Why can't Arizona land the big one?

Arizona was never really in it for Corey Adams and has lost Edward Nuckols and Bryson Littlejohn in the past week. The question is, why?

Many people will have their opinions about why the Wildcats cannot land some of the better players in the country. It seems that when the UA is a finalist, it is a guarantee that the player will not be coming to Tucson.

Nuckols said that Colorado was simply the place for him because he was more comfortable there.

An article by Wade Wimmer quotes Nuckols as saying: "I liked the whole Boulder area, and I got good vibes being around the campus and the town. I really liked Boulder; I’ve never seen anything like that. The crowd stayed in the game even though they were down…. That was impressive.”

That quotes put the blame on nothing that Arizona could really control. While people may blame the coaching staff, it really had nothing to do with it. Instead, it was the city that the school was in.

As for Littlejohn, the main reason is not known until he publicly makes his decision known. We know he has committed to Oregon, but it is interesting that he has not said anything about his decision. The general thought is that family had a role in this because everything pointed to Arizona for a while.

Next, Adams was never into Arizona. He goes to school in ASU territory and the UA coaches never made an impact on him. Dennis Erickson went out of his way to land Adams and Mike Stoops was not a person mentioned by him.

At the end of the day, the answer to the original question has many parts. Arizona loses out on the top players because of both things in and not in control of the coaching staff. It is painful and disappointing, but it is also a reality of recruiting.