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Links: An update on the 2012-13 basketball newbies and more

By Kevin Zimmerman
Presswire
  • Ever since the wild weeks of high school All-American games, little news has come about in regards to the Arizona Wildcats' incoming and highly-touted 2012 recruiting class. After a taking a little stroll through the Google Machine, we learn that the next saviors of the Wildcats are probably just doing what they're supposed to be doing -- graduating. Grant Jerrett tells the Redland Daily Facts that he's happy with his decision a few years back to attend La Verne Lutheran, where he won quite a bit under the coaching of former UA player Eric Cooper Sr. and with 2013 Wildcat commitment Eric Cooper Jr. And Cooper Sr. has some more comments about how Jerrett is more "Clark Kent than Superman."
  • Speaking of choosing high schools, let's say "thank goodness" that none of Arizona's incoming players got kicked out of their current schools. However, all of them are coming from prep schools, whether it be for basketball reasons or otherwise. This ESPN Los Angeles feature discusses how the LA riots of the 1990s changed the high school basketball scene in the city. It cites 2013 UA guard commit Gabe York, who attends Orange Lutheran. Apparently the school is 30 miles from York's home, but the private school has provided him with opportunities unmatched by public schools in the area.
  • Rob Dauster at SI.com discusses the Pac-12 as a whole, and he points out what we've probably figured all along. The Wildcats and UCLA Bruins brought in hefty recruiting classes that will surely make them the teams to beat, but more importantly, each will provide stability and a renewed competitiveness in a league that's been killed by early departures. However, Dauster tempers expectations a bit. Neither UCLA nor Arizona is a lock to reach the Final Four (or even the Sweet 16, in my opinion). For the Wildcats, much success depends on how quickly its freshman class of big men and sophomore Angelo Chol develop.
  • Over at ESPN, Myron Medcalf believes that Arizona is under-hyped considering that they, as much as UCLA and Kentucky, will rely upon a talented freshman class. They deserves as much mention as does Kentucky and UCLA, he says.
  • Larry Brown isn't messing around at SMU. After picking up Josiah Turner, he's nabbed another transfer in former Illinois guard Crandall Head. Now that the Mustangs are moving to the Big East, this football school might just start to make some noise in hoops.
  • And I missed this video from a few weeks ago, but Jonathan Givony talks to Grant Jerrett at the McDonald's game. The video also includes some practice highlight clips of Jerrett doing his best Anthony Davis impressions in a one-on-one drill.

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