The rich get richer.
Four-star center Chance Comanche announced Sunday morning that he picked Arizona men’s basketball over a slew of top programs (and ASU). The Wildcats’ four-player 2015 recruiting class features three four-star recruits and one five-star player.
Jerry Meyer, 247 Sports’ Director of Basketball Scouting, wrote that Comanche’s commitment “strengthens Arizona’s hold on No. 1” in the 2015 recruiting class rankings.
“Thought Arizona had the No. 1 class in the country entering the weekend,” tweeted CBS Sports college basketball/recruiting reporter Jeff Borzello. “Addition of Chance Comanche is another piece to the puzzle.”
Sunday morning, Comanche tweeted that he’s going to the UA with a blue heart emoji, a red heart, a bear, a hand pointing down and “#BearDown.”
“Enjoying my Arizona visit,” Comanche tweeted Saturday afternoon before committing. “The players are super friendly and treat me like I’m one of them already,”
Verbal commitments are not binding until they sign a national letter of intent. The recruits can make it official starting Nov. 12.
Comanche, who is from Beverly Hills (California) High School picked the Wildcats over teams like ASU, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Oregon and UCLA.
Schools cannot comment on players until they sign a national letter of intent, but the Arizona men’s basketball account, @APlayersProgram, sent out a tweet just after Comanche announced his decision: “#ArizonaBasketballNeverStops.”
Comanche will join freshman center Dusan Ristic in the UA frontcourt. Center Kaleb Tarczewski is a junior, but is expected to enter the 2015 NBA Draft.
According to Rivals, Comanche is a four-star player who is the 31st best player in his class.
247 Sports has Comanche as a four-star recruit, the 52nd best in the nation, the 10th best center in the country and the sixth best player in California.
ESPN rates Comanche as a four-star recruit and the 97th best player in the class of 2015.
In ESPN’s rankings, Arizona’s 2015 commits also include Allonzo Trier, the No. 3 shooting guard, the fifth-best small forward in Ray Smith and the No. 5 point guard in Justin Simon.
The Wildcats will also add Ryan Anderson, a 6-foot-9, 216-pound senior forward, who transferred from Boston College and will be available to play in the fall of 2015. Anderson was an All-ACC performer in his time in Beantown.
The powerful 2015 class adds to a highly touted 2014 class for the Wildcats. Rivals has the freshman class ranked No. 4 and 247 Sports, and ESPN classified them sixth best.
Reloading with a couple top-five classes in back-to-back seasons has the UA equipped to handle the potential loss of four or five starters and a sixth man, and still make yearly runs at the Final Four.
In its latest 2015 NBA mock draft, DraftExpress.com has freshman forward Stanley Johnson going No. 9, sophomore forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson at No. 15, Tarczewski going 46th and junior forward Brandon Ashley as the No. 54 pick. The UA’s expected starting point guard is senior T.J. McConnell.
It might be a marketing slogan that Nike uses for multiple teams, but Arizona basketball does in fact seem to never stop collecting riches.
—Follow James Kelley @jameskelley520