After an exhausting (yet enjoyable) weekend at the Arizona Cactus Classic, I’ve finally compiled all my notes from the tournament into a condensed summary. Listed below are Arizona recruiting targets from the classes of 2008 and 2009. I’ve included each recruit’s stats from the tournament, their list of schools and my (admittedly amateur) scouting report.

Class of 2008

• Brendon Lavender – Arizona Magic (0-4): 9.3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 33.3% FG, 71.4% FT (5-7)

School list: Committed to Arizona.

Scouting report: A tough tournament for Lavender, who played on one of the worst teams at the Cactus Classic. Making matters worse for him was being forced into point guard duties, thanks to Isaiah Thomas’ departure from the Magic.

Lavender’s not a guy who can take over games. What he can do is play unselfish basketball and make his teammates better. Halfway through his second game, Lavender started looking for his shot, and being more aggressive in general. He definitely has some skill, but he’ll have to keep up that assertiveness and aggression to be a valuable role player at the UA.

• Larry Drew – Pump N’ Run Elite (3-2): 14 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 41.4% FG, 46.4% 3PM, 60.0% FT (9-15)

School list: Drew will likely choose between Arizona and North Carolina within the next couple of weeks.

Scouting report: I was pretty blown away by Drew’s quickness, especially considering he’s been battling a bum ankle throughout May. Drew is a classic pass-first, set-up guy, but that isn’t code for “he can’t score.” Drew will take, and often make, the open jumper. Check out that 46.4% three-point percentage for further evidence. He excelled in transition, and was a threat to hit the pull-up jumper.

Probably Drew’s only drawback is his size (5’11, 155 according to his scout profile, 6’0, 160 according to rivals). But his conditioning is impeccable, so his stature shouldn’t be that big of a hindrance. Drew would really flourish in a run n’ gun type of offense.

• Brandon Jennings – Belmont Shore (7-1): 28.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.4 steals, 50.9% FG, 82.2% FT (37-45)

School list: Jennings is down to Arizona, Connecticut and Kentucky. He’ll announce his decision at the Big Time AAU tournament in July.

Scouting report: Jennings is definitely deserving of the hype. He might have had his worst game of the tournament in Belmont Shore’s championship game loss to the New York Gauchos, but he still dropped 24. Jennings can score pretty much every way imaginable.

He did play off guard most of the time, so I didn’t get a great sense for his ability as a distributor. Jennings was basically able to penetrate at will throughout the tournament, so I imagine his ability to run a team is just fine. He could’ve played with a little more defensive tenacity, but then again, this is AAU ball and he played eight games in three days. He’ll make some team unbelievably happy, even if it’s only for a year. Jennings is that good.

• Terrence Jennings – Play Hard Play Smart (3-2): 13.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 53.8% FG, 58.3% FT (7-12)

School list: Has a top three of Arizona, Cal and Connecticut. Jennings also mentioned Maryland, Oklahoma and Iowa State. Visited the UA unofficially after the Cactus Classic.

Scouting report: While I don’t think Jennings is a top 10 player in the nation, he’s very good, and absolutely worth the attention. He runs the floor extremely well for the guy who’s a legit 6’10. He really gets after it on defense, as evidenced by his 1.6 blocks per game and the countless other shots he altered. I didn’t get to see much of a jumper, but he did exhibit some crafty post moves.

I think he’d be a fantastic get for the UA, but there are some academic hurdles that apparently need to be cleared.

• James Rahon – Double Pump Elite (5-2): 15.7 points, 2.3 assists, 42.4% FG, 37.5% 3PM, 92% FT (23-25)

School list: Scholarship offers from UC Davis, San Diego State, Santa Clara and the University of San Diego. Took an unofficial visit to the UA after the Cactus Classic. Rahon told me before the conclusion of the tournament that, “[Arizona is] still kind of evaluating me. But they’ve said they could be close to offering.” UCLA has also made contact with Rahon.

Scouting report: Rahon had arguably the prettiest stroke out of any player at the Cactus Classic. He plays with a lot of confidence, and is a threat to shoot every time he touches the ball. Defenses couldn’t afford to not account for him whenever he was on the floor. Rahon has underrated athleticism, but at 6’2, he lacks ideal size for a shooting guard.

He could really flourish in the right system, and he’s definitely good enough to play in the Pac-10. If the UA gets a fifth scholarship for this class, Rahon’s name could be all over it.

2008 Summary: Landing Terrence Jennings, and either Larry Drew or Brandon Jennings (to go along with Emmanuel Negedu and Brendon Lavender), would be a fantastic class for the UA, especially in the wake of a disappointing (by Arizona standards) season. I think it’s a good bet that the UA will get either B. Jennings or Drew, but who knows about T. Jennings. Dan Jennings, a 6’9 center for the New York Gauchos, has apparently received some attention from the UA, but who knows how serious the mutual interest is. I’m guessing that Arizona will continue to scour the country for more big men, while continuing to go hard after Terrence Jennings.

Class of 2009:

• Reeves Nelson – Pump N’ Run Elite (3-2): 17.6 points, 6 rebounds, 78% FG, 50% FT (10-20)

School list: It’s really early into his recruitment, but his rivals profile lists offers from Arizona and UCLA. It’s probably way too early to read much in to his recruitment. It should be noted though that the UA and UCLA will battle for a lot of these 2009 kids.

Scouting report: Simply put, Nelson was a monster in this tournament. He crashed the boards with more tenacity than any other prospect I saw all weekend. Nelson gets a ton of garbage points. His effort was really second to none, although a hurt wrist hindered him a little in Pump N’ Run’s loss to the New York Gauchos. Nelson probably has one of the most college-ready builds of all the 2009 kids.

• David Wear – Pump N’ Run Elite (3-2): 11.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 56.8% FG, 83.3% FT (5-6)

• Travis Wear – Pump N’ Run Elite (3-2): 10.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, 48.5% FG, 68.2% FT (15-22)

School list: A package deal, the Wear twins have an early top three of Arizona, North Carolina and UCLA, with Stanford and Washington also receiving consideration.

Scouting report: I’m only doing one scouting report for the Wear twins because their games are so similar, and honestly, I really had trouble telling them apart. Even their stats were very comparable. Both are adept ballhandlers for big guys, and both have very nice jumpers. They’re both comfortable shooting the three, but can also mix it up a little inside.

I spoke with David for a while after Pump N’ Run’s loss to the New York Gauchos, and the one thing that struck me (besides him being an incredibly nice, polite kid) was just how young he looked. The Wear’s are both 6’9, but I’m wondering if they aren’t done growing.

• Peyton Siva – Seattle Rotary Select (5-2): 24 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 53.8% FG, 54.3% 3PM, 78.6% FT (11-14)

School list: Sports an early offer from Washington, but will undoubtedly have more suitors following his strong play at the Cactus Classic. According to Siva’s scout.com profile, UW, Arizona, ASU and Oregon State are in the mix.

Scouting report: Super quick point guard who can do it all. He showed ridiculous handles, a very consistent jumper, and great hops for a guy who’s 5’11. I won’t have any video on Siva, unfortunately, because A.) if he was on the UA’s radar before the weekend, I didn’t know it, and B.) my amateur camera skills often couldn’t keep up with Siva. Nonetheless, whichever school earns Siva’s services will be a lucky one.

A couple more Cactus Classic links …

• Daily Star UA basketball beat writer Bruce Pascoe also blogged from the Cactus Classic.

• For another recap from the Cactus Classic, check out this free story courtesy of goazcats.com.

Finally …

… thanks to everyone who checked out the blog this past weekend. I had a great time covering the tournament, and hope you all enjoyed it.

Keep checking back with Recruiting Roundup this week for links to more Cactus Classic stories and additional video from the tournament.

I’ve already posted video of Brendon Lavender, Terrence Jennings and Brandon Jennings, and will have highlights of Larry Drew, James Rahon, Reeves Nelson and the Wear twins as well in the next few days.

You can access the video highlights on the sidebar of this page, or at azstarnet.com/video.