Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) wing player Angel Nunez still talks highly of Arizona despite much of the media attention this summer placed on Class of 2011 prospects Nick Johnson, Jahii Carson, Josiah Turner and Quinn Cook (Nunez photo)

Angel Nunez, a Class of 2011 wing recruit from Notre Dame Prep (Mass.), communicated to me Monday that Arizona is among his finalists, although much of the focus for the Wildcat coaching staff has been on these guards for the class: Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep’s Nick Johnson, Mesa High School’s Jahii Carson, Sacramento High School’s Josiah Turner and Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy’s Quinn Cook.

Zagsblog.com reported Monday that Nunez, a New York City prospect who once told me that UA assistant coach Book Richardson is like an uncle to him, has Arizona among his final 10 schools. His list: Arizona, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Providence, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Miami and Florida.

St. John’s and new coach Steve Lavin is an interesting omission inasmuch as the Red Storm have offered Nunez a scholarship along with Arizona, Connecticut and Louisville, to name a few.

I sent a message to Nunez, rated the No. 26 small forward in the country by Rivals.com, asking if he has determined which schools he will officially visit.

“I will official (visit) Arizona and some (others) but Arizona is my favorite now than Florida and Miami,” Nunez replied.

When asked when he will officially visit the UA campus, Nunez said: “I don’t know really. I’m going to official to the school I commit to.”

Per NCAA rules, Arizona’s coaches are not allowed to discuss Nunez in particular until he signs a national letter of intent. Nunez unofficially visited the Arizona campus in March with his mentor Eric Martinez. At that time, according to media reports, Nunez said he favored the Wildcats. He has always maintained that respect for the UA basketball program mostly because of Richardson, who once directed the AAU New York Gauchos, which Nunez participated with early in the summer.

His recruitment at Arizona has fallen behind the headlines of the aforementioned guards, namely Johnson and Carson for the most part, although Turner has shown increasing interest.

The New York Post recently reported that Nunez, a slender 6-8 player who likes to handle the ball and shoot from the perimeter, played out of position in the paint with the Gauchos early in the AAU summer season. He switched to the Juice All-Stars for the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando so he could play more on the wing.

The Post article mentions that Nunez “showed his entire repertoire at Fordham (at the NYC Summer Classic on July 30): knocking down long jumpers, finishing in the paint, blocking shots on the defensive end and setting up his teammates for easy shots.”

CLASS OF 2012 RECRUITING NOTE: Seattle Franklin High School point guard Anrio Adams, a coveted Class of 2012 recruit, caused quite a stir on his Facebook page Tuesday night by posting: “I think I’ll look good … in a Louisville uniform!” He later posted that he is close to committing and that Louisville is high on his list. He had this to share about Arizona fans: “I thought Louisville fans was tough. Arizona’s fans are wild …”

This is an excerpt from the “Nothing but the Notes” package at our partner site WILDABOUTAZCATS.com. That site is also running the Bear Down Leader competition, basing the tournament on who best represents the University of Arizona athletic community.

Class of 2011 recruit Nick Johnson is one of many recruits taking part in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League in Los Angeles this weekend (Nick Johnson photo)

In the old days, Memorial Day weekend for potential basketball recruits meant hanging out with buddies at the playground, developing their skills against some guys from down the street. Nowadays, high school standouts of all ages work on their game and show their wares to potential recruiters (either in person later this summer or via film in this time frame) in elite-level national tournaments.

Such is the case this Memorial Day weekend, as two top-flight traveling-team tournaments will take place in Los Angeles and various sites in North Carolina. Potential Class of 2011 recruit for Arizona — Damien Leonard of Greenville (S.C.) J. L. Mann High School — started competition Friday night in the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions on the North Carolina campus. Starting today in Los Angeles at the Hangar Athletic Xchange (HAX), these UA targets will compete in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL): Sidiki Johnson, Angel Nunez, Anrio Adams, Jamal Branch, Torren Jones, Dominic Artis, Josiah Turner, Nick Johnson, Jabari Brown, Brandon Ashley and Jahii Carson.

Since this is not an approved summer evaluation period by the NCAA, college coaches can not attend these events, but they can receive video to watch.

Of particular interest is Leonard, Sidiki Johnson of Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill, Nick Johnson of Henderson (Nev.) Findlay, Carson of Mesa, and Nunez of Winchendon (Mass.). Those names have been mentioned the most as potential Class of 2011 recruits for UA coach Sean Miller. Leonard, Nunez and Nick Johnson have already unofficially visited the UA campus and Carson is scheduled to unofficially visit after the current UA players report for the first summer session June 7.

Sidiki Johnson has already verbally committed and he told us this week that he wants to use the HAX event as a way to “get better with my foot work, work on my outside game, and just become an all-around player on both ends.”

He should only improve in top-flight tournaments such as this one, whereas in years past, most of an athlete’s maturity came in the first two years at the collegiate level. It’s a Catch-22 for recruiters such as Miller. Welcoming a more developed player is a plus at the outset of his collegiate career, but it also invites the opportunity for an early departure to the NBA, or at the very least an increased demand for playing time.

If the AAU circuit was as significant 25 to 30 years ago as it is today, who knows if Sean Elliott would have stayed his entire four years at Arizona? If Elliott left after a year or two that changes the face of Arizona basketball as we know it today.

The other players listed that will play in the HAX event include Adams, a Class of 2012 point guard from Seattle Franklin High School (the same school that produced Jason Terry; Branch, a Class of 2011 recruit from Arlington (Texas) Grace Prep has verbally committed to Texas A&M but was offered a scholarship by Arizona; Torren Jones, a Class of 2013 small forward from Chandler Basha who has already received a scholarship offer from Miller; Artis, a Class of 2012 point guard from Vallejo (Calif.) Salesian who is gaining interest from every Pac-10 school and others such as New Mexico and UTEP; Turner, a Rivals.com Five-Star Class of 2011 recruit from Sacramento who is a long shot for Arizona (Kansas may have a slight edge), but Miller and Co. have shown interest; Brown (Class of 2011) and Ashley (2012), teammates for an AAU team based in their native Oakland who have received strong interest from Miller, but it appears Brown has become more of a national recruit while Ashley is evolving more that way.

After the opening night of the Bob Gibbons TOC on Friday, Rivals.com recruiting expert Jerry Meyer had this to write about Leonard: “Leonard doesn’t do that much inside the arc, but is he ever lethal outside the arc. He is proving to be one of the top deep shooters in the class.”

Scout.com recruiting expert Dave Telep is also in Chapel Hill and he offered a peculiar report on UA recruiting target Kadeem Jack of Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice. Jack is bound for South Kent (Conn.) Prep next season but remains heavily involved with Miller and assistant Book Richardson.

“(Jack was) claimed on two opening night rosters,” Telep reports. “He must have not cleared waivers because the free agent was nowhere to be found. (We’re kidding, there are no waivers in AAU ball but it’s late at night).”

NOTE: Gary Randazzo, a Los Angeles-based contributor to WildcatSportsReport.com, will attend the EYBL tournament and has offered to share with us his reports and some video from the event. Please first visit WildcatSportsReport.com and keep an eye out for his reports here and at WILDABOUTAZCATS.com.

Josh Gershon of GOAZCATS.com reported this morning in a discussion thread on its Web site that “it’s becoming increasingly less likely that Arizona pushes for Vargas and brings him in for a visit.”

Vargas, a 6-11 forward who was slated to visit Arizona on May 14-15, is visiting Seattle University today and tomorrow. The former Florida player was being recruited by Arizona coach Sean Miller and assistant coach Book Richardson for more than a month.

Miller and Richardson performed an in-home visit with him on April 17. At that time, Vargas’ AAU coach Kenny Gillion said to me that “Vargas is certainly very interested in Arizona; otherwise, he would have told them thanks but no thanks at the end of the visit.”

Attempts to reach Vargas and Gillion were unsuccessful, and the UA coaching staff can not comment on unsigned players.

Arizona has an open scholarship for the 2010-11 season, which Miller can now save for the Class of 2011. That would provide Miller with two scholarships for that class — one also provided by Jamelle Horne exhausting his eligibility.

Arizona has a verbal commitment from Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s forward Sidiki Johnson for the Class of 2011. The Wildcats are also pursuing Winchendon (Mass.) Prep wing Angel Nunez, Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep guard Nick Johnson, and Mesa High School guard Jahii Carson for that class as well.

Richardson, key to the recruitment of Johnson and Nunez, reportedly will decide by tomorrow between staying at Arizona or becoming an assistant coach at Rutgers, according to Zagslog.com. If Richardson leaves, that could make Miller have to reset his recruiting focus unless he brings in another Easterner with AAU ties.

In other news, UA’s director of basketball operations Jamall Walker has left after one season to rejoin the Ohio University coaching staff.