Arizona State, Arizona in ESPN’s top 15 for 2024 basketball recruiting

Nov 24, 2023, 10:30 AM

ArizonaSports.com editor

As Arizona State and Arizona are set to square off in football this week, the gap in high-level basketball recruiting has never been smaller.

The early signing period for 2024 recruits ended on Nov. 15, meaning classes have become a little clearer ahead of the regular signing window running from mid-April to mid-May.

ESPN writer Jeff Borzello took the end of the early window as an opportunity to share his class rankings, where both Arizona schools ranked in the top 15.

6. Arizona Wildcats

Tommy Lloyd did his work early in the 2024 cycle, picking up the two anchors in his recruiting class before the summer began. Guard Jamari Phillips (No. 26) picked the Wildcats last December. Phillips can play either guard spot, continues to improve his offensive game and is capable of getting to the rim or shooting from the perimeter. Bryant popped into the fold this spring. He has been on the radar for a couple of years and really started to put things together over the past few months with length, shooting ability and feel as his strengths.

Phillips is a somewhat local product, transferring from Modesto, California, to AZ Compass Prep in Chandler for most of his junior season. Less than a month ago, he made another move to nearby Dream City Christian in Glendale, where he’s teaming up with fellow top-100 Arizona signee Emmanuel Stephen, a 7-footer ranked No. 95 in the class.

Bryant, meanwhile, is a forward playing at Centennial High in Corona, California. He teamed up with Phillips and Stephen on the Nike EYBL circuit last summer, playing for Paul George Elite, which went 13-8 on the season.

Borzello lists Arizona as one of four classes to watch because the Wildcats are still in play for five-star Zoom Diallo, a combo guard out of Prolific Prep in Napa, California. According to Borzello, adding Diallo “would push them into the elite tier.”

13. Arizona State Sun Devils

After getting to the NCAA tournament and cooling off his seat — somewhat — Bobby Hurley hit the recruiting trail and reeled in a top-15 class. There are two ESPN 100 prospects at the top: (Amier) Ali and Sammie Yeanay (No. 91). Ali brings 6-8 size and high-level offensive ability from the perimeter. Yeanay committed just before the signing period and plays with physicality and energy.

Both of ASU’s top recruits fit into the Arizona prep landscape as well. Yeanay, a short-term teammate of Phillips, is playing his senior season at AZ Compass while Ali left IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, to join Canyon International Academy in Arizona.

Ali was the first of ASU’s bigger recruits to pledge, and he said at the time he wanted to bring Yeanay and Jahki Howard — who has since committed to Auburn — along with him.

Joining the two top-100 wings are 6-foot-11 Jaden Smith from Chicago, three-star guard Bo Aldridge from PHH Prep in Phoenix and junior college forward Jeremiah Nyarko.