Class of 2011 guard Nick Johnson has built some muscle over the last year and seems to be more explosive as a player (Photo by Gary Randazzo, WildcatSportsReport.com)

Gary Randazzo of WildcatSportsReport.com is in Los Angeles this weekend observing some potential UA recruits from the Class of 2011, 2012 and 2013 and he had these immediate observations of some of the recruits from Sunday’s action in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League:

• Sidiki Johnson, PF, 6-9, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill: “Real deal. Going to be great.”
• Jahii Carson, PG, 5-11, Mesa: “Incredible hops. Pure point guard who can score whenever he wants.”
• Nick Johnson, SG, 6-3, Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep: “Way more explosive than I remember him to be, and has added some good muscle. Has room to grow, though. Had a chance to dunk on a guy, but backed off and ended up having his shot blocked. He needs to bring it. If he does, he’s elite.”

  Other recruiting note from across the country at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in North Carolina:

  Jack-ed up about prep school. Former Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice High School forward Kadeem Jack is playing for New England Playaz AAU team this weekend in the state that includes his dream program: The North Carolina Tarheels.

  But not even the lure of the Tarheels’ national championships, army of NBA players past and present and coach Roy Williams was strong enough to sway Jack away from his decision to attend prep school next year.

  Arizona fans upset over Jack’s decision to bypass significant minutes next season with the Cats for the opportunity to mature as a player and student at South Kent (Conn.) Prep School should now look at the budding prospect in a different light. For him to say thanks but no thanks to North Carolina means he is genuine with his approach to be the best that he can be before he takes the next step.

  Don’t forget that Jack, playing in the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions this weekend, had not yet played an organized basketball game as recently as five years ago.

  “When I walked into school a few weeks ago, my old AAU coach told me he had good news,” Jack told Fox Sports columnist Jeff Goodman on Thursday. “News that may change my decision. That’s when he told me North Carolina called.

  “That’s when I was starting to re-evaluate everything. That maybe I was ready to make the jump. But then a lot of other people brought me back down to earth and made me realize this (going to prep school) is what’s best for me and my future.”

  Jack is every much a part of Arizona’s Class of 2011 recruiting plans as is potential targets such as Carson and Damien Leonard of Greenville (S.C.) J.L. Mann. The only difference now is that Arizona will be challenged by the likes of North Carolina and Kentucky next spring instead of only Miami and Arkansas.

  By the way, that “old AAU coach” Jack told Goodman about is Moe Hicks, also his former coach at Rice. Hicks ran the New York Gauchos AAU program and is now with St. John’s coach Steve Lavin in an administrative role. Interesting to note that Jack is no longer with the Gauchos but with the Playaz instead. Most of that has to do with his move from New York to Connecticut to attend prep school.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 30th, 2010 at 11:21 pm and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Jahii Carson, Kadeem Jack, Nick Johnson, Sidiki Johnson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.