If Terrence Jones of Portland (Ore.) Jefferson actually plays at Kentucky, it would be a significant downer for the Pac-10

The next time a recruit announces he will sign with Washington, rest assured coach Lorenzo Romar will see to it that the prospect actually brings along a national letter of intent.

Portland (Ore.) Jefferson forward Terrence Jones, a top-flight member of the Class of 2010, went back on his commitment to Washington last month by signing a financial-aid agreement Wednesday with Kentucky (as was reported to likely happen here Tuesday).

The agreement is non-binding, meaning that Jones can sign with Washington instead and his eligibility status will not be affected. However, as long as Kentucky coach John Calipari is in Lexington, Jones should be right there with him.

“I felt like they (Kentucky) played a better schedule and had a lot better team,” Jones told the Oregonian.

This is horrible news for the Pac-10, which needed an image boost after none of its teams were ranked in the AP Top 25 at the end of the season. It adds to other negative off-season developments, such as 20 scholarship players from a year ago leaving their respective Pac-10 institutions prematurely, and the embarrassing time-consuming replacement of fired Oregon coach Ernie Kent.

Calipari has now snagged two Five-Star recruits who announced they would attend Washington: Jones and forward Enes Kanter, a Turkey native who played last year in Pac-10 country at Stone Ridge Prep in Merced, Calif.

UA coach Sean Miller talked indirectly about Jones’ drawn-out decision during Tuesday’s spring-signing period wrapup press conference at McKale Center.

“That amazes me,” said Miller, who took part in an in-home visit with Jones early in the recruiting process. “That’s not healthy for college basketball. … There’s so much information out there to make a good decision.”

Jones’ likely departure from Pac-10 country for Lexington, along with Kanter, means two Five-Star recruits will leave the region in consecutive years. Last year, two of the top 10 rated players by Rivals.com from Pac-10 locales went elsewhere — Los Angeles Dominguez High School foward Jordan Hamilton (No. 6) with Texas and Moreno Valley (Calif.) Rancho Verde guard Michael Snaer (No. 7) with Florida State.

Kanter is rated No. 3 by Rivals.com, while Jones is ranked No. 13.

CLASS OF 2010 PAC-10 RECRUITS

Rivals.com’s Top 150 rankings listed

THOSE WHO GOT AWAY

Rivals.com’s Top 150 players who left Pac-10 locales for other schools

TWENTY OFFSEASON PAC-10 TRANSFERS

* — Dismissed from team
** — Announced transfer before start of spring semester

Sean Miller's philosophy is to recruit players who want to build a team around him (US Presswire Photo/Scott A. Miller)

When a recruit and his suitor go separate ways, that means their respective agendas are too contrasting.

That appears to be the case in Arizona’s recruitment of former Florida center Eloy Vargas, who reportedly will not visit the UA campus this weekend after all.

From what I understand, this is Vargas’ position (note that Vargas has not returned my phone calls or text messages): He is about to play for his third school in as many years, and he is thinking about improving his professional stock.

From an individual standpoint, the direction makes sense for Vargas, who suffered through minor injuries and academic concerns in his lone season with the Gators. He wants to seize the golden opportunity as quickly as possible.

From a team standpoint, or team frame-of-mind standpoint, it does not make sense for UA coach Sean Miller.

It has been reported that Vargas is visiting Seattle because Charles Garcia prospered into an NBA prospect there in basically one season after transferring from a JC. He originally signed with Washington but did not qualify. That is true that he evolved into more of a prospect at Seattle, but there is more to that.

Garcia evolved into a scorer by getting the green light from new coach Cameron Dollar, who is promising the same to Vargas.

It does not matter that Vargas would not play on national or regional television for most of the season. Garcia, a potential second-round draft pick, according to DraftExpress.com, did not need the television exposure to become noticed by scouts.

Why else would Vargas visit Seattle?

Dollar is no dummy. He does not want to coach at Seattle long. He wants immediate success to move on to a bigger spot. By showcasing players like Garcia and Vargas, he will move up the ladder quicker for two reasons: He will have the reputation of developing NBA-caliber players and his recruiting success would be magnified.

In short, Dollar could not care less about giving the ball to Vargas often, so Vargas can average close to 20 points a game similar to Garcia. With Garcia gone, Vargas can step right in and impress the same scouts.

Miller, on the other hand, is the caretaker of a storied program that is in search of itself after Lute Olson instilled a family atmosphere during the glory years. Miller’s Xavier teams were not all about Five-Star recruits and surefire NBA prospects. He coached an Elite Eight team with players who were in sync from the No. 9 guy in the rotation to the leading scorer.

One of Xavier’s top players in the Elite Eight season — Derrick Brown — redshirted as a freshman to further develop. It’s no wonder why Miller gushed about Butler during all those national radio spots preceding the Final Four.

The same debate over Miller’s recruitment of Lance Stephenson (or the lack thereof) is apparent in the latest development concerning Vargas’ recruitment. Do you sacrifice the program-building philosophy by going after the immediate season-building direction?

Many recruiting enthusiasts suggest Miller take on Vargas even if the promising forward aspires to play professionally after one season. By signing Vargas, Arizona can enjoy more immediate success and create an aura about the program faster, thus attracting more high-profile recruits next year and beyond. In other words, they believe Miller should follow the John Calipari doctrine of recruiting.

Calipari’s way works at Kentucky because the program is traditionally more popular than Arizona, and he has a history of attracting top-notch recruits who can progress to the next level after a year or two. Calipari goes on to the next pro-caliber prospect, knowing the player can leave abruptly like the one before. However, Calipari also knows that prospect has a better chance of getting him to the Final Four at a quicker rate (Derrick Rose anyone?).

Miller is not in the same position because Arizona is not in the same position. He must recruit accordingly. Miller is also the type of coach who would rather see Kyryl Natyazhko become a positive influence in practice and develop into a force at the post, rather than take on a new frontcourt player with an individual agenda.

According to Vargas’ AAU coach, Kenny Gillion, grades are not a concern with his former player. Gillion told me last month that Vargas was a straight-A student at Miami-Dade Junior College this year. If Vargas has no academic concerns, than the reason why Arizona and Vargas have separated can be traced to different agendas — Vargas wants to be showcased and Miller desires a player who first and foremost wants Arizona to be on top of the Pac-10 again.

Vargas’ willingness to follow in Garcia’s footsteps (or extended minutes and field-goal attempts) with an obscure Seattle program makes his intentions all the more obvious. You can’t blame Vargas if he believes he’s at the stage of his career in which he must be noticed by NBA scouts now.

You also must understand Miller’s viewpoint that he is responsible for building Arizona back to prominence, and the only way to do that is with players sharing a common goal.

Kadeem Jack will attend South Kent (Conn.) Prep, the same school attended by UA forward Kevin Parrom (Kadeem Jack photo)

I received a text message minutes ago that announced: “Kadeem Jack to South Kent”, from the budding Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice High School senior forward himself.

That basically announces what was a foregone conclusion after what was reported last week. Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com reported that Jack was set to visit South Kent with his mother and it appeared likely he was headed in that direction. His text message tonight confirms that.

I texted Jack back, asking whether his opinion of Arizona changed during the process.

“Respect them,” Jack wrote, “and will keep them in my recruiting process.”

That might be easier said than done because of the UA’s probable lack of available scholarships next season.

After his official visit to Tucson in January, Jack, a 6-8 forward, told me that Arizona was his favorite inasmuch as it was the only school he scheduled for a recruiting visit at that point.

In an interview before that visit, he discussed the option of attending a prep school as a realistic possibility because he has only played basketball four years since moving to New York from Trinidad and Tobago. However, after the visit to Tucson with his mother, he mentioned that attending a Division I university was likely in his plans.

With Jack out of the picture for the Class of 2010, that leaves Miami-Dade Junior College forward Eloy Vargas as the lone recruit UA coach Sean Miller and his staff are trying to sign for next season. Vargas visits the UA campus Friday and Saturday.

Jack is not the first New York-area player recruited by Miller at Arizona to decide to go a different route. Lamont “MoMo” Jones, of Harlem, picked USC over Arizona late in the recruiting process last year. However, after former USC coach Tim Floyd abruptly resigned amid an NCAA investigation for recruiting violations, Jones changed his mind and attended Arizona instead.

Now, Jones is more than likely going to be the UA’s starter at point guard next season.

The Wildcats are still in the process of recruiting Class of 2011 wing player Angel Nunez of Winchendon (Mass.) Prep School by way of Brooklyn. Fellow Brooklyn product Sidiki Johnson, a power forward who will be a senior next season at Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep, has already verbally committed.

The UA is also in on 2012 recruits Dashawn Suber, a teammate of Jack’s at Rice, and guard Omar Calhoun of Christ the King.

Khem Birch, a Class of 2012 forward and a teammate of Nunez’s at Winchendon, is also in Arizona’s radar after playing well in last summer’s Reebok All-American Camp in Las Vegas. Birch hails from Quebec City, Canada, and is 17. He is two years older than others in his class reportedly because of academic issues he is trying to correct at Winchendon.