Random thoughts (and notes) while wondering if Arizona football coach Mike Stoops sent a congratulatory message to Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints. Their connection: They were teammates on the replacement Chicago Bears during the 1987 NFL players’ strike …

Say this, the Arizona basketball team is good at one thing: Giving up career highs.

It started with the season opener, when NAU guard Cameron Jones went for 29 points.

Later in the non-conference season, there was the epic 49 points from BYU’s Jimmer Fredette. And the 34 points allowed to Lipscomb’s superb post player Adnan Hodzic.

More recently, Oregon’s LeKendric Longmire came off the bench to tie his career-best with 18 points. On Jan. 31, Theo Robertson poured in 27 points, his personal best. And, on Feb. 6, Washington State big man DeAngelo Casto had a career-high 19 points to go along with plenty of other mayhem in the paint.

In between those two games, Washington’s Quincy Pondexter lit up the Wildcats for 30 points, one off his career high. In any case, he used that to help grab Pac-10 Player of the Week honors.

Basically, if the other team has an elite scorer, Arizona usually can’t stop him, from Wisconsin’s Trevon Hughes (24 points), to Colorado’s Cory Higgins (28), to UNLV’s Tre’Von Willis (25), to Oklahoma’s Willie Warren (25), to Louisiana Tech’s Kyle Gibson (25) to Stanford’s Landry Fields (31), to all the guys mentioned above. …

Mike Bell

Mike Bell became the ninth former UA player to earn a Super Bowl ring. The New Orleans Saints running back only had two carries against the Colts, slipping on an off-tackle third-and-goal attempt from the 1, but he was a key part in the championship season. Bell actually had the most rushing attempts (172) on the team during the regular season.

As for the other Super Bowl-winning Cats:

*Tedy Bruschi has three rings (Patriots — 2002, 2004, 2005 Super Bowls)
*T Bell has two (Steelers — 1979, 1980)
*The following have one — Ron Gardin (Colts, 1971), Edwin Mulitalo (Ravens, 2001), Chris McAlister (Ravens, 2001), Josh Miller (Patriots, 2005), Michael Johnson (Giants, 2008) and Antonio Pierce (Giants, 2008).

For the complete list of ex-Cats in the Super Bowl, go to our sports network partner WildAboutAZCats.com. …

Scout.com released its initial list of top 150 football recruits for next season. How in the world did CDO running back Ka’Deem Carey not make the list? … Reason No. 5,871 to not get put too much stock into recruiting rankings: There was a lot of buzz when running back Ryan Bass — the 31st-best player in the nation, according to Scout.com — committed to Arizona a couple of years ago, and much angst when he then signed with Arizona State. He spent two unspectacular years with the Sun Devils, was suspended at the end of last season and has now transferred to Idaho. …

Jamelle Horne

UA junior forward Jamelle Horne is nothing if not consistently inconsistent, but how in the world has he scored single-digit points in six of the past seven games? Is he injured in some way that has not become public? He began Pac-10 play by averaging 16 points through four games. In the seven games since then, he is averaging 6.3. Something is not right … Four of the 23 football players in Arizona’s recruiting class have spent time on a Division I roster. They are defensive lineman Willie Mobley (redshirted at Ohio State in 2008), defensive end Mohammad Usman (had 10 tackles in nine game with Houston in 2008), linebacker Paul Vassallo (redshirted at Nevada in 2007) and, of course, Texas transfer receiver Dan Buckner. …

Among the football newcomers, long snapper Chase Gorham from Scottsdale is the one most guaranteed of playing time in 2010. The Wildcats lose two seniors on the long-snapping depth chart, and Gorham is supposed to one of the best around. He is the son of Charlie Gorham, a UA kicker in 1972 and 1973. “I know how much I really, really, really love the Cats,” Charlie said in a video interview with Wildcat Sports Report, part of the TucsonCitizen.com sports network. “The minute he steps foot on the football field at the U of A, I am going to be bawling.” …

The father of Arizona basketball commit Jordin Mayes, a point guard from Los Angeles Westchester High School, offered this honest assessment of his son to WildAboutAZCats.com: “Jordin has to learn more about managing the game and getting better at that,” Darryel Mayes said. “He has the skills to score big points when he needs to. As a point guard, he has to get others involved. But as he matures, he will understand more that he must keep the defense on its heels. Sean (Miller) and his staff can see the ability of Jordin scoring when the opportunity presents itself. When the play calls for a bucket, get that bucket. Don’t pass up that shot. That’s called playing too nice.”…

The Arizona softball team begins its season Friday at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe. Mike Candrea‘s team has its home opener on Feb. 20 with a doubleheader against Missouri. One of the changes at Hillenbrand Stadium is a padded outfield fence, replacing the wooden face that has been a hazard to outfielder’s faces. “I’m really looking forward it,” said junior centerfielder Lauren Schutzler. “I was joking with my family that Coach put that up because he’s getting sick of me not catching the ball. That wood wall was kind of a big omen out there. Any time you would run into that wall, you would get splinters, you would bang your head. It was horrible.” The padding comes a few years too late for Caitlin Lowe, who became a YouTube sensation when she crashed into the fence during postseason play in 2007. The outfielders will now have a little security when going hard after fly balls. “But it’s going to be another thing that raises expectations,” Schutzler said. “Coach is going to be like, ‘I put that padding out there for you, you better be going into it.’”

Marquis Flowers was on the cover of the Arizona edition of ESPN Rise magazine in October.

As of late Wednesday night, with all but a trickle of signees still to come across the country, Arizona’s recruiting class was ranked close to the bottom of the Pac-10.

Rivals.com ranked the Wildcats eighth in the Pac-10 and 36th in the nation. Scout.com pegged Arizona ninth in the league and 40th nationally, even below Washington State.

That’s not quite the ratings that were expected after two bowl seasons and plenty of positive momentum in the past two years, but I’m a big fan of taking the rankings as a good dose of entertainment, not gospel.

Arizona signed a total of 23 players, including Texas transfer receiver Dan Buckner (who has to sit out this season under transfer rules) and two mid-year junior college transfers.

Coach Mike Stoops doesn’t need a lot of immediate help on offense, needing mostly depth on the offensive line, which he got. Defense is a different story, with pressing concerns at defensive tackle, linebacker and safety. Stoops and his staff seemed to address that just fine.

So, no, the class rankings aren’t exactly going to send the fan message boards into a buzz, but it appears as if the impact players come at all the right spots … and, at this point, Stoops has earned a bit of trust in the kind of players he identifies and signs.

Here are five players we’re most looking forward to seeing in action right away. Call them the top five impact players:

1. S Marquis Flowers, Goodyear Millennium High School
He’s the headliner of the class, the top-rated recruit in the state, which is a rare get for the Wildcats. “Marquis Flowers is a very unique individual,” Stoops said. “A big safety who can run. A very athletic safety. One of the best I have seen all year.” At 6-3, 200, Flowers gives Arizona two young, big, athletic safeties, joining one of the top recruits from the 2009 class — Adam Hall.

2. DT Willie Mobley, Orange Coast CC
Arizona tried to recruit him out of high school, but Mobley signed at Ohio State, where he redshirted in 2008. He tried to transfer to UCLA (where the Bruins thought he was the answer to their decimated defensive tackle position), but he didn’t qualify, and his recruiting relationship with UA assistant Mike Tuiasosopo led him to Tucson. He didn’t play in junior college and has three seasons of eligibility remaining. Stoops said Mobley, combined with Saneilia Fuimaono and Kirifi Leuta-Taula, are the “best three interior defensive linemen we have recruited in some time.”

3. LB Derek Earls, North Dakota State College
Arizona has to replace all three of its starting linebackers, which meant it was critical to get immediate help. Finding a couple of talented mid-year transfers was critical and Earls (6-3, 230) fits the bill as a NJCAA first-team All-American. Stoops said he saw Earls and the other JC transfer linebacker, Paul Vassallo, work out Wednesday for the first time. “They did some things athletically that I thought we were getting from them, but it’s nice to see it with your own eyes,” Stoops said.

4. LB Paul Vassallo, Sierra College
Stoops said he didn’t know yet where Earls and Vassallo (6-3, 240) might fit into the linebacker group — inside or outside — but that will be sorted out in spring ball. “They’re big; they’re long. These guys are pretty athletic for their size and they give us a lot of different options,” Stoops said. Vassallo redshirted at Nevada for a season before transferring to junior college, where he has 14.5 sacks in 2008. He missed seven games last season because of a concussion.

5. WR Garic Wharton, Las Vegas Valley High
Arizona has dependable possession-type receivers, but is looking for a bit more pizzazz from the position, such as what Mike Thomas brought to the team in 2008. The Wildcats have moved quarterback Richard Morrison to the position and have added Wharton, whom Stoops called “probably the fastest football player in the country coming out of high school.” Wharton (5-11, 168) is a sprinting star who was an all-around skill player in high school, including returning three kicks for touchdown last season. “He has unique size to him and he is a guy who can the distance at any time,” Stoops said. “He has crazy speed.” (JC transfer Dexter Ransom is a 6-4 receiver who could make a quick impact on the outside for the Wildcats.)

Buckner

The University of Arizona football team has added a wide receiver transfer from the University of Texas.

Dan Buckner has enrolled at Arizona for the spring semester and will sit out next season under NCAA transfer rules, the UA announced today. He will have two seasons of eligibility left.

Buckner and the Longhorns parted ways last week soon after he was arrested in College Station, Texas, on charges of criminal trespass and resisting arrest.

“We’ve talked to Dan and his family about his recent situation and they’ve assured us that he doesn’t think he did anything wrong and they’re confident that it will be cleared up through the legal process,” Texas coach Mack Brown said last week.

“During our discussion with Dan and his family, we all decided that the best thing for him would be to transfer to another school and get a fresh start.”

Buckner (6-4, 215 pounds) caught 29 passes, four for touchdowns, through the first five games of the 2009 season. Listed as a “flex tight end” on the depth chart, Buckner and his position was phased out during the season as the Longhorns went with fewer four- and five-receiver sets later in the season.

Buckner ended up with 45 catches for 442 yards, the third-best reception total for Texas, which lost to Alabama in the national championship game.

He was a rated the 95th-best prospect in the nation, according to Rivals.com, in the 2008 recruiting class. Buckner is from Allen (Texas) High School, where he was teammates with Matt Brown, who is expected to sign with Arizona in February.

Arizona also officially announced the December signing of a pair of junior college transfers — linebackers Derek Earls and Paul Vassallo. Both should contend in spring ball for starting roles at a position where UA loses all three starters.

“They appear to be physically ready for Pac-10 play and we’ll get a quick look in spring ball,” coach Mike Stoops said.