Arizona brought in priority recruits Darius Wabbington and Adan Diggs for its Red-Blue Showcase, but the Wildcats still face plenty of competition.
Diggs, the five-star Goodyear Millennium guard, has said he had plans to visit up to six other schools, while Wabbington has a final one scheduled for Texas in November.
The five-star center from Phoenix Sunnyslope, Wabbington, has already visited Illinois and Indiana. He told 247 Sports that his visit to Arizona made for “a good weekend,” and elaborated on the Wildcats.
“It is more just about seeing everything,” he told 247 Sports. “They want me to go there and play the four position. They want to play through me. They say their four men have a high usage rate, so I have to be ready to come in, compete,
and be ready to have the ball in my hands early on."
Diggs told League Ready earlier this month that he planned to visit Arkansas on Oct. 10 and Kentucky on Oct. 22. He has also been considering Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and USC.
However, four-star center Kamsi Awaka could be closer to a decision after completing a whirlwind recruiting tour, including a visit to the Red-Blue Showcase last weekend.
The younger brother of former UA forward Tobe Awaka, Kamsi visited UConn on Sept. 11, Florida on Sept. 14, Michigan State on Sept. 20 and Michigan on Sept. 22 before traveling to Tucson, according to his timeline on 247 Sports.Gardner Jr. picks Auburn
With his father, former UA player relations director Jason Gardner, sitting next to him in an Auburn T-shirt, four-star class of 2027 guard Jason Gardner Jr. committed to the Tigers earlier this week.
A top candidate to become Indiana’s Mr. Basketball this season, as his father was before joining the Wildcats as a player in 1999, Gardner Jr. picked Auburn over DePaul, Florida, Indiana and Stanford. He had also received secondary recruiting interest from Arizona.
“It feels good to just call a place home now,” Gardner Jr. told the Indianapolis Star after his announcement. “I’ve always dreamed about going to a school like Auburn. I actually have a little notebook (where I wrote) that they’ve always been my dream school … it’s obviously a huge blessing, so I’m just super happy.”
The elder Gardner played for the Wildcats from 1999-2000 to 2002-03, then returned to serve five seasons under UA coach Tommy Lloyd as the program’s player relations director starting in 2021.
However, Gardner is not expected to return this season. No announcement has been made, but Gardner did not accompany the Wildcats on their exhibition trip to Lithuania last month and was not present for the Red-Blue Showcase.Some tip times, TV coverage set
Arizona’s three Basketball Hall of Fame-sponsored games were assigned television coverage and tipoff times Tuesday, starting with the Wildcats’ Nov. 2 season opener against UCLA in Las Vegas.
The Wildcats will tip off their season at 8 p.m. Tucson time on Nov. 2 against the Bruins on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max, while the UA women's basketball team will play Stanford at 11:30 a.m. earlier that day in a four-game event at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. CBS Sports Network will carry the UA-Stanford women's game.
Other games at T-Mobile Arena on college basketball's opening day include a women's game between UNLV and USC at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and a men's game between Gonzaga and Purdue at 5:30 p.m. on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max.
Of Arizona's other two Hall of Fame-related men's events, the Wildcats' game against St. John's was set for 10 a.m. on Fox, while its Dec. 19 game against Arkansas in Phoenix was set for 5:30 p.m., with ESPN coverage.
While all of the Wildcats' dates are set for this season, many tipoff times and TV arrangements have still not been announced.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona basketball makes pitch to 5-star recruits Wabbington, Diggs
