With UA coach Sean Miller going after elite talent, many of the young players are involved in holiday tournaments that involve top-notch teams. Here’s a quick rundown of how they are doing:

• Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep power forward Sidiki Johnson (6-8, 200) is a reserve for the talent-laden Gray Bees, who are 4-0 and ranked No. 9 in the country by USA Today. Johnson, who has verbally committed to Arizona, scored four points in Monday’s quarterfinal game of the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. St. Benedict’s, led by Texas recruit Myck Kabongo and Temple signee Aaron Brown, defeated Baltimore St. Frances to reach the semifinals of the elite-level tournament.
• Potential recruit Chris Hill, a 6-8 wing player at Stevens Prep Academy in Raleigh, N.C., is averaging 30 points and 13 rebounds per game. He has expressed to me personally his desire to play for Arizona but the Wildcats have yet to visit him. UA assistant coach Book Richardson told Hill recently that he wants to work a visit into his schedule. Hill recently said he is interested in Connecticut and the Huskies have shown a mutual interest. The question about Hill is his eligibility. The NCAA clearinghouse is investigating whether Hill has satisfactorily completed qualifying core courses to gain eligibility next season. He is 19 years old and would have only three years of eligibility if he is able to play next season.
• Deonte Burton, a Class of 2010 6-1 guard from Los Angeles Centennial, who recently scored 40 and 38 points in the Westchester Invitational, lists UCLA, Long Beach State, Washington and USC as his favorites. He is very athletic, with great leaping ability and dunking power despite being only 6-1. Arizona is apparently not in the picture for now. The Cats could use an athletic point guard who can break down a defense with dribble-drive penetration.
• Class of 2011 guard Nick Johnson is biding his time behind Cory Joseph at Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep this season, although Johnson scored 19 points and had eight assists in a game this weekend at the City of Palms tournament. Arizona’s coaching staff scouted Johnson at the tournament and fellow Class of 2011 recruit Jabari Brown, who scored 24 points on 9 of 14 shooting, including three from long distance.
• Arizona has started its recruitment in earnest of Angelo Chol, a Class of 2011 big man, last week. The Wildcats have a lot of catching up to do. Kansas’ coaching staff has shown up to as many of Chol’s games as possible. Chol watched Kansas beat UCLA recently in Los Angeles and came away impressed with how the Jayhawks utilized center Cole Aldrich. Chol is still two years away from his freshman season but he could play significant minutes for many Division I programs today. He’s that strong and mentally tough.
• Saturday night, Class of 2012 forward Perry Ellis and his Wichita Heights teammates were in Kansas City taking part in the Hy-Vee Shootout. Playing against Columbia (Mo.) Rock Bridge, Ellis scored 21 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Although he is a sophomore, opposing coachess design their defenses around him, according to Scout.com. He has seen sagging man to man, box and ones, triangle & twos with both players dedicated to him. Kansas is already recruiting Ellis heavily as well. Any school will have a difficult time beating Bill Self for him but Arizona and many other powers will get a shot.

RELATED LINK: After watching this video on Deonte Burton, you can tell what Van Coleman is writing about, comparing him to Nate Robinson.

Another indication that Josh Pastner is one of the hardest working recruiters in the business — if not the hardest worker, period — he started recruiting Class of 2012 standout forward Perry Ellis of Wichita Heights High School while he was at Arizona.

Ellis, rated the No. 3 prospect in his class by Van Coleman of Hoopmasters.com, has already been offered a scholarship by Pastner at Memphis. Kansas and Kentucky have reportedly offered a scholarship as well. Arizona is in the mix without Pastner considering UA director of basketball of operations Jamall Walker is from Wichita and communicates with Heights coach Joe Auer.

The Tigers and Pastner have the benefit of Ellis’ sister attending Memphis and playing for the Tigers’ women’s program. However, Savannah Ellis is a junior center with Memphis and will not be at the school by the time her younger brother is eligible.

Compton guard emerging as strong Class of 2010 recruit

Keep this name in mind: Deonte Burton of Compton (Calif.) Centennial, who is a Class of 2010 combo guard recruit who is a hot commodity all of a sudden. Coleman recently offered this analysis of Burton, who stands at 6-1 and had 40 and 38 points on consecutive nights at the recent Los Angeles Westchester Invitational:

“Burton has a lot of Nate Robinson in his style, He can flat out attack the hoop with either hand and has spring to finish in traffic at the rim. He is at his best in transition, where he can create pass as well as score. He has range to NBA arc, but tends to be a little streaky from deep, but the threat of it, lets him blow by defenders.”

He currently has been hearing from Utah, Marquette, and Long Beach State, but UCLA showed it is interested after the Westchester performances. Also, a number of other Pac-10 schools saw him at Westchester, including Arizona’s coaches.

If UA coach Sean Miller is indeed looking for an explosive talent at point guard, why not give Burton a look? The UA needs to shore up its backcourt with Wise leaving, MoMo Jones likely to play mostly off-guard and Brendon Lavender and Garland Judkins still trying to find their way in Miller’s system. UCLA has a similar need and its showing action on Burton. Arizona might be doing the same. Stay tuned.