Arizona basketball recruiting: Wildcats offer 2018 5-star forward Simi Shittu

The Arizona Wildcats have offered 2018 five-star forward Simi Shittu.

The 6-foot-8 prospect from Ontario, Canada is the No. 7 player in his class and the No. 4 power forward.

Shittu, who attends Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vermont, holds 13 offers and the Wildcats joined the mix on July 12.

Scout.com says Shittu’s strengths are his athleticism, and his ability to face up and run the floor. His weaknesses are his 3-point range, ballhandling, and low block scoring.

“Simi Shittu, a native of Canada, is a 6-foot-8 power forward prospect with good athleticism and mobility,” reads his scouting report on Scout.com. “Shittu is a fluid runner and gets up and down the court with ease and purpose. Shittu is quick off his feet and a good leaper. Shittu has a good set of hands and solid touch around the basket. Offensively, Shittu likes to the face the rim and attack from the high post and also spends time getting on the glass hunting down put back opportunities. The next step in his game is adding a go-to move on the block.”

Shittu told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com in May that the schools he’s hears from most are Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Connecticut, Oregon, Arizona, UCLA, N.C. State, Maryland and Michigan.

He also told Zagoria he hopes to cut his list down to “five or 10” schools by the end of the AAU season.

Shittu is another Canadian Arizona has made an impression on. The Wildcats landed Canadian forward Emmanuel Akot in their 2017 class, and are also in the mix for R.J. Barrett, a Canadian forward who is the No. 1 player in the 2019 class.

“Very nice school,” Shittu told Zagoria of Arizona. “My friend. Emmanuel Akot is going there. ... They’re in contact here and there. And the coach from Washington (Lorenzo Romar) is there now, he’s an assistant.”

Only three Crystal Ball predictions have been made for Shittu, so his recruitment appears to have a long way to go.

Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire