This has everything you want in a college basketball intro video: old highlights, current NBA players and Jason Terry in an amazing two-tone Wildcats jersey.

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Sean Miller is rolling through the recruiting circuit heading into only his third season at Arizona. On Monday, the Wildcats’ head coach pulled in his biggest recruit yet, landing a top-5 overall prospect in the Class of 2012, Brandon Ashley, to a verbal commitment.

The 6-8, 215-pound power forward transferred this summer to Findlay Prep in Nevada following his time at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, and chose the Arizona over Oregon, UCLA and Kentucky. Scooping Nike U and the country’s best recruiter in Kentucky’s John Calipari is surely a sign of things to come for Miller at Arizona. Read More »

Fans thought Lamont “MoMo” Jones had it all at Arizona: An Elite Eight under his belt, a coach in Sean Miller who could teach Jones everything about being the floor general and a starting point guard spot at the school dubbed Point Guard U. But that was only Jones on his hardwood surface.

So a month ago when Jones suddenly transferred to Iona, a small MAAC school in New Rochelle, N.Y., it raised the obvious question: Why leave the success? Read More »

With 14 teams hoping for the ping-pong balls to bounce their way at tonight’s NBA Draft Lottery, everyone’s vying for a chance to draft Arizona’s Derrick Williams. Following the departure of this year’s Pac-10 Player of the Year and the Wildcats’ leading scorer, the weight was going to presumably transfer over to the shoulders of rising junior point guard Lamont “MoMo” Jones. Instead, Jones announced Monday that he will transfer to another school. Read More »

It’s not a sprawling city, nor the mecca of all things urban where Washington’s diminutive and demonstrative point guard Isaiah Thomas grew up. No, I’m guessing Tacoma, Wash., with its evergreens – the Western Hemlock is the state tree, and yes, I looked that up – and mountainous skyline doesn’t have the same hoops culture as New York City.

But that indeed is where the point guard who’s the closest thing to the Bronx’s Kemba Walker grew up. Thomas, dubbed a “little monster” by Arizona head coach Sean Miller, brings a dangerous No. 7 seed Washington Husky squad into the NCAA Tournament with gusto. The team just might be as underrated as their pint-sized leader. Read More »

Five NCAA teams that got my attention this past weekend for various reasons:

1. Arizona (5-1) A national TV win over Kansas would have been a seminal moment for coach Sean Miller as he rebuilds the Arizona program. It didn’t happen Saturday night, but the Wildcats can take a lot away from a close loss against a Jayhawks squad that had been destroying their comp by 40 points per game. Derrick Williams, who put up 27 points and 8 boards against KU, is my early favorite for for Pac-10 Player of the Year. Read More »

Happy St. Patty’s Day to everyone out there! I figured today would be the perfect day to post my first assessment of this year’s Tournament field, and for three reasons: (1) because people will be drunk enough to actually read what I am about to write, (2) because when I don’t get enough comments I can blame it on you people being too drunk to type, and (3) because if any of what you’re about to read turns out to be completely wrong, I can blame it on myself being drunk. Which I’m not, or am I… Read More »

Barring an undefeated run through the Pac-10 tournament, the Arizona Wildcats (14-14, 8-8) are poised to miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a quarter-century. In a down year for the entire Pac-10, one of its signature programs isn’t even in the “bubble” discussion.

A transition like this is commonplace when one legendary coach retires (Lute Olson) and a younger coach takes over. But for first-year AZ boss Sean Miller — who made the Big Dance field in four of his five years at Xavier, including an Elite Eight — it’s not something he’s used to. Read More »

Out of the blue, Tim Floyd submitted a letter to the University of Southern California, saying that he no longer could “offer the level of enthusiasm to my duties that is deserved by the university, my coaching staff, my players, their families, and the supporters of Southern Cal.” But who really thinks that’s the reason that a coach just forfeits his job with three years left on his deal, especially when there are looming allegations of NCAA violations? Read More »