Sonoran Hot Reads: Arizona brings in top-ranked recruiting class

Not a surprise, but still worth celebrating

With the four members of the Arizona Wildcats’ 2017 recruiting class all signing their National Letters of Intent this week, that puts the Cats at the top of Brian Snow’s class rankings, with Auburn (?!), Washington, UCLA, and Xavier rounding out the top-five. Here’s a look at what Snow had to say about what Sean Miller has put together so far:

Sean Miller has had a top five recruiting class five of the last six years and it's about to be six of the last seven. Arizona has star power with DeAndre Ayton, the nation's No. 1 overall recruit, in the fold, but they also filled needs at the point guard position, on the wing and inside. Ayton has more potential and upside that anyone in the 2017 class and at nearly 7 feet tall, he brings offensive ability and the potential to be dominant defensively. Brandon Randolph is an equipped shooter with good size, length, and athleticism. Ira Lee is known for his effort, energy and rebounding, while Alex Barcello is an impressive shooter and passer at the point guard spot.

- You should read this piece about the 1997 team on SLAM. It’s good. Real good. Fly-as-hell good

- Jeff Eisenberg believes that Rawle Alkins will be one of the biggest impact freshmen ranked outside the top-ten

- Matt Norlander has Lauri Markkanen taking Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors over Markelle Fultz. Both Markkanen and Fultz are on the preseason Naismith Award Watchlist

- All of CBS’ writers have Oregon taking the conference though

- We gave our thoughts on what we made of the exhibition season

- Before Friday night’s game against MSU, read about what has happened the previous six times these two schools have met

- Sean Miller said on Thursday that Chance Comanche will indeed play Friday

- Ryan asked The Only Colors questions about the Spartans, and they returned the favor with our Arizona questions. There are still plenty of questions on both sides though

- You should read the SB Nation College Basketball preview. All of it. Even though the Arizona part is a little out of date (they wrote that a couple weeks ago). Markannen is an X-Factor in the freshmen section, and is No. 68 in the Top 100 player ranking

Football

- This guy thinks Rich Rodriguez should leave Arizona for Cincinnati if the Bearcats fire Tommy Tubberville. Only time I’ve heard about Tubberville this year is when he told a fan to go to hell this past weekend

- Duke beat UNC on Thursday night, so Arizona is now one of just six teams in a Power Five conference that have not won a conference game. The other five? Michigan State, Rutgers, Iowa State, Kansas, and Mizzou. MSU and Rutgers play each other this week, and so do Iowa State and KU

- In good injury news, Michael Barton is listed as probable on this week’s injury report

- The Daily Wildcat’s (and occasional AZDS contributor) Ivan Leonard gave some thoughts on Arizona to CU Independent

Baseball

- It was apparently write about former Wildcats in Arizona Fall League Day on Thursday. Brandon Dixon’s bat is what will earn him a spot on a Big League team, and Scott Kingery has enjoyed playing so close to home this fall

- If the Yankees want to be good again, they should bulk up their bullpen by going after a guy like Mark Melancon

- Jay Johnson officially announced the first chunk of his first full recruiting class

Other sports

- The non-rev sports continue to announce their recruiting classes. Here are: Men’s golf, Men’s tennis, and a star-studded softball class

- Cross country is in Sacramento for the Western Regional this weekend

- Hockey beat Colorado State 5-2

Tucson news

- Dollar hot dog and two dollar beer nights are coming to Roadrunner games

- Some Tucson High students walked out of class on Thursday to start a discussion about what’s going on in the country right now

- A crosswalk is coming to Old Vail and Colossal Cave

- One of those movie theaters with alcohol and reclining chairs is now open near I-10 and Park

Enjoy FREE admission to the national parks on Veterans Day, Nov 11.

List of National Parks in the #Tucson area: https://t.co/SKTxSN3sua http://pic.twitter.com/6jMkEkMCjR

— Tucson AZ (@VisitTucsonAZ) November 10, 2016

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