The “Tommy Lloyd can’t recruit U.S. high school players” narrative can officially be put to rest.
Arizona announced the signings Thursday of 4-star prospects Jamari Phillips and Emmanuel Stephen, following Wednesday’s signing of 5-star recruit Carter Bryant. That trio is good enough for the Wildcats to have the No. 5 recruiting class in the country for 2024, per 247Sports.
hillips, a 6-foot-3 guard from California who plays for Dream City Christian in Glendale, is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 38 prospect in the 2024 class. Stephen, a 7-foot center from Nigeria who just transferred to Dream City a few weeks ago, is ranked No. 79.
Bryant, a 6-8 forward from California, is No. 18 overall.
This is Arizona’s first top-10 class since 2020, when a group featuring Kerr Kriisa, Bennedict Mathurin, Dalen Terry and Azuolas Tubelis ranked 7th. The last top-5 class was in 2017, when the Deandre Ayton-led group was No. 3.
The No. 1 recruiting class in 2024 belongs to Duke, whom the UA plays on Friday in Durham. The Blue Devils signed five 4-star prospects including No. 1 overall recruit Cooper Flagg.
Arizona is still pursuing uncommitted 2024 recruits, most notably 4-star point guard Zoom Diallo, who took an official visit to Tucson last month. Diallo is considering the UA as well as Gonzaga, USC and Washington.