Arizona basketball recruiting: Sean Miller scrambling for a 2016 recruiting class

Sean Miller has been known as the best recruiter in the west, but he has yet to land a commit for 2016

It's mid-October and the Arizona Wildcats have yet to land a commit for 2016. To put it into perspective, ten Pac-12 teams have secured recruits, with Stanford and Arizona being the lone two without a commitment.

If that doesn't instill some fear in you, seven of those ten with commits have recruiting classes all ranked within the top 50. Those top classes include UCLA (6th), Oregon (9th), Arizona State (18th) and USC (29th) to name a few.

Miller has proved to be one of the best recruiters in the nation, compiling a top-five recruiting class in all but one year since 2011. And that one year was 2014, which was ranked 6th, featuring Stanley Johnson, Craig Victor, and Parker Jackson-Cartwright.

Miller did have a 2016 commit in TJ Leaf, a 5-star power forward ranked 17th in the nation, and 5th in his position. He originally commited in November of 2014, but Leaf decommitted back in early August, leaving Sean Miller without his cornerstone of the 2016 recruiting class he had for so long.

Just recently, Leaf named Oregon, UCLA and SDSU in his final three, saying that his Oregon trip "Couldn't have gone better" from this past weekend. Every school in there, the coaches let you play with freedom. You don't have to look over your shoulder and think, 'If I take a bad shot, I'm out'". So maybe it's best he parted ways with Arizona.

But it's been over two months since the decommitment and things are not looking any better for Sean Miller and Arizona.

It started with Markelle Fultz, a 5-star guard ranked No. 9 overall, 2nd in his position, who Arizona had a strong chance at landing after his official visit. And then he took an official to Washington, and that changed everything. Just eight days after his visit to Seattle, he committed to the Huskies, shockingly going against Louisville and Arizona.

Arizona seemed to be the leader for the nation's number one recruit, Josh Jackson. Already dubbed a one-and-done, with the potential of being an NBA superstar, he would have virtually solved all of Miller's problems. But then one of Jackson's really good friends in Miles Bridges committed to Michigan State in the past month, and things have seemed to roll in their favor, and understandably so.

Now, Arizona only has a few options left, and those few options are bound to be making their decision soon.

There is Lauri Markkanen, a 6-11 power forward out of Finland, who has Arizona, North Carolina and Utah in his final three. He took his official to Utah on October 11th, went to North Carolina on the 13th, and will head to Arizona October 16th for the Red-Blue game. Once those visits are completed, he will make a decision. His father has a great relationship with Roy Williams at UNC, Lauri has a great relationship with a few guys on Utah's roster, and then there's just Arizona.

Utah did just land a 6-11 4-star earlier this week, so maybe that plays a role in his recruitment. But you'd have to think that there's room for both, considering the fact that Jakob Poeltl is considered to be a lock for the NBA lottery. I have a decently good feeling about Lauri coming to Arizona, but this isn't a recruitment I've paid much attention.

Then there's Mitch Lightfoot, the highly-sought after 3-star recruit Arizona would crave to have at this point. His final list of schools consists of Arizona, Kansas, St. Johns, Stanford, and Utah. Here, I think the two main players are Arizona and Kansas, having family ties to both cities. Lightfoot was born in Kansas, and grew up in Tucson before he fled to Gilbert to finish out high school.

He should be announcing within the next couple of weeks, and I can't imagine he doesn't pick Arizona at this point, especially considering the fact that he has a legit shot at starting as a true freshman for Arizona, which is scary to think about.

The last prospect that seems to be in Arizona's reach is Andrew Jones, a 4-star combo guard ranked 34th in the nation, 5th in his position. He has Arizona and Texas as his final two choices with Louisville in the mix as well. Here's a breakdown of his visits with Arizona and Texas by Scout. His father also says that the allegations at Louisville will have no impact on his son's decision. He doesn't seem close to committing anytime soon, which is scary to think about as well. The 247 Crystal Ball has him at 62% Arizona, 38% Texas, so we'll see how that changes over the next months while he looms closer to a decision.

This is a scary position to be in, considering the fact that Sean Miller has typically locked up and signed recruits by the early signing period in November. Arizona will be able to draw in some talent, it's just whether that talent will be the typical Arizona-caliber we've become accustomed to seeing.

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