What Josh Green’s commitment means for Arizona

The Arizona Wildcats landed five-star wing Josh Green on Thursday, their third 2019 commitment.

Green is the No. 10 prospect in the country, and joins five-star point guard Nico Mannion and three-star center Christian Koloko to give Arizona the No. 8 recruiting class.

Here is what Green’s commitment means for the Wildcats:

Arizona is going to be stacked in 2019-20

While 2018-19 figures to be a transition year for the Wildcats, the 2019-20 team will be as talented as any Sean Miller has had at the UA.

Green, Mannion, Koloko and whoever else UA adds in this class could join the likes of Brandon Williams, Chase Jeter, Brandon Randolph, Ira Lee and Emmanuel Akot among others. That would give Arizona an incredible amount of talent, depth and experience. Lots of varying skill sets, too.

And while it is way too early for this, here is what Arizona’s 2019-20 depth chart looks like as of now (the order at each position isn’t important):

PG: Nico Mannion/Alex Barcello

SG: Brandon Williams/Brandon Randolph

SF: Josh Green/Dylan Smith/Devonaire Doutrive

PF: Emmanuel Akot/Ira Lee/Omar Thielemans

C: Chase Jeter/Christian Koloko

Of course, this is not what the final product will look like — Arizona will add more recruits, and a player or two will probably leave — but the point remains: the Wildcats will be loaded.

Three-guard lineups are the new thing

Miller has talked about how Arizona is planning to use more three-guard lineups moving forward, and Green’s commitment certainly does not detract from that.

Arizona will be able to trot out Mannion, the No. 1 point guard in the country, and Green, the No. 1 shooting guard in the country, along with someone like Brandon Williams (assuming he is not a one-and-done) or Brandon Randolph (assuming he does not leave for the NBA Draft).

Williams would be the optimal complement since that would give Arizona potentially three elite playmakers on the perimeter at once, an ideal setup in this modern era of pace-and-space basketball.

Surround that trio with a 3-and-D forward (Akot) and a mobile shot-blocker (Jeter), and you’re ready to wreak havoc on the rest of college basketball.

Arizona recruiting is back

Miller said Arizona plans to sign five or six recruits in the 2019 cycle, so there is still plenty of work to be done.

Here are are some official visits Arizona has scheduled:

• 4-star guard Boogie Ellis — Sept. 28
• 4-star guard Terry Armstrong — Oct. 5
• 5-star forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl — Oct. 12
• 4-star forward Zeke Nnaji — Oct. 13

It’s worth noting that Green and Mannion will visiting the weekend of Oct. 12 as well (that’s the weekend of the Red-Blue game). Like Green, Robinson-Earl attends IMG Academy, and having that connection can only help.

In the end, Arizona already has a Top-10 recruiting class and seems destined to finish somewhere in the Top 5, just like old times.

So far, the effects of the FBI investigation have been short-lived. Not just for Miller and Arizona, but around the country. USC and Louisville — two other schools implicated in the investigation — have the No. 1 and No. 2 recruiting classes in the country, respectively.

A new development can surface at any moment, but as of now the probe has not affected college basketball recruiting the way many thought it would.

Mannion + Green is going to be fun

There isn’t a more electrifying duo in AAU than Mannion and Green, who starred for West Coast Elite.

Here’s a taste of what Arizona fans can expect to see in 2019-20:

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