RELATED LINK: ArizonaWildcats.com coverage of media day with video of Sean Miller’s press conference and transcribed quotes

Lamont “MoMo” Jones is not telling West coast recruits Solomon Hill and Derrick Williams how they don’t dress proper like they do on the East coast — at least publicly he’s not admitting to that.

Jones’ stone-faced expression is unmistakable: He is not one to fool around, mince words or “become overwhelmed by anything,” he said. Jones, a freshman combo guard from Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy by way of Harlem, N.Y., was asked at Wednesday’s media day what he will bring psychologically to the Cats from his East coast upbringing.

“A tough mentality,” Jones said, not blinking an eye. “I don’t settle for good. I don’t settle for anything. If I’m great, I want to be better. With me bringing that mentality here, my teammates will pick up on that. If they are great, they should want to be better. If we are 10-0, we want to be 20-0. If we make the (NCAA tournament) streak 26, we want to make it 27.”

His direct, to-the-point approach varies from the fun and loose demeanor of Williams, who is from southern California, where people are perceived to be beach dwellers. Williams, a 6-8 forward who is one of the more impressive of the incoming five freshmen in preseason workouts, did not show a care in the world when he predicted Arizona’s finish in the Pac-10.

“I think a lot of people are counting us out on the Pac-10 title, but I think it can come down to one or two for us,” Williams said.

One or two in the Pac-10?

“We’re kind of young, but we have really good shooters, post players, wing players, a little bit of everything,” he said.

Fellow freshman forward Kevin Parrom, who is from Brooklyn, took the same approach as Jones at media day: Optimistic, yet cautious. His straightforward style is indicative of a young player who has played far from home already and has dealt with media attention in New York and with a high-profile high school program such as South Kent (Conn.).

It is obvious that Jones and Parrom have been groomed for this environment — Miller said they “have a higher maturity level” than most — playing in the playgrounds of New York City and moving away from home their senior year.

“The difference between people out here than at the Bronx is the people out here are much more kind, much more nice,” said Parrom, who is trying his best to help Miller and his staff recruit more New York-area talent to Tucson, including Class of 2011 guard-forward Angel Nunez of Winchendon (Mass.) Prep.

He indicated that he tries to ease their mind about moving from one coast to the other.

“The adjustment with me was being away from family, but family will always be there,” Parrom said. “I just have to learn to live on my own. By being in prep school helped me a lot … I don’t want to go home until after the school year. I’ve adjusted pretty quickly to out here.”

Solomon Hill, from Los Angeles Fairfax, lived the good life after signing with Arizona, pushing his weight to close to 250 pounds, according to Miller. He is actually listed by the UA as 6-6 and 195. He appears to be closer to 210 pounds, although Miller said a strict workout regimen has reduced his weight to 230.

The carefree style of Hill and Williams compared to the more serious tone of Jones and Parrom is not to say that Jones and Parrom are more focused on winning than Hill and Williams. Miller indicated that Hill and Williams “have a good future ahead of them, and they will have a lot to do with how good of a team we will be.” When push comes to shove, they can shove back. Hill was known for his defense as much as his offense at Fairfax. Williams, not rated highly, by recruiting services out of La Mirada (Calif.) High School, said that he is “on a mission to show people the mistake they made rating me that low.”

The relationship between Hill and Williams with the New York duo of Jones and Parrom has “actually been kind of fun,” Hill said.

“There has been a little bit of going back and forth,” he said. “They dress different than us when we go out. There’s a little bit more swing to it from them. You know, we’re just getting a little feel for each other.

“Basketball-wise, they are ready to attack on offense. They have this mindset that they want to go, go, go.”

The fifth freshman, Kyryl Natyazhko of IMG Academy in Florida, is from further East, all the way from the Ukraine. He is not involved with the East vs West discussion.

Natyazhko does not look at where the newcomers are from. He pointed out that everybody has “ARIZONA” on his chest.

“There is a big tradition at this school,” he said. “We have these jerseys of the greats like Steve Kerr and Mike Bibby hanging from the rafters and in the locker room and I’m just proud of myself and my grandparents are proud of me to be able to share something in common with such great athletes by putting on this jersey.”

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