The NCAA tournament bracket Salt Lake City pod of Arizona, Belmont, Harvard and New Mexico from A to Z:

Kendall Williams leads New Mexico in assists and scoring (Troy Babbitt/USA Today Sports)

A is for assists: The leading assist man among these four teams — New Mexico’s 6-4 guard Kendall Williams — is also incredibly the Lobos’ leading scorer. Williams has 166 assists, topping Harvard’s Siyani Chambers (161), and he leads New Mexico with 13.5 points a game.

B is for Bruins: Arizona has another chance to beat a Bruins team this year after losing three games to UCLA. It is the first time the UA will play a Bruins team other than UCLA. Belmont and Arizona have never met and the Nashville, Tenn., school is the only other Division I program with the nickname Bruins.

C is for Clark: Belmont 6-3 guard Ian Clark is the leading scorer in the pod with 18.1 points per game. He not only leads these teams but the nation shooting 46.3 percent from three-point range.

D is for defense: New Mexico leads the group, limiting opponents to 38.8 percent shooting from the field. Harvard is tops in three-point percentage defense at 32.5 but is the worst in overall field-goal defense (44 percent). Arizona rates last among the four teams in three-point shooting defense (36 percent) and third overall field-goal shooting (41.4 percent).

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Craig McMillan says his miraculous McShot at McKale against Oregon State in 1986 was a play that fell into his lap (Tucson Citizen file photo)

Random thoughts about the Red-Blue scrimmage, including the disbelief that Derrick Williams was a power forward and Jesse Perry a post player when Arizona advanced to the Elite Eight in 2011 after watching the Wildcats’ interior presence at McKale Center on Sunday. …

Williams, 6-8 and 241, had the skills of a wing player in college, and Perry, 6-7 and 210, a power forward. Compare that scenario to what took place in the Red-Blue scrimmage with these guys manning the frontcourt — junior Matt Korcheck (6-10, 225), sophomore Angelo Chol (6-9, 225), and freshmen Kaleb Tarczewski (7-foot, 255), Brandon Ashley (6-8, 235), Grant Jerrett (6-10, 235).

The game’s boxscore shows they combined for four blocked shots, but it does not indicate the amount of shots that were altered or the incidences when a guard decided to pull up for a lower-percentage shot instead of taking the ball to the hole.

“Angelo, Kaleb, Brandon … the list goes on and on … we have a lot of big guys,” said Arizona wing Kevin Parrom, who in years past would be asked to play power forward at times. “It’s going to be very difficult (for opponents). It will be a tough matchup for the other team.”

Sean Elliott, honored along with the 1987-88 Final Four team throughout the afternoon, told the McKale crowd that he and Steve Kerr were amazed at the size of the Wildcats.

Arizona coach Sean Miller is more concerned about his perimeter defense with stopper Kyle Fogg exhausting his eligibility last season.

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Javier Morales took first place in the 2010 Arizona Press Club’s Metro Sports Reporting category. For a different look at University of Arizona sports, check out Javier’s unique Web site: WILDABOUTAZCATS.net

Solomon Hill reacts after scoring a basket against UCLA with teammate Nick Johnson looking on. Hill and Johnson are the lone remaining consistent starters from Sean Miller's first three recruiting classes (US Presswire photo/Kevin Kuo)

Of Sean Miller‘s first three recruiting classes since 2009 — which consisted of 12 players — only five remain. Of those five who are slated to be part of the 2012-13 roster, only two have consistently started in their careers. And one of those is a player who just completed his freshman season: Nick Johnson. The other is senior-to-be Solomon Hill.

Gone prematurely from Miller’s first class are Derrick Williams (Miller’s biggest catch who jumped to the NBA after his sophomore season), Lamont “MoMo” Jones (transferred to Iona after his sophomore season), and Kyryl Natyazhko (who announced Wednesday that he will not return for his senior season so he can pursue a professional career overseas).

Daniel Bejarano, from Miller’s second class in 2010, transferred to Colorado State after playing minimal minutes as a freshman. And no longer around from last year’s heralded class is five-star point guard Josiah Turner (who announced Wednesday his intention to transfer) and Sidiki Johnson (who transferred to Providence early this season after spending time in Miller’s doghouse).

Jesse Perry, from the Class of 2010, completed his two-year career after transferring from John A. Logan (Ill.) Community College.

Other than Hill and Nick Johnson, the others who have remained on board include Kevin Parrom from the Class of 2009, Jordin Mayes from the Class of 2010 and Angelo Chol from the Class of 2011.

With Perry going the distance, that means six players — or 50 percent of Miller’s first three classes — left early. Despite this alarming rate of turnover, Miller’s team will be ranked in the top 20 next year. That’s largely because of Miller’s coaching and recruiting ability. His class of 2012 — highlighted by promising big men such as Brandon Ashley, Grant Jarrett and Kaleb Tarczewski — is rated by some experts as the best in the nation.

Will it be the best class Arizona has featured in the last 40 years? Time will tell.

As has become an annual ritual here, I have updated the ratings for each UA recruiting class since the late Fred Snowden was hired in 1972.

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