Arizona Basketball

Arizona Wildcats in good position to land 7-foot Serbian NBA prospect this weekend

Posted on
Share

[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]

Arizona is going international to land a 7-foot center to bolster the Wildcats’ inside game next season.

Scout.com first reported Thursday on the official visit this weekend of Serbian Dusan Ristic, a projected first-round NBA draft pick in 2015. Bruce Pascoe of The Arizona Daily Star has reported that Ristic is letting other potential suitors know that he wants to visit Arizona before scheduling any possible other trips.

Two Class of 2015 recruits — Justin Simon and Chase Jeter — will be on campus tomorrow taking unofficial visits leading up to the Stanford-Arizona game at 6 p.m. Jeter is a 6’10” post player from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman and Simon is a Temecula (Calif.) combo guard who has received scholarship offers from UCLA, Louisville and Kansas, among other schools.

The best scenario for Arizona coach Sean Miller and his staff is for the Wildcats to win on Senior Day and cut down the nets signifying their outright Pac-12 championship.

What better recruiting tool is that? They may get Ristic to commit on the spot.

According to various reports, Ristic may give Nebraska a look but has Arizona in the lead because the Wildcats have recruited him since he played for the Red Star Brigade youth team in Serbia last year. Nebraska has a chance because Australian-Serbian Aleks Maric once played for the Cornhuskers and reportedly enjoyed his experience there. Maric plays professionally in Russia four years removed from his Nebraska career.

Ristic came to the United States on Jan. 18 to enroll at the Wichita (Kansas) Sunrise Academy. He reportedly moved to the U.S. instead of signing a pro contract in Serbia to better prepare him for the NBA. He wants to play one season of major college basketball to prepare him for the NBA in 2015.

“I don’t know all the details but I know (Arizona) had been recruiting him even when he was over there,” Sunrise Christian Kyle Lindsted told Pascoe. “They kind of convinced him that he should come to the States instead of staying there. We have a close friend of his and he was looking for a (high) school, so we were able to convince him to come to our place.”

Former Arizona player Ivan Radenovic, a Serbian who plays professionally in the country, came to Arizona under similar circumstances to hone his game.

[/ezcol_1half]

[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]

Ristic

EUROPEANPROPROSPECTS.COM SCOUTING REPORT
7’0″, 240-POUND CENTER DUSAN RISTIC

Ristic was dominating in the low post (at Nike International Junior Tournament 2013 in Belgrade, of which he won the MVP award). He could establish position quite well and was very good on the jump hook turning to the baseline. … Occasionally, he went for other low-post moves where he showed improved footwork. Even under high defensive pressure, he was able to execute his moves well and stay alert for avoiding the helpers. … He posts up really deep which helps him to finish moves quickly without using a dribble and take away the chances to smaller players to get the steal.

On the defensive end, Ristic shows some good lateral speed for a big guy. His quick feet help him on that side as well. However, his defensive impact needs to be bigger if he wants to play on the professional level. His rebounding is good but not great and he is more relying on the feel than seriously boxing out his man. Shot blocking is not one of his strength but he is not a defensive go-to match-up either. With his understanding of the game, he does a good job overall in the team defense.

He did not show much of an outside game which does not mean that he does not have it, he simply did not need it against this competition. With the skills that he showed in Belgrade, he should be able to become a player who is able to put the ball on the floor from outside. He showed for example some high-low passing when he got the ball at the top of the key. But only on very rare occasion, the initiated plays for himself from outside the three-point line.

[/ezcol_1half_end]


[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]

ARIZONA IN 2014-15?
Fifteen names are listed, including Serbian center Dusan Ristic, who may commit to Arizona after his trip to Tucson this weekend. The NCAA scholarship limit is 13. Aaron Gordon is likely headed to the NBA. Who will go with him? Nick Johnson? Brandon Ashley? Or maybe Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Kaleb Tarczewski?
[table “” not found /]

[/ezcol_1half]

[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]

[/ezcol_1half_end]

print
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Related Items:, ,

Recommended for you

To Top