Gaddy talks commitment

Arizona has its man. Again.

The Wildcats' most wanted recruit of the 2009 class, Abdul Gaddy, recommitted to Arizona on Monday afternoon. The commitment follows several months of a re-recruitment of the best pure point guard in the class.

Gaddy committed to the Wildcats in August of 2007 but decommitted from Arizona in May of 2008 after the extensive coaching changes in the UA program. The new UA coaches would have to convince Gaddy that they too would be able to make him a better basketball player and that he would be part of a top tier program at Arizona.

For the entire summer, Gaddy continually insisted that Arizona was his number one school. As of late, UCLA became a major contender and put much doubt in the hearts of Wildcat fans following the recruitment.

For Rivals.com's 13th player overall in the class of 2009, the decision was even closer than most people think.

"It really just came down to where my heart was at," Gaddy told GOAZCATS.com. "It was really even between UCLA and Arizona because there were a lot of similar things. My heart was with Arizona so that's where I decided to go."

UCLA and Arizona have been the class of the Pac-10 Conference for quite some time now and continually compete over recruits. The amount of success that each school has had becomes an easy recruiting tool, but eventually it laid within the recruit's heart whether he wants to be a Wildcat or a Bruin.

"When I looked at all of the aspects, everything was so close between UCLA and Arizona," said Gaddy. "I had it in my mind that if UCLA blew me away then I would have went there but if it came out even or Arizona just blew me away then I would just go to Arizona and that's what I chose."

Arizona eventually won Gaddy from this past weekend's official visit to Tucson. The Wildcats did not have to throw the entire kitchen sink at Gaddy, but just show that Arizona was the right place of him.

"Really they just had to show me that I would fit in the system and that I could get comfortable with the coaching staff," explained Gaddy. "Just prove to me that they could help me be the best player and be an NBA player."

Arizona assistant coach Reggie Geary took the lead in the recruitment of Gaddy after the coaching change and never let up in his pursuit of the top point guard. Current players Chase Budinger and Jamelle Horne showed Gaddy around Tucson and the Arizona campus this past weekend and offered Gaddy some advice.

"They just told me to choose the best place for me and where I best fit at," said Gaddy. "When we played pickup we played well together even though Chase didn't get to play. Obviously they wanted me to pick Arizona but they just told me to pick the best place for me."

Gaddy now joins Mike Moser, Solomon Hill, and Reger Dowell in Arizona's 2009 class. Arizona is still in hot after Anthony Stover, a talented big man from California. Gaddy knows that getting some size with the class would help Arizona out a lot.

"I just need a couple of bigs, really," said Gaddy. "It would be great to play with a couple of big guys."

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