Chris Morrison- US Presswire
After having one of the best recruiting classes in the country for the 2012 cycle, the Arizona Wildcats are right back at it for the 2013 class.
Arizona secured a verbal commitment from SF Rondae Jefferson who is rated as the No. 14 recruit in the country. Head coach Sean Miller has been tearing it up on the recruiting trail and this is just the latest example of his ability to recruit the best talent in the country.
Jefferson was also considering Florida, Texas, Rutgers, Syracuse, Memphis and Temple but ended up deciding on Arizona. The Wildcats were the favorite to land the forward and the decision was ultimately made after an in-home visit on Thursday. One of the biggest factors for Jefferson was the fact that Arizona was far away from home and a place where he could zone in on basketball.
“When you go away, you can really focus,” Jefferson said. “You don’t know anybody, you have to learn. It makes you really focus.”
Jefferson, 6-foot-7 215 lbs, is very athletic and has all of the tools to be a star at the next level. He’s able to make plays for himself and for his teammates and is very comofrtable with the ball in his hands. He can lead the transition if he gets the defensive rebound and is very solid in the transition game. Once in the half-court set Jefferson can post up smaller defenders as well as use his jab step effectively to create space. His body still has room to grow so he can become even more of a duel-threat on the outside and down-low. If he can figure out how to hit his jumper consistently he could be unstoppable.
It’s another big commitment for Arizona as they try to shore up their front-court to prepare for the departures of Solomon Hill and Kevin Parrom after this season. Jefferson’s signing, combined with last year’s top five recruiting class, should set Arizona up for immediate success.
