SoCal guard Jahmai Mashack continuing to build relationship with Arizona

Four-star guard Jahmai Mashack is the type of prospect coaches love to have at any level of basketball. He understands his role, he plays it well and he does it all with 100 percent effort. That's part of the reason he has caught the eye of a number of college programs across the country.

The standout junior from Etiwanda High School in Southern California had to miss a crucial part of the year when he injured his ankle last summer causing him to miss most of the live evaluation periods and his opportunity to perform in front of college coaches.

So, he is making up for lost time this winter by continuing to help his high school team achieve big results. Mashack has been an integral piece to his team that is now 25-2 in the final week of the regular season.

His ability to impact the game on both ends has been on full display this season, and he has started to have his stock rise along the way. High school basketball is certainly important, but the travel season will be key for Mashack this spring and summer.

Schools such as UCLA, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Oklahoma have all been involved with his recruitment, but each of those programs – and many others – want to see more of him against spring and summer competition to truly make the next move in his recruitment.

The Wildcats have long been interested in the 6-foot-4 wing prospect with assistant coach Danny Peters helping to build a relationship between the two sides. Peters and head coach Sean Miller have already watched Mashack this season and he is certainly excited to be garnering interest from one of the premiere programs in the West.

"It's been great, they've been expressing interest," Mashack said of the Wildcats. "They still want to see a lot more of me playing in action. They weren't able to see me a lot in the summertime, but they're really starting to come out and see some games. It's been great to get to know the Arizona program."

Arizona is not a foreign place to the 2021 recruit as his older brother, Kwesi, played safety for the Wildcats' football team from 2014-17. So, he is familiar with the culture around the school and athletic programs.

That familiarity is something else that has Mashack eager to continue getting to know the UA basketball coaches.

"Seeing the environment there, not only with the basketball team but every team at Arizona, I love it there," he said. "It's great."

Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara, Liberty and Cal Poly have all offered the top-80 prospect, but high major programs have started to enter the mix. Mashack will be the first to tell you that he's thrilled with all the offers he has, but he has certainly noticed the uptick in profile for the programs that have started to become more involved as of late.

"It's been great, really," he said. "I never thought it could get this big when I started to play, but my parents have just said to be grateful for what I have. It's definitely not gonna stop now, so I want to be able to keep going and get the biggest schools that I can that really appreciate what I can do on the floor."

Mashack's recent rise up the rankings has not come as a result of an unexpected growth spurt or stroke of good luck. Rather, he has put in the work necessary to maximize his natural talent. He's a player who takes pride in the dirty work and that has helped him gain attention heading into the most crucial part of his high school career.

"I really plan on making a point," he said about the path ahead of him the rest of this season and into the spring and summer months. "Really going out there and not just playing the game and having fun with it, but I want to be a leader to the team that's behind me. I'm really going to focus on being a lead ball handler to be able to dribble, to pass, to score and do everything on the floor that my team needs.

"Having no weaknesses is the main goal for me."

While Mashack waits for more programs to see him play, he is already working on setting up a visit plan for the summer. He said his family is still discussing the finer points of that plan and where he will take trips to in the coming months but he does want to get a better feel for numerous programs up close.

"It's been kind of surreal," he said. "We were kind of not expecting this much attention, but my dad and my mom always tell me that I deserve it as long as I work hard. So, we really want to make sure that we can go out and take some unofficial and some official visits."

Mashack was one of the prospects who received the biggest bumps last week when the Rivals150 for 2021 was updated as he moved 65 spots up to No. 79 in the latest rankings.