When Sean Miller first arrived as the new head coach of Arizona basketball, many questions were asked of his ability to lead one of the more predominate college basketball programs in the nation. One of the areas questioned most of Miller was his ability to recruit at a high level and -- even more specifically -- recruit the west coast with seemingly no ties to this side of the country.
Two and a half years into the Miller era in Tucson, there isn't a doubt in anyone's mind: the head coach knows how to recruit, and his recent take over of California recruiting has the future of the UA program looking as bright as ever. National Hoops Report also took notice of UA's recent success in the Golden State:
The pipeline from California emerged this past season with Miller getting top point guard Josiah Turner to come to Tucson as well as fellow top 100 prospect Angelo Chol. Turner was the best player in the class of 2011 to come out of California, and Chol was the second best big man to come from the state.
Three top 50 players in the class of 2012 have already committed to Arizona, and all of them are from California. Brandon Ashley and Grant Jerrett are two of the top big men in the country as well as the two best players in the state. Gabe York is a talented combo guard who is the third best player and best guard coming out of California this season.
This is just the beginning for Arizona. While the program does not currently have any commitments for the class of 2013, two of their top targets, Jabari Bird and Aaron Gordon, are from the Bay Area in California and have close ties with many of UA's current commits listed above.
Not only does this bode well for the Wildcats, but it also hurts the rest of the Pac-12 and other programs around the country hoping to steal a recruit or two from California. Schools such as UCLA, USC, Cal and Stanford have established their programs by bringing in the best talent their home state has to offer; that is not happening anymore with Miller's recent take over.
Instead, these schools are looking elsewhere for talent or are settling for their backup options, which only makes Arizona even stronger on the west coast. Miller and his staff are essentially creating a monopoly on the California recruiting scene and the program is now set to reach the highest of highs it has ever seen. That means another national championship, and with the help of the Golden State, that championship does not seem too far off in the distance.