After announcing a list of his top-five programs, 2012 five-star big man Shaq Goodwin has replaced the Alabama Crimson Tide with the Arizona Wildcats. The 6'8'' forward out of Atlanta recently told PointGuardU.com why he changed his final list of schools.
"One of the people I met this summer at Adidas Nations and other events was Gabe York, who is going to Arizona," Goodwin told PGU. "Brandon Ashley is also going there, so the way I see it Arizona is going to be winning a lot more games. So that's very appealing to me."
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Goodwin said that the Arizona coaching staff has also reached out to him.
"Through the summer Alabama started to lose contact with me, and Arizona really picked up the contact, so that's why they jumped ahead," he said.
Imagine that: Sean Miller and his coaching staff outworking another and then quickly rising up a top-prospects list of schools. That seems to be a trend in recent months.
As for Goodwin, the fun-loving senior in high school has not set up a visit to Arizona, though he will try to visit campus during the basketball season to see the atmosphere at McKale Center. All of this does probably hinge on Kaleb Tarczewski, though. If he were to commit in the next few weeks, Miller would (unfortunately) have his scholarships filled for the class of 2012 and would not be able to add Goodwin.
This is definitely a player to keep an eye on. The five-star prospect has the potential to be both an excellent basketball and football player in college and has said he hopes to play both. I don't think Miller or Mike Stoops would mind having Shaq on their team one bit. He's a great kid.
For more on the Arizona Wildcats, AZ Desert Swarm is the place to go.