Arizona's Class of 2011 signee Josiah Turner is a pass-first point guard, which is uncommon these days, according to Sean Miller (Turner photo)

Josiah Turner‘s new coach, Isaac Pitts, told the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal last week that the transfer of the Arizona signee from Sacramento High School is “not a basketball move.”

Turner, one of the higher rated Class of 2011 point guards by recruiting services, started classes at Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem on Jan. 24, less than a week after moving from Sacramento. He left that school following a reported rift with coach Derek Swafford. According to the Sacramento Bee, Turner tried to return to the Sacramento team but Swafford dismissed him for missing practices and games without permission.

Pitts, who instantly inherits a McDonald’s All-American candidate, told the Journal that Turner made the move for his schoolwork.

“He just wanted a change of atmosphere and to get to a place where he could concentrate academically,” Pitts said.

QEA (17-4) won two games over the weekend with Turner, a 6-foot-3-inch playmaker, in the lineup. He scored a team-high 17 in his debut last Friday with the Fighting Pharaohs in their 74-59 win over Upper Room Christian Academy on Friday.

Only one other QEA player is nominated to be a McDonald’s All-American — Sir’Dominic Pointer, a 6-5 wing player who has signed with St. John’s. The 2011 selections for the game, to be played March 30 in Chicago, should be announced by the end of next week.

Turner’s summer AAU teammate and fellow UA signee Nick Johnson of Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep is also a McDonald’s nominee, as is the Wildcats’ other Class of 2011 signee, Sidiki Johnson of Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy.

Joining them is Arizona Class of 2011 target Angelo Chol of San Diego Hoover High School. Chol, a 6-9 post player, completed an official visit to Arizona last weekend and will visit Washington next weekend before making a decision.

Arizona coach Sean Miller, who has told the Tucson media that Turner’s situation (transferring from Sacramento to QEA) will work itself out, commented about Turner’s skills during Tuesday’s Pac-10 media teleconference.

“There is a couple of striking things that really stand out when you watch Josiah,” Miller said. “No. 1 is his size. Physically, he’s 6-foot-3 and a guy who has not lifted a lot of weights. He’s a young person. He’s 190 pounds coming in.

“When you look at how big physically he is, he looks like some of those point guards who really not only do well in college but leave college and play beyond that. He really does have that going for him. I also think he has the making of a really good defender.”

Miller added that Turner is a throwback to the kind of point guard who tries to incorporate his teammates more than look for his shot.

“He’s a pass-first point guard,” Miller said. “That really is kind of a lost art. Sometimes when you look around the country at the way a lot of guys play, very few of them really think pass first and have that high-assist mentality. Josiah can be that guy for us.”

Class of 2012 forward Grant Jerrett is a significant addition for 2012-13 for Arizona but he will need help on the frontcourt (WildcatSportsReport.com photo)

Arizona’s recruiting effort among Class of 2012 talent started as well as anybody could imagine for a program still in reloading mode under second-year coach Sean Miller.

The Wildcats received a verbal commitment last Nov. 27 from LaVerne (Calif.) Lutheran power forward Grant Jerrett, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound player who plays much larger than that with a 7-foot-1-inch wingspan. He still has another season to grow and mature into an even more dominant player before he heads to Tucson.

His teammate Eric Cooper Jr. is a Class of 2013 guard who has also verbally committed to play with the Wildcats.

By the 2012-13 season, the UA should have at least three scholarship spots to fill. The Wildcats will lose three seniors (possibly four) before that season: Kyle Fogg, Brendon Lavender and Jesse Perry are the three players who should exhaust their eligibility after the 2011-12 season.

Current four-year junior Alex Jacobson has not played much this season because he is outside the UA’s 10-player rotation. It’s not certain whether Jacobson will return next season.

Miller has recruited particularly strong at the guard position in the Class of 2011 with Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep’s Nick Johnson and Winston-Salem (N.C.) Quality Education Academy’s Josiah Turner signed and ready to arrive in Tucson by July.

The Class of 2011 also includes Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy power forward Sidiki Johnson, and potentially San Diego Hoover power forward Angelo Chol, who will officially visit the UA campus on Saturday and Sunday.

Chol, 6-9, 220, will also visit Washington the weekend of Feb. 12-13 before making a decision on Feb. 17. His finalists are Arizona, Washington, Alabama, North Carolina and Kansas.

Not yet including Chol, Arizona’s 2012-13 roster composition looks like this in terms of positions (with players currently under scholarship, except for Jacobson and Derrick Williams, who might head to the NBA before his senior season):

Point guards: Turner and Jordin Mayes

Shooting guards: Nick Johnson, LaMont “MoMo” Jones and Daniel Bejarano

Small forwards: Solomon Hill and Kevin Parrom

Power forwards: Sidiki Johnson and Jerrett

Post players: Kyryl Natyazhko

Parrom — a projected senior that season along with Hill, Jones and Natyazhko — could evolve into a power forward. The position breakdown makes it obvious that Arizona is loaded on the perimeter and wing with players like Nick Johnson, Bejarano and Jones able to switch between the guard positions.

The void is on the frontcourt where Jerrett will be raw and so likely will Sidiki Johnson, who might need a year to become accustomed to the college game after missing most of this season at Oak Hill with a hairline stress fracture in his left foot.

At the post, the Wildcats will need more than Natyazhko, who could mature into a more productive player, but at the moment his playing time is dwindling. Chol’s inclusion would be very significant in making Miller’s frontcourt much more potent. Without question, Chol can have a similar impact with the Wildcats in 2012-13 as Williams is now having as a sophomore.

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Josiah Turner‘s senior high school season will end at the Quality Education Academy (QEA) in Winston-Salem, N.C., according to ESPN.com national recruiting director Dave Telep.

Telep was the first to break the news this morning via Twitter. He tweeted: “Josiah Turner will land in NC today at Quality Education Academy where he will finish out his SR season b4 enrolling at Arizona in the fall.”

Turner, a 6-foot-3-inch high-profile point guard who has signed with Arizona, was not retained by Sacramento High School coach Derek Swafford last week after Turner missed games and practices while deciding his course for the remainder of the season.

The QEA Fighting Pharoahs (17-2) play a national schedule, although five of their remaining seven games are against teams from North Carolina. Turner’s first action with QEA could come this Saturday in the Primetime Shootout in Morgantown, W.V., as the Fighting Pharoahs face Centerreach (N.Y.) Our Savior New American.

QEA faced nationally renowned Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy on Dec. 4. The Fighting Pharoahs lost 73-71 in overtime in the game played at the Marshall County (N.C.) Shootout.

It is uncertain how Turner will immediately fit in with QEA because the Fighting Pharoahs have senior point guard Anthony Fields, who committed earlier this month to Wake Forest. Fields is reportedly averaging 13.5 points, 14 assists and 2.7 steals a game.

Continued attempts to reach Turner and his mother Doris Ward have been unsuccessful. A call placed to QEA coach Isaac F. Pitts Jr. reached his answering machine. The TucsonCitizen.com sports network hopes to have more information on Turner’s transfer to QEA in the days to come.

Turner’s transfer to QEA re-opens the possibility of him becoming a McDonald’s All-American.

One of the more high-profile recruits in the Class of 2011 — power forward Quincy Miller (Baylor signee) — played with QEA last season before transferring to Westchester Academy in High Point, N.C., for his senior season.