Sean Miller wasn't kidding when he said he'd be recruiting the Bay Area heavily the next few years. Both Brandon Ashley and Jabari Bird are big-time targets for Miller's Arizona Wildcats program, and it looks like Stephen Domingo may be next in line for heavy recruitment. The local recruit from St. Ignatius High in San Francisco has blown onto the national landscape over the past year, and could be poised to rise higher in his junior year.
In an interview with Coast2Coast Hoops, Domingo (on crutches after breaking his foot in an Indianapolis tournament with his Dream Vision AAU team), spoke fondly of the Wildcats, and why Arizona was recruiting him. Full interview is below, but here's a transcript of the Arizona-relevant sections.
Interviewer: Who are you talking to at Arizona?
Domingo: I've been talking to Coach Pasternak and Coach Miller a lot. My mom just talked to Coach Miller couple days ago during the week that we could talk to them. Coach Pasternak's been handling my recruiting pretty much, besides Coach Miller when I talk to him.Interviewer: And what has he telling you about what they want to do with you in the Arizona system or what you can bring to the program?
Domingo: They really like how I can stretch the floor, they really feel like I can fit into their system, especially the pieces they're trying to bring in my class ... they really feel like my class ... will be really well-rounded.
..
Interviewer: What'd you think of how they [Arizona] did [last season]?
Domingo: I really liked them. I followed them...obviously they beat Duke in that NCAA game which was big. They handled the Pac-10 pretty easily this year ... it's been fun to watch them ... and I'm gonna keep my eye on them definitely for this next year and a half before I make my decision.
According to DeAnte Mitchell of CollegiateHoops, Domingo has offers from over a dozen schools, including Arizona, Cal, Georgetown, Harvard, Memphis, Penn, Santa Clara, San Diego State, USC, USD, UNLV, USF (San Francisco), Washington and Washington State. Domingo was named the 36th best recruit by Rivals and the 11th best small forward and 57th best recruit by ESPN for the 2013 class. Domingo says Arizona, Washington, UCLA, Cal, Georgetown, Memphis, Texas have been recruiting him the hardest, so expect a long drawn out process with the wing.
(via Coast2Coasthoops)
For more on Arizona basketball recruiting, head to Arizona Desert Swarm.