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CURRENT WILDCAT TARGETS
Class of 2015 commit
— Justin Simon, PG, 6’5″/180, Temecula (Calif.) Valley High School
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SERIES LINKS
— Fred Snowden era (1972-1982)
— Lute Olson era (1983-2007)
— Sean Miller era (2009-present)
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Fred Snowden’s first two recruiting classes in 1972 and 1973 had heavyweights but he could not gather that knockout punch for more classes as his career progressed with the Arizona Wildcats.
The next three years of this series — 1975 through 1977 — is an example of Snowden recruiting some of the finest players to play for the Arizona Wildcats. But the effort did not match what he did in 1972 and 1973. In those two years, he had at least six four-star players, two of whom were five-star talents (Bob Elliott and Al Fleming). Note: My rating system applies to their Arizona careers, not high school.
In the next four years (1973-76), Snowden attracted only three four-star players: Larry Demic (1975), Joe Nehls (1976) and Russell Brown (1977).
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Former Arizona head coach Fred Snowden with Bob Elliott (left) and Herman Harris sitting behind him on the Arizona Basketball Media Guide cover of the 1976-77 team
Snowden’s inability to keep the recruiting momentum going after the first two seasons ultimately limited him to 10 seasons at Arizona. Why the significant drop? Tough luck and the inability to make a dent into the recruiting dominance of UCLA and others in the fertile state of California.
At the beginning of his career, Snowden made most of his recruiting impact in the Midwest, close to where he coached at Michigan as an assistant. That trend continued with Demic (from Gary, Ind.) in 1975 and Nehls (Hinsdale, Ill.) in 1976.
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His top recruit in 1977 was another player from Detroit — wing player Ray Murdock, who led the Detroit Public High School League in scoring as a senior at 32 points a game. Murdock lasted only two games in Tucson, however, before becoming homesick. Devastating to Snowden’s program, Murdock transferred to Detroit.
Brown, a point guard from Inglewood, Calif., and shooting guard John Smith (from San Francisco) became Snowden’s first recruits of consequence from the West coast in 1977. Five years into Snowden’s tenure at Arizona, that proved to be too late for “The Fox” to try to make a mark against the Pac-10 powers. Arizona was behind the 8-ball in recruiting when it joined the conference in 1978.
Head coach: Fred Snowden
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Developments: Demic becomes Arizona’s only player of note in this recruiting class. He is Arizona’s first NBA draft pick to be chosen in the first round (ninth overall in 1979). None of the four other recruits in this class complete a four-year career at Arizona.
NBA draft picks (1): Demic (1979/first round/ninth overall/New York Knicks).
All-conference selections (1): Demic 1978-79.
Conference players of the year: None.
All-Americans: None.
Three years later (1977-78): Arizona finishes 15-11, losing five of its last eight games.
Rating: 1.6 out of 5 stars. Comment: Snowden’s recruitment of Demic is significant but the others in this class do not provide a solid nucleus after the Bob Elliott era.
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Developments: A decent class on paper with JC transfers Tommy Williams and Kenny Davis along with Nehls, one of Arizona’s most successful perimeter shooters. Williams, a reserve forward, only plays 40 games in two years. Davis, a 6’8″ power forward, is the national junior college player of the year but mostly struggles with the Wildcats. He shares the school record of 25 rebounds in a game (against UTEP in 1977).
NBA draft picks (1): Nehls (1980/seventh round/152nd pick/Houston).
All-conference selections (1): Nehls 1979-80.
Conference players of the year: None.
All-Americans: None.
Three years later (1978-79): Arizona finishes 16-11, the last time the Wildcats have a winning season in six years.
Rating: 2.3 stars out of 5. Comment: Nehls belongs among Arizona’s upper echelon of players, but the JC transfers never sustain excellence for Snowden.
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Developments: Brown becomes the school’s career assist leader with 810 (no other player has more than 700). Dosty leads Arizona in rebounding as a senior with 6.6 per game. Smith is the leader in steals with 1.8 game as a senior. Murdock’s transfer out of the program to Detroit after only two games sets Arizona back.
NBA draft picks (1): Dosty (1981/sixth round/148th pick/Golden State).
All-conference selections: None.
Conference players of the year: None.
All-Americans: None.
Three years later (1979-80): Arizona finishes 12-15, its first losing season in eight years under Snowden.
Rating: 2.2 stars out 5. Comment: At least Snowden’s first true effort to recruit in California is successful with Brown, whose career assist totals seem unassailable.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.
