Arizona could have used Jeff Withey's defensive presence around the basket this season. Photo by Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

A 7-footer, a high-scoring combo guard and a shooting ace.

That describes three former Arizona Wildcats who have each had big games in the past few weeks, including Kansas center Jeff Withey on Wednesday night. He went for a career-high 25 points in the Jayhawks’ 68-54 victory at seventh-ranked Baylor.

There are six former Arizona basketball players at different colleges (and it would be seven, but guard Garland Judkins was dismissed from the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi team last summer before his senior season).

Let’s take a look at the transfers, ranked in order of how much the Cats miss them:

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Freshman guard Daniel Bejarano will transfer from the Arizona Wildcats basketball team, the school announced Monday afternoon.

It was a move that was widely expected, as Bejarano barely played last season and Arizona appears to have a further logjam at guard next season with the addition of freshman signees Nick Johnson and Josiah Turner.

Here is the release from the university:

TUCSON, Ariz. – University of Arizona men’s basketball player Daniel Bejarano announced Monday that he will transfer to another school. He has not yet made a decision on which school he will attend.

Bejarano (Bay-har-ah-no), a 6-foot-4, 208-pound freshman guard from Phoenix, Ariz., averaged 0.8 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.1 steals per game in eight appearances (no starts) this season. He averaged 3.8 minutes per game.

““I would like to thank my coaches, my teammates and all of the U of A fans for all they did to make my year at Arizona a special one,” said Bejarano. “After a number of conversations with Coach Miller and my family I have decided to pursue my goals at another institution. This is a decision I made with careful thought and with much help. My desire to have a more prominent role on the court significantly impacted my decision.”

He connected on 12.5 percent (1-of-8) of his field goal attempts, all coming from three-point range, and connected on 3-of-4 (.750) attempts from the free throw line. Bejarano notched career highs of three points on Nov. 21 vs. Northern Colorado and three rebounds vs. Idaho State on Nov. 14.

“Daniel is a great kid and teammate,” said UA head coach Sean Miller. “He had a positive impact on this year’s team because of his consistent work ethic and winning attitude. All of us here at Arizona wish him the very best in his future endeavors. Daniel leaves our program in good academic standing and continues to work hard in our spring program of strength and conditioning and skill workouts.”

There will be no further comments from members of the UA program or Bejarano’s family on this matter.

Jamelle Horne (42) will have to rise above the competition from junior college transfer Jesse Perry next season/Photo by Wildcat Sports Report

When Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller spoke critically of senior-to-be Jamelle Horne last month, it seemed like a move designed to publically prod the enigmatic forward toward a better performance.

Maybe it worked.

Miller met with the media Tuesday afternoon — sort of a spring update on the program — and said this about Horne, who has been a starter for most of the past two seasons but with wild fluctuations in terms of effort and production:

“Jamelle has done everything we have asked him to do,” Miller said.

“He’s had a really good second semester academically. He played this year below 210 pounds. I don’t think that’s physical enough or big enough for what he wants to do and what we need him to do. Right away, he’s really jumped up in that area.”

Miller said Horne, having worked hard in the weight room, is at about 220 pounds.

“If you look at him, you notice the difference,” Miller said.

What everyone wants to see is a difference in attitude, too.

Last month, Miller said this about Horne:

“He has to do a better job of being a teammate. A better job of being about one thing only — winning. A better job of having a positive body language, regardless of whether things are going well for him.”

We’ll see.

The best thing Miller can do is keep the pressure on Horne. The coach can very clearly do that this season because he has more options. Arizona has depth. As coaches say, the prospect of sitting on the bench is a great motivator.

The Wildcats didn’t bring in junior college forward Jesse Perry to just sit on the bench.

Perry plays the same spots Horne does. Each is 6-foot-7. Each can play the small or power forward positions. It’s a little early to figure out lineup permutations, but Miller said they could play on the floor at the same time, but, more likely, Perry is directly coming after Horne’s playing time.

How will Horne respond?

“Like a lot of players, when does that light bulb go on?” Miller said.

“Sometimes it’s early. Sometimes it’s late. I do know this: A senior cares more about things than any other player on your team. It’s the last time. I think Jamelle is anxious to have a final year that we can all point to as being his best at Arizona.”

Each player in Arizona’s three-man recruiting class has a chance to be in the playing rotation next season. Freshman Jordin Mayes can play both guard spots and will back up MoMo Jones at point guard. Freshman Daniel Bejarano can play both wing spots and provide 3-point shooting (as can Mayes).

As for Perry …

“He really puts the ball on the floor. Versatile in his approach. He has a toughness about him. He is older. He can help us at a forward position right away. Not only does he have some toughness to him and age to him, but, like the other two (recruits), he is a very capable shooter,” Miller said.

“He rebounds the ball, gets to the foul line. Even though he’s not a 6-10 frontcourt player, he plays bigger than his height and gives us a much-needed player there.”

If Perry pushes Horne to be better, and Horne pushes Perry to be ready to make an impact right away, then Arizona is much better off. It’s that kind of competition throughout the roster that will drive practice and fuel better performances.

“To me, we have 10 or 11 players who are going to expect to play,” Miller said. “Not everyone is going win that race.”

Daniel Bejarano is averaging 21.5 points.
Photo by David Wallace, The Arizona Republic

Arizona basketball signee Daniel Bejarano will lead Phoenix North High School into Wednesday night’s state 5A-I championship game.

Bejarano, a shooting guard, scored 28 points Tuesday night as North defeated Phoenix St. Mary’s 83-63 in the semifinals at Wells Fargo Arena.

North will play Laveen Cesar Chavez for the title.

From the Arizona Republic account of the semifinal victory:

North (27-3), The Republic’s preseason No.1 team, jumped out to a 9-0 lead. St. Mary’s (20-11) answered with an 11-0 run. It kept putting bodies on Bejarano. Senior guard Robert Arvizu’s third 3-pointer triggered a 17-5 run. During that run, Bejarano made a great inside feed to Kwame Dailey for a basket, nailed a 3, scored on a layup after a steal, converted two free throws and scored on a short jumper.

Bejarano is shooting about 42 percent from 3-point range as a senior and averaging 21.5 points, which could be a lot higher if he wanted it to be.

“I don’t need to average 35 points a game,” Bejarano told the Republic. “I’m just trying to be an all-around player.”

Rod Odom, a 6-foot-8 forward from Concord (Mass.) Middlesex School, told Javier Morales of our partner wildaboutazcats.com this afternoon that he expects to announce his college choice in the next couple of days.

Odom is expected to choose among Arizona, Boston College, West Virginia and Vanderbilt. Odom said he wants to talk to each coach again and sit down with his parents before making the big decision.

Odom had initially indicated he could announce this weekend.

Odom, who visited the Arizona campus last month, is a long, lean wing — which is just the kind of player first-year coach Sean Miller puts to good use in his defense, which is a man-to-man with tough on-ball pressure as the other players sag to choke off the lane.

UA fans are familiar with the defense, as it’s a version of the pack-line defense that Dick and Tony Bennett ran at Washington State, and that Herb Sendek runs (out of more of a zone look) at Arizona State.

Miller’s first recruiting class, which was quickly and brilliantly put together last spring, has these kind of long, versatile wings in it. He is still working on the Class of 2010, but news should come quickly on that front, with Odom and shooting guard Daniel Bejarano of Phoenix North High expected to announce very soon.

In any case, Miller certainly knows what he’s doing in the recruiting game.

Look for Morales to have much more later on Odom and basketball recruiting on his TucsonCitizen.com blog and at wildaboutazcats.com.