BREAKING NEWS: Abdul Gaddy De-Commits from Arizona
Words. HShoop
Two weeks after Top 50 ’08 prospect Emmanuel Negedu got out of his letter-of-intent to the Wildcats, Arizona also lost a commitment from their top ’09 recruit, Abdul Gaddy. The 6-3 point guard was named ’07-08 Washington Gatorade Player of the Year after tallying 23 points 6 assists and 5 rebounds per game, but he won’t be the next name in the long lineage of UA point guards.
Gaddy’s announcement came after news dropped that Arizona is experiencing a total upheaval of the coaching staff. With uncertainty about the head coaching position still looming – whether Lute Olson will officially return – and the departure of assistants Miles Simon and Josh Pastner, both Gaddy and Negedu reopened their recruitment.
“Everything was solid with them, even when coach (Olson) took his absence,” Gaddy said. “He kept his promise and I believed him.”
“I was solid on them and they were my favorite school. But, I also built a good relationship with Josh Pastner, Kevin O’Neill and Miles Simon. I was confident those four guys would help me get to the NBA. Three of those guys are gone now and they brought in new guys. I don’t know them.”
Another potential wrinkle in Gaddy’s destination is that he and his Bellarmine Prep teammate SG Avery Bradley are considering playing together in college. As it currently stands, they are shopping for a school as a packaged deal.
“We’re going to pick our school as a school that we can play right away when we get there,” Bradley said. “That’s the main thing. If we aren’t able to both be able to play at the same time, we won’t have that school on our list.”
Arizona’s got to feel the pain of this loss even more acutely after Gaddy recently lit up the Cactus Classic for a tournament-high 36 assists over 7 games. The tourney was played on UA’s campus.
What’s going on over there at Arizona?
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