The Arizona Wildcats' Red-Blue game just got a lot more important. Forget the opportunity for the young team to develop in front of a Tucson crowd or the Final Four team of 1987-88.
Top-10 2013 recruit Aaron Gordon will visit the Red-Blue game, according to Bruce Pascoe, and it could be the most important swing in his recruitment for head coach Sean Miller. Pascoe reports that the visit will likely be just a step in the recruiting process for the No. 6 overall player in ESPN's top-100.
The power forward out of Archbishop Mitty High School has already visited Oregon, Washington and most recently hit up the Kansas Jayhawks during their Late night In The Phog event.
Washington and Arizona have long been considered the favorites to land the forward.
The thing about the Red-Blue game? Miller has said it before; it's not the same date as any midnight madness events in which other schools will compete for recruits. The problem? Gordon, the athletic dunking machine, still has to visit John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats.
Still, it will be a weekend for the Arizona program to make its biggest mark on the recruit. Gordon has already unofficially visited the Wildcats, but as it is with big football games or team scrimmages, the atmosphere and ability to get the full tour of the school will be paramount this weekend.
Also important is his relationship with former Oakland Soldiers players Nick Johnson and Brandon Ashley.
Per Five-Star Basketball in December 2011:
"It [going to Arizona] would be really cool because they're all my homies," Gordon said. "And that's the Soldier fam. I feel like our chemistry would be really good."
Cal remains the darkhorse in Gordon's recruitment. He had an unofficial visit with the Golden Bears, according to Pascoe, and he was vocal about the possibility of playing with Oakland Soldiers teammate Jabari Bird, the 21st overall recruit in ESPNU's rankings.