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FEATURED CLASS OF 2017 ARIZONA WILDCATS TARGET
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PREVIOUS PROFILES
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AAU TEAM: Houston Hoops
OVERALL CLASS OF 2017 RANKING:
Scout: No. 16 (No. 3 power forward)
Rivals: No. 8 (No. 3 power forward)
247Sports: No. 11 (No. 5 power forward)
ESPN: No. 13 (No. 3 power forward)
OTHER TOP CHALLENGERS FOR PRESTON: Kansas, Maryland and USC.
SCOUTING REPORT: From Scout.com — Preston is a face-up four who can really shoot it, especially from mid-range. He’s best from the high post where he can consistently knock down jumpers, while he’s also a threat to use his vision to find cutters. Preston is capable of shooting from three but is best from mid-range. You’d like to see him add more to his game with his back to the basket and play with a more competitive edge on both sides of the court, but he’s no doubt talented. … Like his Houston Hoops teammate Jarred Vanderbilt — another prime Arizona target featured yesterday in this series — Preston has missed games recently because of an injury. He suffered a dislocated right index finger July 7. His status for games in Las Vegas is unknown.
HOW HE FIGURES IN AT ARIZONA: Another top-notch power forward prospect that will shore up that position similar to the talents of targets P.J. Washington and Vanderbilt. Sean Miller and his staff can not go wrong with any of them, all five-star recruits. He could even sign two because the power forwards returning in the 2017-18 season will be Lauri Markkanen and Keanu Pinder, both who are untested at the Division I level. How they mature and produce will factor into decisions on both sides — Arizona’s coaches and the quality power forward prospects such as Preston.
BACKGROUND: An interesting twist: Preston is an AAU teammate of Vanderbilt and he is a high school teammate of another top-notch Arizona target — point guard Trevon Duval of the Dallas Advanced Preparatory, the same school that former Arizona recruit Terrance Ferguson played for last season. Preston, recruited by Arizona assistant Joe Pasternack, revealed in March that the Wildcats are one of his finalists along with USC (which 247Sports considers the favorite), Maryland and Kansas. He unofficially visited Arizona’s campus on Dec. 20.
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Power forward prospect Billy Preston, from Dallas, has already visited Arizona’s campus unofficially and lists the Wildcats as one of his four finalists.
Five-star Billy Preston — who was down to USC, Kansas, Arizona, Maryland — is also hearing from Oregon, Arizona State and Texas. #nikeeyb
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) July 8, 2016
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Check out exclusive footage of five-star 2017 forward @nolimitbill at the Big Strick Classic in Harlem: https://t.co/NAvt0HdTaI
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) July 14, 2016
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
