are extremely confident UA is getting Josh Jackson.

I don't care what anybody else says he's the best prospect in the class. Even before Giles got hurt again.

I love UCLA's class but Jackson is going to be a stud. Seems like the rumors he's going pro have all stopped the mom has made it clear that's not the plan. MSU fans still think he's going to Michigan State but most people seem to think it's UA.

 

[GatorAZ]

FWIW I'm hearing Miller and staff are extremely confident UA is getting Josh Jackson.

I don't care what anybody else says he's the best prospect in the class. Even before Giles got hurt again.

I love UCLA's class but Jackson is going to be a stud. Seems like the rumors he's going pro have all stopped the mom has made it clear that's not the plan. MSU fans still think he's going to Michigan State but most people seem to think it's UA.

He's the best prospect that Arizona would ever had if he did indeed go there. Technically it was Jennings but the whole Lute thing happened.

 

[Russ Smith]

He's the best prospect that Arizona would ever had if he did indeed go there. Technically it was Jennings but the whole Lute thing happened.

Well that and he didn't get a qualifying SAT score and had to go pro.

But yeah Jackson is spectacular, Gordon and Stanley were good but this kid is on another level of good.

He's not committing early so UA will have to wait and anything is possible but it sounds like he's all but given them a silent verbal that he's coming.

 

[GatorAZ]

Well that and he didn't get a qualifying SAT score and had to go pro.

But yeah Jackson is spectacular, Gordon and Stanley were good but this kid is on another level of good.

He's not committing early so UA will have to wait and anything is possible but it sounds like he's all but given them a silent verbal that he's coming.

What'd he get on his SAT?

Jennings and Bayless backcourt dayuuum.

 

[overseascardfan]

Well that and he didn't get a qualifying SAT score and had to go pro.

But yeah Jackson is spectacular, Gordon and Stanley were good but this kid is on another level of good.

He's not committing early so UA will have to wait and anything is possible but it sounds like he's all but given them a silent verbal that he's coming.

Markkanen & Jackson would make this an elite class (Jackson alone would make it) but UA is also still in on 4-star G Andrew Jones so this recruiting season could end with a bang. UA lost out on De'Ron Davis so Markkanen looks like the lone post player in this class.

Question, does UA end up offering Mike Bibby Jr a scholarship? They have no PG in this class and all the top guys are headed elsewhere, so do they bite the bullet and make a run at him?

 

[TJ]

Question, does UA end up offering Mike Bibby Jr a scholarship? They have no PG in this class and all the top guys are headed elsewhere, so do they bite the bullet and make a run at him?

Highly unlikely that they offer Bibby.

 

[Russ Smith]

What'd he get on his SAT?

Jennings and Bayless backcourt dayuuum.

Nobody knows because he turned pro and then ages later insisted he had qualified but chose to go overseas. Let's just say essentially nobody that followed that recruitment and his HS career believed him. He cheated on the SAT when he was committed to USC, lots of USC kids at that time were doing stuff like that, either using BYU online to qualify, or getting help on the SAT.

A friend of mine is a reporter for the LA Times, one of his colleagues wrote a big expose on USC basketball academics under Tim Floyd at the time but the Times killed it at the last minute over threats of legal action because academics are a privacy issue. He's told me several times that Jennings was one of the kids in the article because USC set him up with someone to help him cheat.

 

[Russ Smith]

Leaf finally made it official to UCLA. Really weird recruitment early on we were being told it was UCLA, then the Adidas Nations stuff happened. He goes the other way and commits to UA. then Miller cuts him from the national team he goes to Israel comes back and decommits.

My big concern is the dad, I seriously doubt Leaf starts as a freshman, he's got to beat out Bolden and if he's not starting the dad won't be happy and will be a pain in the butt. IN that regard UA probably got the better end of it, Markkanen is a good player, might even turn out better than Leaf, and doesn't appear to have the meddling father issue that Leaf has.

I think Leaf is a 3 year player with a dad who has a 1 year plan so could get interesting.

I think Miller is getting Josh Jackson so even though UCLA's class will be higher rated, teh argument would be the biggest impact guy is going to be Jackson. I think both teams look like top 10 next year or better if UA gets Jackson and UCLA doesn't unexpectedly lose any key guys.

pac could be loaded, Oregon looks pretty good and if UW has another good class they could be good. Could have 4 or 5 teams ranked next season.

 

[overseascardfan]

Leaf finally made it official to UCLA. Really weird recruitment early on we were being told it was UCLA, then the Adidas Nations stuff happened. He goes the other way and commits to UA. then Miller cuts him from the national team he goes to Israel comes back and decommits.

My big concern is the dad, I seriously doubt Leaf starts as a freshman, he's got to beat out Bolden and if he's not starting the dad won't be happy and will be a pain in the butt. IN that regard UA probably got the better end of it, Markkanen is a good player, might even turn out better than Leaf, and doesn't appear to have the meddling father issue that Leaf has.

I think Leaf is a 3 year player with a dad who has a 1 year plan so could get interesting.

I think Miller is getting Josh Jackson so even though UCLA's class will be higher rated, teh argument would be the biggest impact guy is going to be Jackson. I think both teams look like top 10 next year or better if UA gets Jackson and UCLA doesn't unexpectedly lose any key guys.

pac could be loaded, Oregon looks pretty good and if UW has another good class they could be good. Could have 4 or 5 teams ranked next season.

ORE's class consists of (3) 4-star recruits, is the appeal of Nike finally starting to build them into a basketball school or is Altman that good of a recruiter?

 

[Russ Smith]

ORE's class consists of (3) 4-star recruits, is the appeal of Nike finally starting to build them into a basketball school or is Altman that good of a recruiter?

He's getting on recruits now that really make no sense. You would have thought the rape scandal thing would kill the program. To be fair, part of it is ORegon seems to get who Altman is, he's quite willing to take a bunch of transfers with iffy pasts and give them a 2nd chance. you either go with that or you don't and Oregon has. That keeps them competitive and now they're getting better recruits too. He's a finalist for Malik Monk in a group that also has Kansas, UNC and Kentucky, pretty amazing for a kid from Arkansas but they've got that Nike draw.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

UCLA can get as many kids as they want and tout their recruiting rankings but they'll still be mediocre as long as Daddy Ball is the main offensive set.

 

[Russ Smith]

UCLA can get as many kids as they want and tout their recruiting rankings but they'll still be mediocre as long as Daddy Ball is the main offensive set.

I do agree the Bryce thing is an issue. Under 40% for 2 seasons, after 1 TO prone game they ask his dad what his solution is for all the turnovers and he says we need to put Bryce back on the ball.

Ultimately Holiday is going to push him off the ball this year and then next year Lonzo Ball.

I would add, clearly Miller is worried about the recent surge in UCLA recruiting, otherwise he wouldn't have used the press conference to rip on UCLA's lack of attendance and ask why a young kid would want to attend a school with poor attendance when they can go to UA and have sellouts every game. I agree the attendance is an issue, has been for years, too many other things to do and too much traffic. Even in the FF years under Howland they weren't consistently selling out. I do think the reason Miller pointed it out now is he has seen the turn in recruiting and he wants to try and put the thought in future recruits heads they should pick Arizona, not UCLA.

Will be interesting to see if Alford fires back or not. Maybe point out the Tarc, Ashley, jerrett class that saw all 3 of them watch their NBA stock fall off a cliff in college.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Russ has an interesting point. Miller may have had a few high picks (Derrick Williams, Gordon, and Stanley), but none have had success in the nba. Compared to zona players past, millers regime hasn't turned out the pros in near proliferation that lute did.

The exception in my mind is Solomon. His stock actually rose in the draft. But he's perhaps the only one.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Yeah I've forgotten how well guys like Jordan Adams, Kyle Anderson, and Looney are doing in the NBA. And highly rated guys like Tony Parker, the Wear nerds, Isaac Hamilton have turned out.

Stanley and Gordon were lottery picks before the draft and stayed there. Derrick Williams was a nobody out of HS and went #2 overall. McConnell was recruited by Duquesne and is starting in the NBA. Nick Johnson is a 6'1 SG who isn't a good shooter and made a few million in the NBA. Solomon Hill again never had the athleticism or jumper to play 3 for a long time in the NBA but made a few million. Yeah guys like Jerrett, Tarc, and Ashley didn't pan out but nobody bats 1.000. Tarczewski for example was clearly an overrated prospect out of HS because he has small hands and his game doesn't translate to today's NBA. Ten years ago he probably would have gotten a look.

The Miller is worried narrative is funny. Anyone with two eyes knows he's a better coach than Alford and on a personal the fact that he hasn't enabled rapists in the past and isn't a firm believer in blatant nepotism likely make him a better person. This is all due to one AAU coach and program and those trends change over time. So yeah Alford can go ahead and take shots if he wants but he's recruiting right there with UA and is performing worse (Monmouth!) on the court.

 

[Russ Smith]

Yeah I've forgotten how well guys like Jordan Adams, Kyle Anderson, and Looney are doing in the NBA. And highly rated guys like Tony Parker, the Wear nerds, Isaac Hamilton have turned out.

Stanley and Gordon were lottery picks before the draft and stayed there. Derrick Williams was a nobody out of HS and went #2 overall. McConnell was recruited by Duquesne and is starting in the NBA. Nick Johnson is a 6'1 SG who isn't a good shooter and made a few million in the NBA. Solomon Hill again never had the athleticism or jumper to play 3 for a long time in the NBA but made a few million. Yeah guys like Jerrett, Tarc, and Ashley didn't pan out but nobody bats 1.000. Tarczewski for example was clearly an overrated prospect out of HS because he has small hands and his game doesn't translate to today's NBA. Ten years ago he probably would have gotten a look.

The Miller is worried narrative is funny. Anyone with two eyes knows he's a better coach than Alford and on a personal the fact that he hasn't enabled rapists in the past and isn't a firm believer in blatant nepotism likely make him a better person. This is all due to one AAU coach and program and those trends change over time. So yeah Alford can go ahead and take shots if he wants but he's recruiting right there with UA and is performing worse (Monmouth!) on the court.

Well if we want to take the gloves off lets.

Anderson is on one of the best teams in the NBA and in the rotation. Jordan Adams was the least heralded recruit in his class and was a first round NBA pick and on a team that was good(not this year) he's getting minutes. Alford took a kid in Powell that wanted to leave, a kid you told us here nobody wanted out of HS and Arizona dropped recruiting because he wasn't any good, and put him into the NBA. I think it's great McConnell is playing he's a good college player but he's starting for a team that's 0-11, the worst team in the NBA and one that's been regularly used as an example of a team tanking for draft picks. He wouldn't be playing if he were on the Spurs or Grizzlies, I'm not sure he'd make either roster.

Parker was so buried under Howland he wanted to leave, now he's a solid Pac 12 C while undersized, he's clearly getting better.

As for the Miller is a better person stuff. I didn't want Alford but do you really think Alford would admit a kid to UCLA who got caught cheating THREE times in HS? Do you think he'd then go in front of reporters and say he made a mistake, he owned up to it, he's a great kid, when in reality he didn't own up to it, he left the school and then he and his dad publicly blasted the school for removing him from the basketball team. Miller is like every other coach, he wants to win and he's willing to do whatever it takes to win, including taking kids like Josiah Turner when everyone is warning him not to. And when confronted with the revelation that his prize PG recruit was part of a "big well organized group of cheaters" in HS, he didn't bat an eye in keeping the kid. Why, because he can play basketball.

Alford took flack for Tony Snell trying to convince him to stay in college but I'd much prefer that to what Miller did to Bejarano. I don't recall seeing Alford after a Pac 12 tourney game screaming obscenities at a Pac 12 employee so much so that she left the room crying and warned the tv crew not to go in there because they didn't want Millers outburst on tv.

Alfords situation at Iowa was bad, its' entirely why I wouldn't have hired him at UCLA, but he appears to have learned from it. He's disciplined kids at UCLA every time he's had issues. I don't like the Bryce thing but it's human nature, lots of coaches before him have done it, Saul Smith's dad won an NC at UK and he did the exact same thing, and to be fair, Bryce is a better player than Saul ever was.

Miller has now twice in about 2 weeks publicly called out TJ Leaf. first his comments abuot a kid not making the team at a tryout and then not wanting to put the time and effort in to improve in college. Who exactly do you think he was talking about? Then the latest stuff. TJ Leaf is 17,Miller is 47 you can't find too many other examples of a highly paid college coach trashing a HS kid twice in public like that. Miller is mad that he didn't get Leaf, he's noticed that suddenly his hold on WC recruiting is gone. He doesn't have the Soldiers pipeline, they don't have the talent anyways, and he's decided to try and take shots at UCLA now because of it.

if he's not worried why exactly has he gone after Leaf and UCLA twice in the last 2 weeks? Has he done that before, no, the only other coach I can think ofrecently who did that is Andy Enfield and people here think he's a clown.

 

[Russ Smith]

Russ has an interesting point. Miller may have had a few high picks (Derrick Williams, Gordon, and Stanley), but none have had success in the nba. Compared to zona players past, millers regime hasn't turned out the pros in near proliferation that lute did.

The exception in my mind is Solomon. His stock actually rose in the draft. But he's perhaps the only one.

At UA he has a history of not using his bigs. This years team is interesting because he's loaded up front, Tarc looks better and Ristic can score it'll be interesting to see if they continue to be a guard and wing oriented offense or if he starts to run plays for the bigs instead of expecting them to get their own on the offensive glass.

Ashley was hampered by the injury but the reality is he came to UA to be a 3 and it didn't really happen he was never really the 3 he was always a 4 or a hybrid 4. Jerrett came to UA to be a face up 4 and was stuck at the backup 5. Tarc is playing the right position and has become an exceptional defender, but they don't run any offense for him.

UA will return Comanche and Ristic up front next year and has only 1 commit from a big and they had to go overseas to get that one, I think it's pretty reasonable to suggest that recent failures of highly regarded bigs has impacted UA's recruiting for 2016. He'll get Jackson, and have a good class but not the class he wanted or needed, he'll have to get transfer again to cover the holes up front. It appears kids and AAU coaches have noticed the bigs at ARizona aren't developing.

 

[overseascardfan]

Well if we want to take the gloves off lets.

Anderson is on one of the best teams in the NBA and in the rotation. Jordan Adams was the least heralded recruit in his class and was a first round NBA pick and on a team that was good(not this year) he's getting minutes. Alford took a kid in Powell that wanted to leave, a kid you told us here nobody wanted out of HS and Arizona dropped recruiting because he wasn't any good, and put him into the NBA. I think it's great McConnell is playing he's a good college player but he's starting for a team that's 0-11, the worst team in the NBA and one that's been regularly used as an example of a team tanking for draft picks. He wouldn't be playing if he were on the Spurs or Grizzlies, I'm not sure he'd make either roster.

Parker was so buried under Howland he wanted to leave, now he's a solid Pac 12 C while undersized, he's clearly getting better.

As for the Miller is a better person stuff. I didn't want Alford but do you really think Alford would admit a kid to UCLA who got caught cheating THREE times in HS? Do you think he'd then go in front of reporters and say he made a mistake, he owned up to it, he's a great kid, when in reality he didn't own up to it, he left the school and then he and his dad publicly blasted the school for removing him from the basketball team. Miller is like every other coach, he wants to win and he's willing to do whatever it takes to win, including taking kids like Josiah Turner when everyone is warning him not to. And when confronted with the revelation that his prize PG recruit was part of a "big well organized group of cheaters" in HS, he didn't bat an eye in keeping the kid. Why, because he can play basketball.

Alford took flack for Tony Snell trying to convince him to stay in college but I'd much prefer that to what Miller did to Bejarano. I don't recall seeing Alford after a Pac 12 tourney game screaming obscenities at a Pac 12 employee so much so that she left the room crying and warned the tv crew not to go in there because they didn't want Millers outburst on tv.

Alfords situation at Iowa was bad, its' entirely why I wouldn't have hired him at UCLA, but he appears to have learned from it. He's disciplined kids at UCLA every time he's had issues. I don't like the Bryce thing but it's human nature, lots of coaches before him have done it, Saul Smith's dad won an NC at UK and he did the exact same thing, and to be fair, Bryce is a better player than Saul ever was.

Miller has now twice in about 2 weeks publicly called out TJ Leaf. first his comments abuot a kid not making the team at a tryout and then not wanting to put the time and effort in to improve in college. Who exactly do you think he was talking about? Then the latest stuff. TJ Leaf is 17,Miller is 47 you can't find too many other examples of a highly paid college coach trashing a HS kid twice in public like that. Miller is mad that he didn't get Leaf, he's noticed that suddenly his hold on WC recruiting is gone. He doesn't have the Soldiers pipeline, they don't have the talent anyways, and he's decided to try and take shots at UCLA now because of it.

if he's not worried why exactly has he gone after Leaf and UCLA twice in the last 2 weeks? Has he done that before, no, the only other coach I can think ofrecently who did that is Andy Enfield and people here think he's a clown.

First, let me just say I am not a UA poster (ASU grad) but my allegiance is to the state of ARZ (born and raised).

I agree with a majority of your post Russ, Miller should take the high road and move on from the TJ Leaf / UCLA situation. Yes, Miller is no choir boy but there aren't many successful college coaches that haven't got any dirt on them. I also agree that Miller's WC recruiting magic is not as dominating as it once was but he's got kids from all over the country at least looking at UA. Miller's problem is exactly as you mentioned, the highly rated bigs he brought in didn't have the impact everyone expected because they were playing out of position but that is not all on Miller because e had to fit them somewhere to get them on the court. Miller's recruiting classes have mainly been highlighted by wings and guards (Trier is the highest rated recruit this year) so that contributes to the lack of post players getting drafted. Barring a spectacular season or tournament Tarc will probably end up going in the 2nd round if drafted at all. Maybe Anderson gets looks in the draft but again how his season goes will dictate that.

Where I disagree, is that TJ Leaf or his meddling dad started it all IMO. TJ gets cut from the USA team and then decommits out of spite. I have a real problem with people not honoring commitments (particularly football flips). Again, maybe Leaf was just doing what his dad told him to but the kid has to make his own decisions in life.

 

[Russ Smith]

First, let me just say I am not a UA poster (ASU grad) but my allegiance is to the state of ARZ (born and raised).

I agree with a majority of your post Russ, Miller should take the high road and move on from the TJ Leaf / UCLA situation. Yes, Miller is no choir boy but there aren't many successful college coaches that haven't got any dirt on them. I also agree that Miller's WC recruiting magic is not as dominating as it once was but he's got kids from all over the country at least looking at UA. Miller's problem is exactly as you mentioned, the highly rated bigs he brought in didn't have the impact everyone expected because they were playing out of position but that is not all on Miller because e had to fit them somewhere to get them on the court. Miller's recruiting classes have mainly been highlighted by wings and guards (Trier is the highest rated recruit this year) so that contributes to the lack of post players getting drafted. Barring a spectacular season or tournament Tarc will probably end up going in the 2nd round if drafted at all. Maybe Anderson gets looks in the draft but again how his season goes will dictate that.

Where I disagree, is that TJ Leaf or his meddling dad started it all IMO. TJ gets cut from the USA team and then decommits out of spite. I have a real problem with people not honoring commitments (particularly football flips). Again, maybe Leaf was just doing what his dad told him to but the kid has to make his own decisions in life.

on the 2nd part if you blame the dad that's ok but it goes both ways. first off if you go back through the thread you'll see where I commented on Leafs dad having a falling out with Don Maclean at Adidas Nations, that's why UA got his commit in the first place. TJ plays for an Adidas AAU team(Compton Magic) and his dad is his HS coach and his HS is an Adidas Team. There's a pic of TJ playing for Israel posing with the Israeli coach and his dad, the coach is all decked out in Nike, TJ is in Nikes, and the dad is wearing Adidas head to toe. The dad got mad, threatened to change AAU teams to a Nike team, they visited UA and committed. Then he didn't make the National team the dad got mad and decommitted. Josh Gershon who's a UA guy through and through has posted more than once on BRO that he believes UCLA was TJ's choice all along, before the UA commit and after the decommit he believes TJ ended up where he wanted to be all along. And again, he's 17, he was 16 when he verballed to Arizona.

Miller is like anybody else, do you really believe Eric Cooper Jr would be at Arizona right now if his dad hadn't publicly decommitted? I sure don't, I don't think Arizona would have taken him, even though they accepted his commitment to help get Jerrett.

Miller took Tyler Dorsey, the day the kid committed he started calling himself the next great PG at PGU, the dad was very public about it we're going to play PG. Then it became clear to them Miller didn't see him as a PG afterall, he didn't make the national team, and he decommitted. I think most UA fans will admit that was a mutual decision, Miller was already recruiting over him(Simon and Trier) and Miller wanted him to decommit. He didn't publicly pull the offer, but it's pretty well assumed that Dorsey knew UA didn't want him anymore and wanted him to move along so he did.

It goes both ways.

I think Leafs' dad Brad could be an issue at UCLA, he seems hyper involved, but I still think it's wrong of Miller to go after the kid publicly it just seems very petty. I think Miller is mad that he thinks Adidas influenced the recruitment but he didn't seem to have any problems taking all the Soldiers kids who were being steered by Nike. he doesn't seem to have any issue with Josh Jackson whose own mother recently complained she was tired of shoe companies tryign to dictate where her son went to college, which is when all the Michigan State rumors surfaced because she was allegedly wanting her son to stay home.

Jackson is the perfect example, his last HS team was Nike, then he went to Prolific Prep which was Adidas. his AAU team the president is his dad, the co founder is his mom, and they're sponsored by Under Armour. he's allegedly down to Arizona(Nike), Kansas(Adidas) and Maryland(Under Armour). Michigan State is allegedly in there too but nobody seems sure, technically they are out of scholarships but I'm sure they'd find one for Jackson. it's actually in a way refreshing to see an elite kid with a list that is not controlled by one shoe company but then he's sort of playing the field he's been endorsed by all 3 companies at one point or another so it makes sense.

I'm not saying Miller is some evil guy but I do think the situation with leaf is very unusual, you don't see college coaches doing what Miller did. I'm glad Alford came back and defended UCLA and stuck up for Leaf, I would have been pretty disappointed if he hadn't.

 

[GatorAZ]

We definitely got spoiled by Miller's recruiting. For a few years there it was like Kentucky-West but this is down year by previous year's standards. I don't think it's anything to be really worried about.

Let's just say Josh Jackson goes to MSU leaving Arizona with only Markkanen. There's still enough talent for the next 2-3 years in the frontcourt and on the wing to be really good but a major class in 17-18' would be vital.

 

[Russ Smith]

We definitely got spoiled by Miller's recruiting. For a few years there it was like Kentucky-West but this is down year by previous year's standards. I don't think it's anything to be really worried about.

Let's just say Josh Jackson goes to MSU leaving Arizona with only Markkanen. There's still enough talent for the next 2-3 years in the frontcourt and on the wing to be really good but a major class in 17-18' would be vital.

I think you do get Jackson but let's say you don't.

Next season you have Ristic and Markannen starting at the 5 and 4 with Comanche and Ray Smith as the backups. That's it. Ray Smith is coming off 2 ACL tears in 2 years, and in case people don't know Comanche is having knee problems right now because he gained weight too fast, that's why he's wearing braces on both knees(the father of one of his HS teammates posts regularly on BRO about him and has for years. Said that was one reason they wanted to RS Comanche but decided not to after Smith got hurt again).

So that's 4 kids and 2 of them have questions about knees.

You lose York, Tollefsen and Anderson so the rest of the roster is Allen and PJC competing at the 1, Trier, Pitts and Simon who can only get garbage time this year because he has no position.

So as of now you'll have 9 guys next season if you don't get Jackson. 2 of them with injury questions and Simon will be a major rotation guy after barely getting off teh bench this season. now you might get the kid Jones from Texas but hes a 2 or 3, he's not helping up front.

You need Josh Jackson because he's the rare guy that's athletic enough he can actually play the 4 like Jaylen Brown is at Cal to help the team. Then you have him and Smith as undersized 4's to help the thin frontcourt.

Jackson would be the best player in the conference as a freshman in all likelihood, Markannen looks to be a great prospect too, but if you don't get both, Miller better land some quality grad transfers again.

In 2017 it looks like UA is getting Ira Lee, son of Zeph the USC RB. talented kid, athletic, nice upside teammate of Cody Riley who appears to be a UCLA lean. You're heavily involved with Brandon McCoy the C from San Diego but the recruiting rumor mill has him very enamored with Cal now. They have a guy on their staff from Chicago, McCoy lived in Chicago until he was 14 and seems to have bonded with the coach. UA was perceived as the slight leader but Cal seems to be making up ground quickly.

As far as I know that's the only 2guys in the West Coast in 2017 that Arizona is in a very strong position with, again Miller is going national(international).

2018 the top rated prospect in California right now is jordan Brown from Roseville and right now he's considered to be favoring UCLA and Cal. UCLA has a connection on his HS staff and one of his relatives and his uncle apparently has ties to Cal.

Miller is going to get talent he's too good of a recruiter not to, but he's not getting to pick and choose the cream of the crop anymore. Cal is taking kids from both UA and UCLA, so Miller went from having no competition because Howland was dead on the WC, to having 2 big competitors, it's a big change.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Well if we want to take the gloves off lets.

Anderson is on one of the best teams in the NBA and in the rotation. Jordan Adams was the least heralded recruit in his class and was a first round NBA pick and on a team that was good(not this year) he's getting minutes. Alford took a kid in Powell that wanted to leave, a kid you told us here nobody wanted out of HS and Arizona dropped recruiting because he wasn't any good, and put him into the NBA. I think it's great McConnell is playing he's a good college player but he's starting for a team that's 0-11, the worst team in the NBA and one that's been regularly used as an example of a team tanking for draft picks. He wouldn't be playing if he were on the Spurs or Grizzlies, I'm not sure he'd make either roster.

Parker was so buried under Howland he wanted to leave, now he's a solid Pac 12 C while undersized, he's clearly getting better.

As for the Miller is a better person stuff. I didn't want Alford but do you really think Alford would admit a kid to UCLA who got caught cheating THREE times in HS? Do you think he'd then go in front of reporters and say he made a mistake, he owned up to it, he's a great kid, when in reality he didn't own up to it, he left the school and then he and his dad publicly blasted the school for removing him from the basketball team. Miller is like every other coach, he wants to win and he's willing to do whatever it takes to win, including taking kids like Josiah Turner when everyone is warning him not to. And when confronted with the revelation that his prize PG recruit was part of a "big well organized group of cheaters" in HS, he didn't bat an eye in keeping the kid. Why, because he can play basketball.

Alford took flack for Tony Snell trying to convince him to stay in college but I'd much prefer that to what Miller did to Bejarano. I don't recall seeing Alford after a Pac 12 tourney game screaming obscenities at a Pac 12 employee so much so that she left the room crying and warned the tv crew not to go in there because they didn't want Millers outburst on tv.

Alfords situation at Iowa was bad, its' entirely why I wouldn't have hired him at UCLA, but he appears to have learned from it. He's disciplined kids at UCLA every time he's had issues. I don't like the Bryce thing but it's human nature, lots of coaches before him have done it, Saul Smith's dad won an NC at UK and he did the exact same thing, and to be fair, Bryce is a better player than Saul ever was.

Miller has now twice in about 2 weeks publicly called out TJ Leaf. first his comments abuot a kid not making the team at a tryout and then not wanting to put the time and effort in to improve in college. Who exactly do you think he was talking about? Then the latest stuff. TJ Leaf is 17,Miller is 47 you can't find too many other examples of a highly paid college coach trashing a HS kid twice in public like that. Miller is mad that he didn't get Leaf, he's noticed that suddenly his hold on WC recruiting is gone. He doesn't have the Soldiers pipeline, they don't have the talent anyways, and he's decided to try and take shots at UCLA now because of it.

if he's not worried why exactly has he gone after Leaf and UCLA twice in the last 2 weeks? Has he done that before, no, the only other coach I can think ofrecently who did that is Andy Enfield and people here think he's a clown.

If you really think what Alford did at Iowa with Pierce is the same as skirting some NCAA academic rules to get a kid into college or taking jabs at AAU coaches, a helicopter parent, and a rival's pathetic attendance is the same I don't know what to tell you. Alford has nuked every bridge everywhere he has been including his own alma mater. It'll be the same when he leaves/gets fired at UCLA too.

And you still haven't explained how Miller allegedly not getting the most out of Jerrett, Tarc, and Ashley is some sort of indictment on his coaching ability while Alford gets a free pass for Parker, Wears, Isaac Hamilton, etc. Reality is Alford has had just as much talent at his disposal and still loses to teams like Monmouth so the notion that Miller has underachieved vs him is laughable.