Published Aug 8, 2017
Quinerly will bring the jelly to Arizona as its latest 2018 commit
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Matt Moreno  •  GOAZCATS
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It took some time, but Arizona has its next point guard for the 2018 class as five-star prospect Jahvon Quinerly has announced his decision to commit to the Wildcats over offers from Villanova, Kansas, UCLA, Virginia, Stanford and many others. Sean Miller and his staff prioritized Quinerly and a group of other point guards this spring and summer with the hopes of adding another guard to compliment four-star point guard Brandon Williams in the backcourt of the future in Tucson.

That came to a head Tuesday night with the New Jersey native deciding to go with the program he took an official visit to back in June.

"I feel like he (Miller) has all the tools to teach me and get me to the highest level," Quinerly said Tuesday. "Just the university itself. Arizona is big time, and just being able to play for him and hopefully we get a lot of wins."

Quinerly gives Arizona its second five-star pledge in the 2018 class and one of its top point guard recruits under Miller during his time at UA. The No. 16 prospect in the Rivals150 for 2018 visited UA in the last week of June on an official visit but he recently told GOAZCATS.com that he was getting closer to making a decision. He planned to visit Kansas in the coming months, but instead he went with the Wildcats and will be one of the most important pieces to the class.

The newest Wildcat pledge left Tucson impressed with what he saw during his stay and with plans to already return in October for the Red-Blue Game it is not a big shock that he went with the Pac-12 program.

"It's like a little basketball city," he said. "Everybody is, 'Arizona, Arizona.' The red, blue and white you see that everywhere you go. It's a good culture around the school. And then the players, I got to hang out with the players as well and it's the place you want to go if you want to get to the NBA."

One of the key elements of recruiting a second point guard for Arizona was finding one who could play alongside Williams who committed to the program back in June. Because both Williams and Quinerly can play on or off the ball the duo will be a versatile backcourt for Miller a year from now.

"We both like playing off the ball a little bit and we don't have to have the ball in our hand 100 percent of the time," Quinerly said in Las Vegas last month. "We both like to score, so we could coexist in the back court. Then the Pac-12 pace, the pace is fast and there is a lot of scoring and guards like me usually strive in the Pac-12."

Leading up to his decision Tuesday there had been plenty of behind-the-scenes chatter that Quinerly was growing tired of the recruiting process, and a recent official visit to UA from fellow 2018 point guard Devon Dotson could have moved things along more quickly.

“If I was in a position that I had no offers I’d be upset, so I’m not saying I don’t like the process at all,” he said. “I understand the process. I understand that these coaches have to text me almost everyday and it’s their job to do that. I understand there’s a business side of things and I’m just grateful to be in the position I’m in.”

Quinerly joins Williams and five-star forward Shareef O'Neal as the third member of Arizona's 2018 class.

Commitment breakdown

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