The Arizona basketball team takes a test drive Sunday when it holds the Red-Blue scrimmage at McKale Center at 1 p.m.

It will be our first peek at how coach Sean Miller wants to use certain players and how all the young guys interact and complement each other on the court. One of the guys mentioned as being on the fringe of the rotation — and could, therefore, really help himself — is redshirt sophomore big man Alex Jacobson.

He could carve out a role simply because of his size — 7 feet, 245 pounds — on a team overloaded with guards and wings. His listed weight hasn’t really changed since he arrived at Arizona, but his body has.

“The major thing for the whole team for the summer was lose your body fat,” Jacobson said.

“They set my goal for 10 percent for the summer. I’m at 11. When I first got here, it was 16 percent, and that changed really quick. StairMaster every day, the bike … you name it, I was on it.”

Freshman Kyryl Natyazhko (6-10, 245) likely starts at center, but 6-8 freshman Derrick Williams has been playing at that spot in practice and it’s hard to know how Jacobson fits in to Miller’s plans.

Jacobson has been working on his back-to-the-basket game and says he has been practicing his 15- to 17-foot jumper. Asked if he would be comfortable shooting that in a game, he laughed and said, “Yeah, but I haven’t really been in a game.” Jacobson played in 25 games last season, averaging seven minutes.

For many more UA-related notes — including comments from Steve Kerr and information on football and basketball recruiting — check out our partner wildaboutazcats.com and its weekly Nothing but the Notes column.

I hope to make this a semi-regular feature, because, as a freelance writer and man of leisure, I’m spending too much time on the computer and always running across stories about current Arizona Wildcats, would-be Arizona Wildcats and former Arizona Wildcats.

The least I can do is share them all.

Jerryd Bayless at Arizona in the 2007-08 season/Citizen file photo

Here are five recent stories that might be of interest:

Slam Magazine: A very interesting in-depth article about putting the Portland Trailblazers’ Jerryd Bayless through extensive offseason dribbling routines.

Arizona Republic: Former UA running back Chuck Levy has some legal trouble in the Phoenix area. Levy, an assistant coach at Chandler Basha High School, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and possessing marijuana.

ESPN.com: Pac-10 blogger Ted Miller examines the difficulty of picking the best quarterback in the league. Could it be Arizona’s Nick Foles? There’s a lot of football to be played.

Washington Post: Gilbert Arenas is back from knee problems. Recapping his fine season debut with the Washington Wizards.

Houston Chronicle: There are now two UA alums managing in the major leagues, as Brad Mills leaves the bench of Boston’s Terry Francona and takes over the Houston Astros. Francona, as classy as they come, has lots of nice things to say about his former college roommate.

Adreian Payne, a five-star recruit from Dayton, Ohio, won’t be coming to Arizona. That’s been the word for at least the past couple of days, but the 6-10 center made it official Thursday when he picked Michigan State.

Payne, who made his announcement on ESPNU, also had been considering West Virginia, Kentucky and Arizona.

That still leaves UA coach Sean Miller with one open scholarship for the 2010 recruiting class after forward Rod Odom de-committed in favor of Vanderbilt. Arizona has one committed player for the 2010-11 season, that being shooting guard Daniel Bejarano of Phoenix. He can sign as early as Nov. 11, the beginning of the fall signing period, which runs through Nov. 18.

The Wildcats are hotly pursing point guard Ray McCallum Jr. of Detroit. He is taking an official visit to Tucson this weekend and will be in attendance for the Red-Blue scrimmage, which begins 1 p.m. on Sunday. McCallum is the son of Detroit Mercy coach Ray McCallum.

McCallum, who is considering playing for his father, also has taken trips to Oklahoma and UCLA, and has one scheduled for Florida.

First-year Arizona coach Sean Miller met the Pac-10 media today in Los Angeles, spending part of his time in front of the crowd raving about freshman power forward Derrick Williams.

Derrick Williams

“I’m very impressed with Derrick,” Miller said.

“He’s been one of the highlights of our preseason. One of the things that is striking about Derrick for such a young person and player is his body. Physically, he is much bigger than you think he is. Right now, he’s a legitimate 6-foot-8 and probably close to 230 pounds.

“He’s not that rail-thin freshman who takes a year or two to develop physically. That is going to really help him establish some early success as a player. Very hard worker. Easy to coach. Great kid. As bright of a future as anybody we have in our program.”

In a TucsonCitizen.poll from a couple of weeks ago, 26 percent of the 354 respondents picked Williams as the UA freshman they were most eager to see. It’s telling how deep that five-man class is, as center Kyryl Natyazhko picked up 23 percent, wing Solomon Hill got 22 percent, guard MoMo Jones got 19 percent and wing Kevin Parrom earned seven percent.

Williams has also been working at center in early practices, adding versatility to a frontcourt that includes Natyazhko and junior Alex Jacobson at center, and Jamelle Horne at power forward.

“He’s not one-dimensional,” Miller said of Williams.

“For a guy his size, he can also step away from the basket. He can shoot the basketball. He can really put it on the floor.

“As he learns the college game and learns the system and style we have as a program, I believe more than any single player you will watch this year, you’ll see his December being much different than his November, and his January being a far cry from November. I really look at him as being able to develop in a big, big way this year as a freshman.”

UA sophomore guards Brendon Lavender and Kyle Fogg met with the local media Wednesday, and also said Williams has been one of the bright spots of practice so far.

Lavender: “He’s really athletic. Really, really athletic. A raw talent.”

Fogg: “He’s really versatile for the 5 (center position). He can easily bring it out to the 3 or go around a guy who is bigger than him. That’s going to help us out. When he has huge kids on him, he can blow by them.”

From wildaboutazcats.com: Sean Miller audio from Pac-10 Media Day

Related link: Cats picked fourth at Pac-10 Media Day; TC.com agrees

Related link: Senior guard Nic Wise chosen as one of 50 players on Naismith Trophy preseason watch list.

Related link: Cal No. 12, Washington No. 13 in ESPN/USA Today poll released this morning. UA received no votes. How in the world did USC receive 22 points??? The coaches poll does not release individual ballots, and, thus, has no accountability.

Related link: Steve Rivera Ventures: Cats go through “tough” practices; Miller joins in at times

Not much surprising from Pac-10 Media Day in Los Angeles. Arizona, in keeping with other preseason predictions, has been picked to finish fourth in the Pac-10 in men’s basketball.

Sounds about right. It might not be a great league this time around, given the exodus of talent in the past two seasons (21 Pac-10 players have been drafted in the past two years), but Arizona is just too young to predict them to finish ahead of the top three teams.

Here is how the Pac-10 media voted, with first-place votes in parentheses:

1. California (25), 350 points
2. Washington (7), 330
3. UCLA (5), 302
4. Arizona, 221
5. Oregon State, 218
6. Oregon, 175
7. Arizona State, 144
8. Washington State, 123
9. USC, 109
10. Stanford, 63

UA sophomore guard Kyle Fogg was asked Wednesday in a meeting with reporters about feeling pressure to win in coach Sean Miller’s first season and to extend the program’s NCAA Tournament streak to 26 seasons.

“I felt pressure at the beginning, but Coach really emphasized that we’re not worried about all that,” Fogg said. “We’re just trying to go out and get better every day. He said if we work hard every day and get better every day, it will all work itself out. We all trust him.”

Related link: Miller gushes about freshman Derrick Williams at Pac-10 Media Day (plus audio)

Related link: Senior guard Nic Wise chosen as one of 50 players on Naismith Trophy preseason watch list.

Related link: Cal No. 12, Washington No. 13 in ESPN/USA Today poll released this morning. UA received no votes. How in the world did USC receive 22 points??? The coaches poll does not release individual ballots, and, thus, has no accountability.

Related link: Steve Rivera Ventures: Cats go through “tough” practices; Miller joins in at times

All the members of the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network are just fine with Arizona being picked fourth … with one exception. Scott Terrell likes the Cats a bit more than the other five, but given UCLA’s early injury woes, maybe he is on to something (and I like his pick for champion).

There is more disagreement toward the bottom of the league, with some big swings regarding Washington State, Stanford and Oregon.

TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network Pac-10 predictions

Arizona running backs Nic Grigsby and Greg Nwoko won’t practice this week while rehabbing shoulder sprains suffered last Saturday against UCLA, coach Mike Stoops said this afternoon. He didn’t make any prediction whether they would be available when UA resumes play after its bye week, at home against Washington State on Nov. 7.

“Nic and Greg will be week to week,” said Stoops, adding that he didn’t know which one would be back first. “”We’ll know more as they progress throughout the week. Keola is back healthy, and that was a big bonus for us, offensively.”

Keola Antolin, coming back from an ankle injury, played just the second half against UCLA, but rushed 16 times for 77 yards. He is strong enough to handle a significant workload, with a bit of a break from Nick Booth, if Grigsby and Nwoko can’t go against Washington State.

Stoops said the coaching staff will look at freshman running back Daniel Jenkins as an option, if UA gets any thinner at running back. Jenkins is one of two freshman running backs who are trying to redshirt. Wide receiver Bug Wright is another possibility.

Stoops said starting defensive end Brooks Reed, who has missed almost all of the Pac-10 season because of an ankle injury, will continue his rehab this week in an effort to be close to 100 percent for the Cougars game.

“We need to get Brooks back,” Stoops said. “He’s such a huge part of our defense. That is a huge part missing for us — his consistent pressure off the edge.”

It took nine years, but Arizona is back in the national polls.

The Wildcats made the BCS standings at No. 22 last weekend — their first appearance there since the 1998 season — and on Sunday the human polls joined in agreement.

Arizona is No. 23 in the AP poll, and No. 24 in the USA Today coaches poll.

The last time Arizona was ranked was the week of Oct. 22, 2000. Then, the Wildcats (No. 24 in the AP and No. 23 in the coaches poll) lost at home 27-24 to UCLA on Oct. 28. That was part of a second-half slide that led to the departure of coach Dick Tomey, the disastrous hiring of John Mackovic and coach Mike Stoops’ rebuilding project, which began in 2004.

Which of the 60 AP voters likes Arizona the best? ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.

He has the Cats at No. 18. The Arizona Daily Star’s Ryan Finley, who has the state’s AP vote this year, puts UA at No. 25. The coaches poll does not release individual ballots.

Arizona is 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-10. The Wildcats are off this Saturday before finishing a three-game homestand against last-place Washington State. So, there is a great chance for UA to be 6-2 heading into a difficult final stretch — at Cal, vs. Oregon, at Arizona State, at USC.

Arizona’s only losses this season were to Iowa, which is undefeated and ranked No. 7, and on a controversial deflected interception at Washington.

“I have no problem where we’re at. We’ve played a very difficult schedule and our kids have come through in a very positive position,” Stoops said after Saturday’s win.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with where we’re at. There is still room for improvement.”

The new BCS standings will be out later today.

“It’s exciting … yeah, it’s nice to get some recognition,” Stoops said in a UA press release Sunday. “It’s a reflection of how we’ve played in our first seven games. But it also means very little. There are a lot of tough football games left.

“We have plenty of work to do and being ranked is not our ultimate goal,” he said. “We’re happy but there are higher objectives out there and we’re going to get back to focusing on the next game.”

UA-UCLA game blog

Arizona coach Mike Stoops said after Saturday’s 27-13 victory over UCLA that starting running back Nic Grigsby and third-string back Greg Nwoko each suffered sprains of the AC shoulder joint during the game.

For Grigsby, it’s an aggravation of an injury he has been playing with for a few weeks. He left the game in the first half. Nwoko left the game late in the third quarter and had his left arm in a sling as he left the field.

“How severe, to what degree, I will know more next week,” Stoops said.

Second-string back Keola Antolin, who didn’t practice late in the week and didn’t play in the first half as he was trying to rest an ankle injury, came in during the second half. He rushed 16 times for 77 yards and made what offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes called the play of the game.

Antolin gained 11 yards on a draw on third-and-10 from the UCLA 36 in the third quarter. Arizona scored on a 25-yard catch-and-run by Juron Criner one play later for a 20-6 lead.

“He still has been bothered by that ankle, but that’s the best he has looked in a while,” Stoops said. “It was good. we needed him. We needed to run the football.”

Fourth-stringer Nick Booth added a 6-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left in the third quarter for the game’s final points.

Dykes joked that maybe some of UA’s receivers can help at running back; UA did have good luck running several fly sweeps to its wideouts (a combined nine carries for 95 yards). But running back depth could really be an issue for the next game — vs. Washington State on Nov. 7 — and beyond.

Who is behind Booth on the depth chart?

“Open tryouts for running backs,” Dykes joked.

You have to go down to Kylan Butler and Daniel Jenkins, both of whom are true freshmen who are redshirting.

“Hopefully, we won’t get to that point,” Dykes said. “We’ll probably get those guys some reps this week and see who we feel is a little bit further along, and go from there.”

Elsewhere, quarterback Nick Foles was suffering from the flu, which helps explain his mixed night. He threw three interceptions — two on deflected passes — and made a bad handoff exchange with Nwoko for a lost fumble on the first play of the second half. In general, he just wasn’t quite as sharp.

He threw a lateral that linebacker Akeem Ayers broke up and safety Tony Dye scooped up for a touchdown on a fumble return. Dykes said Foles had the option to call a run or a pass on that play, and should have called a run based on the defense.

“We kind of made a bad decision,” Dykes said. “The thing is, we’ve run a thousand of those this year and he’s made the (right) decision probably 98 percent of the time.”

Dykes said Foles seemed to wear down as the game went on, although Foles’ other numbers don’t look bad — 22 of 34 for 247 yards and two touchdowns.

“Probably didn’t play as well as he has been up to this point, but at some point, he was going to have to come back to earth,” Dykes said. “Tonight, he did. It was humbling. The good thing is he was tough enough to overcome it and make enough plays for us to have a chance to win. The defense, obviously, played fantastic.”

Speaking of that defense, it was without starting defensive end Brooks Reed again. Reed has missed almost all of the past four games because of an ankle injury. D’Aundre Reed, who has been playing with a broken hand, started the game in Brooks Reed’s spot, but aggravted the injury and came out in favor of Apai Tuihalamaka.

Stoops said the goal is to get Brooks Reed healthy during the bye week and especially have him ready to go for a rugged finish to the season — at Cal, vs. Oregon, at ASU, at USC.

“We’re trying to get Brooks back to full strength,” Stoops said. “The back end of our schedule, there is a lot there.”

Cats win 27-13. Said coach Mike Stoops after the game: “Tonight was another very good win. All the turnovers (five of them) were troublesome, but I’m glad that we were able to pull through more convincingly.”

Postgame report: UA’s running back depth takes a hit (and other injury updates)

* * *

UA can breathe a bit easier. The Cats hold on fourth-and-6 from their 31 with 8:10 left. UCLA had previously converted two fourth-down chances on the drive, including once on a pass interference penalty.

UA leads 27-13, and while there is plenty of time for the game to go south (see the Washington game), Arizona is looking reasonably good as long as it does nothing silly on offense or special teams.

* * *

With a chance to put UA up by three scores, Alex Zendejas misses a 39-yard field goal wide right with 11:36 to go. UA has no obvious options behind Zendejas, as the coaching staff has been reluctant to use punter Keenyn Crier in a place-kicking role.

* * *

Kai Forbath is human. The UCLA kicker misses from 52 yards, hitting it low and short, to keep the score at 27-13 early in the fourth quarter. Down two touchdowns, maybe the Bruins should have gone for it on fourth-and-7 from the UA 34.

* * *

Big touchdown for Arizona. Fourth-string running back Nick Booth, on his first carry of the game, goes 6 yards for paydirt on third-and-3. That 10-play, 63-yard drive puts UA ahead 27-13 with 0:34 to go in the third quarter. If the Wildcats stop turning the ball over, UCLA hasn’t shown enough offense to come back.

* * *

You can never have enough running backs. Nic Grigsby (shoulder) is out, Keola Antolin, trying to protect an ankle injury, didn’t play in the first half. Greg Nwoko just left the game, walking gingerly and slowly off the field. Antolin, who has played in the third quarter, is back in. UA could use that bye week next week.

* * *

Just because UA lost a game earlier this month when a pass deflected off Delashaun Dean’s shoe for a interception return for a touchdown doesn’t mean we have seen it all.

How about this?

UA quarterback Nick Foles, throwing a screen pass, nearly has it picked off by LB Akeem Ayers, who had nothing but green field in front of him for a touchdown. He falls to the ground in anguish over his missed scoring opportunity, and that play appears to be over. But the whistle never blew; the officials on the field called the pass a lateral. With most everybody giving up on the play, UCLA safety Tony Dye picks up the ball and runs all alone into the end zone.

The play withstood a replay review … not enough evidence to overturn? You make the call.

In any case, UA’s lead is cut to 20-13 with about 5 minutes to go in the third quarter.

That’s five turnovers for Arizona, their most since last season’s shocking loss to New Mexico.

* * *

Arizona takes advantage of the UCLA fumble, driving to a touchdown, capped by a 25-yard reception by receiver Juron Criner. He took a sideways pass from Nick Foles on the right side and then tip-toed down the sideline and into the end zone. Arizona leads 20-6 with 8:34 to go in the third quarter.

* * *

UA gets a break, forcing a fumble from RB Christian Ramirez near midfield, with CB Devin Ross recovering for Arizona. FS Cam Nelson caused the fumble, his second forced fumble of the game.

* * *

Senior Kevin Craft in at quarterback for UCLA. He was the starter last season, but his 20 interceptions didn’t give him much of a chance to win the job this spring over redshirt freshman Kevin Prince. But Craft started twice this season when Prince was out with a broken jaw. Prince has not been good today, though, going 8 of 16 for 76 yards.

* * *

After the fumbled exchange involving RB Greg Nwoko, second-string Keola Antolin, nursing a tender ankle, made his first appearance of the game, rushing twice on a drive in which UA had to punt to UCLA. Backup QB Matt Scott came in for one play on the drive as a potential wild card, but he was nearly intercepted while trying to hit a screen pass.

* * *

Arizona is doing its darndest to give this game away. Three interceptions in the first half. A missed extra point. And, then, on the first play of the second half, a bad exchange between QB Nick Foles and RB Greg Nwoko results in a fumble, which UCLA’s Datone Jones recovers at the UA 17.

The defense holds, forcing a 33-yard field goal from Kai Forbath, but UCLA moves within a score at 13-6 with 13:59 to go. UA should be well out in front and on cruise control, but is flirting with disaster against an inferior team.

* * *

The game hasn’t turned in UCLA’s favor, but Arizona has stalled and takes an uncomfortable 13-3 lead into halftime. UA quarterback Nick Foles, who entered the game with two interceptions, has been picked off three times, including one in the final minute as the Wildcats were trying to extend the lead.

Foles’ hand was hit as he threw, with the ball popping up into the air. Defensive tackle Jerzy Siewierski made the interception at the UCLA 40.

Also disturbing was that Arizona running back Nic Grigsby left the game in the final minute after taking a hit on his bruised right shoulder. Backup Keola Antolin hasn’t played at all today because of a tender ankle.

All in all, it’s been a far less exciting game than last week’s thriller against Stanford. The Bruins, by the grace of those three interceptions, are hanging around despite being out-gained 260-97.

* * *

UCLA scored behind the amazing Kai Forbath. Even after a third-down sack by blitzing LB Sterling Lewis (nice job on the blitzes today from UA), the Bruins are still in field goal range for Forbath, who entered the game 8 of 9 from 50-plus yards in his career. Make that 9 of 10 after he drilled a 52-yard field goal to make it 13-3 with 7:51 to go in the second quarter.

* * *

For as well as things have gone for Arizona so far, they could be better. UCLA came up with a first-quarter interception in the red zone off a tipped pass, and Nick Foles just threw his second INT of the day … and this one just looked to be a bad pass. On third-and-9 from the UCLA 11, Foles threw over the middle and right into the arms of Rahim Moore, who made his second interception of the game.

Moore returned the ball 37 yards to the UCLA 38. UA could be up by 21 or 24 or even 28, but it’s 13-0 with about 13 minutes to go before half.

* * *

End of first quarter. Stat of the game so far: UA receivers have rushed for 60 yards. The coaching staff has seen something in the UCLA defense, and have called four end arounds (or “fly sweeps,” if you prefer) with gains of 20, 10, 14 and 60 yards.

* * *

The UA defense has gotten nastier after last week’s debacle (of course, the Bruins aren’t very good on offense), and free safety Cam Nelson has two sacks off blitzes. His second sack jarred the ball loose from quarterback Kevin Prince, with defensive end Apai Tuihalamaka falling on it at the UCLA 23. The UA offense takes care of business and punches it in for the touchdown on a 6-yard toss to Nic Grigsby.

One piece of bad news: Alex Zendejas missed his third extra point of the season. It might not matter today, but someday . . .

Anyway, UA leads 13-0 late in the first quarter and has all the momentum.

* * *

It’s Arizona on the board first, as Nick Foles shows he can go deep as well as make all the screen passes in the offense. With a little play-action to Nic Grigsby, Foles has plenty of time in the pocket to wait for Juron Criner to slip 5 yard past the UCLA defense (nice stop-and-go move from Criner to fool CB Courtney Viney). Foles throws deep and hits Criner in stride for a 42-yard TD pass and a 7-0 lead with 4:39 to go in the first quarter.

* * *

Nick Foles is the victim of another tipped pass for an interception. Unlike the bounce off the shoe (or the turf) from the Washington game, this one against UCLA was more of a conventional deflection, as the ball went off the hands of David Douglas, reaching up for a catchable pass over the middle. The ball went right into the hands of free safety Rahim Moore at about the UCLA 10-yard line. Moore, who entered the game tied for the national lead in interceptions, now has six.

* * *

Bug Wright, who has missed games because of a knee injury, is back at punt returner for Arizona. He might be a bit rusty, considering he dropped his first attempt at a catch, but he quickly recovered the ball. Wright, because of his elusiveness and speed, gives UA a chance in the return game that David Douglas doesn’t. UA, in fact, has three punt returns all season for a negative 1 yard.

* * *

Arizona begins on defense. Starting defensive end Brooks Reed has missed his fourth consecutive start because of an ankle injury. D’Aundre Reed is starting in his place. We’ll see if Brooks Reed plays at some point.

* * *

Pregame

Three thoughts about this afternoon’s game:

1. How about that no-huddle offense?

It’s not often that Arizona goes into a game wanting to get into a shootout, but this should be one of them. Play fast, create more possessions in the game, take advantage of UCLA’s lack of explosion plays. The Bruins, unlike last season with Kevin Craft at quarterback, can threaten teams deep with redshirt freshman Kevin Prince, but this is a UCLA offense still finding its way. The Bruins still start eight players on offense who are either freshmen or sophomores.

Meanwhile, UA liked what it saw in the second half of last week’s win over Stanford, as the Cats went to a no-huddle offense. Offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes said getting a touchdown late in the first half against Stanford gave the team the confidence it needed to come out in a hurry-up offense. “I had the idea at halftime as I was coming down the elevator, ‘Maybe we should just go no-huddle because it limited a lot of looks they could give us,’” Dykes said. “So, when I asked the offensive players at halftime … everybody was like, ‘Yes!’ It was unanimous excitement.”

2. Can the Cats run?

UCLA has given up a staggering 684 rushing yards in the past three games, which is surprising for a team that has All-American candidate Brian Price at defensive tackle and Reggie Carter at middle linebacker. Granted, the Bruins have played Stanford, Oregon and Cal in that stretch — that’s a combination of good running teams with a couple of superstar backs — but 684 is a lot of yards no matter how you look at it. In fact, it’s more yards than Arizona has given up in six games (644 yards).

Question is, can Arizona attack that rushing defense or will it rely on the quick screen passes that have been so successful in the past two weeks. Much will depend on how the Bruins scheme against UA. “They’re going to do what they do,” UCLA sophomore safety Rahim Moore was quoted as saying in the L.A. Daily News. “They might keep it simple when they run the ball, but it’s the best group of receivers I’ve seen in the Pac-10 since I’ve been playing.”

3. Hope it doesn’t turn into a kicking contest.

UCLA’s Kai Forbath is the best kicker in the country, hitting 17 of 18 field goal attempts this season, with a long of 52. (The 18 attempts in six games tells you that the Bruins are having some red-zone issues similar to Arizona’s.) The most amazing thing about Forbath is that he has made 8 of 9 attempts from at least 50 yards in his career. He has not missed in his past 27 attempts from inside 50 yards. Arizona has marginal confidence in Alex Zendejas, who has made 10 of 12 field goals, none longer than 37 yards, however. He has missed two extra points, often kicking the ball low.

Why wait until Sunday to get your notebook fix? Check out Saturday’s “Nothing but the Notes” from TucsonCitizen.com partner wildaboutazcats.com.

Arizona’s 2008 football recruiting class was ranked 39th nationally by Rivals.com and Scout.com. Eh. The Wildcats would like to live in a better neighborhood, but you know what coaches always say — you need three or four years to truly evaluate a class.

Phillip Garcia was part of a 2008 junior college recruiting class that is providing five key players for the Wildcats/Tucson Citizen photo

In UA’s case, let’s chop that time frame down to about 18 months.

Arizona is 4-2 at the halfway point of the 2009 season, and, barring an upset, will go to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-10, which would make the Wildcats a legit contender for the conference title (and the program’s first Rose Bowl … but you knew that).

The Cats get UCLA on Saturday and then, after a bye, Washington State. Both games are at home. Those two opponents are a combined 0-7 in the Pac-10.

One of the reasons the Wildcats are doing so well is that 2008 recruiting class. The UA signed 23 players in that class, and then added another guy late in spring. You might have heard of him. Quarterback Nick Foles, a transfer from Michigan State.

The Wildcats would be in a bad way (or at least a not-as-good way) if the coaches hadn’t successfully plugged holes with junior college transfers. After all, that’s why you recruit those guys in the first place.

It’s often hit and miss with junior college recruits, but Arizona “hit” with offensive linemen Mike Diaz, Phillip Garcia and Herman Hall, and linebackers Vuna Tuihalamaka and Sterling Lewis. Not only are they starting-level players (a combined 21 starts this season), they successfully bridged the recruiting gap so UA could develop younger recruits who will be ready to take over next season.

The only JC transfer miss was offensive lineman J’Marcus Webb. He was the highest-rated of the bunch but was the only member of the entire class to not qualify. He is now at lower-division West Texas. Anyway, it’s a blessing to hit so well on five of six junior college recruits.

Among the high school kids in that class, Arizona is already getting key production from running backs Keola Antolin and Greg Nwoko. At receiver, David Douglas (25 catches for 267 yards and two touchdowns) and Juron Criner (23 catches for 301 yards and three touchdowns) are key members of the rotation.

Robert Golden is the starting strong safety. Vaughn Dotsy was starting at right guard before suffering a concussion and is back at least as a key member of the playing rotation.

It’s hard to know what to make of the future of quarterback Matt Scott, who was supplanted as the starter after three games by Foles, who shows no intention of giving it back. Foles, because of his late transfer, wasn’t factored into the UA’s class ranking in 2008 … which shows one of the inherent flaws of banking opinions on recruiting rankings.

Other members of the class, such as OL Trace Biskin, LB R.J. Young and DT Jowyn Ward, seem ready to emerge next season.

There’s another trend at work here.

Call it the Rise of the Two-Star Recruits.

(That’s another reason to not get all aflutter over football recruiting rankings.)

USC gets all five- and four-star recruits, and good for them. You’d rather take your chances with those kind of guys than a team filled with two-star prospects. Arizona’s recruits tend to be of the three-star variety, with a few bigger stars mixed in.

But take a look at the players signed by UA coach Mike Stoops who were rated only two stars by either Rivals.com or Scout.com, or both:

2004
DL Yaniv Barnett
OL Joe Longacre
DB Dominic Patrick
CB Antoine Cason

2005
LB Spencer Larsen (coming back from a church mission)

2006
DT Lolomana Mikaele

2007
CB Trevin Wade
WR Bug Wright

2008
RB Greg Nwoko
WR Juron Criner
WR David Douglas
OL Herman Hall

That’s a major-award winner and a first-round draft pick (Cason), a first-team all-conference linebacker and valuable 2008 NFL rookie (Spencer Larsen), a 40-game starter on the offensive line (Longacre) … and several players from 2006 to 2008 who look to be significant contributors for a few more years.

When I was recently doing a story on Wade, I asked defensive coordinator Mark Stoops about finding those kind of gems.

“Certainly, some kids get so much hype and so much recruitment that it’s undeserved,” Stoops said. “And other kids, you find that they’re just good ball players.

“We don’t have the bells and whistles around here to go get a bunch of four- and five-star recruits. It’s just not going to happen. So we have to do a great job of evaluation and do a great job of developing.

“We’re always going to go after them (the four- and five-star recruits) — and not just because they are four- and five-star guys. We’re going to recruit the best players we can get. But there are a lot of good programs out there, and we have our obstacles that we must overcome.”

Getting back to the original point … it seems as if Arizona overcame everything just fine in its modestly ranked but high-performing 2008 recruiting class.