Members Only:ESPN Isider Jahvon Quinerly is about to solve Arizona's PG problem

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Jahvon Quinerly is about to solve Arizona's point guard problem

[hide login=1]Before the millennials in Tucson were old enough to remember, there was Damon Stoudamire. There was Mike Bibby, Jason Terry, Jason Gardner and Reggie Geary.

Legendary coach Lute Olson and Arizona churned them out at such a rapid clip, it was deemed Point Guard U.

However, Tucson has hardly been a haven for top-notch point guards since the turn of the century -- and that has ultimately held Sean Miller back from competing for the school's first national title since 1997.

Miller is hoping that will change following a verbal commitment Tuesday night from arguably the best point guard in the country: Jahvon Quinerly (No. 16 in the Class of 2018 ESPN 100). He joins Brandon Williams (No. 43) to give the Wildcats two of the nation's best at the position.

With all due respect to T.J. McConnell, the Duquesne transfer who was the heart and soul of two Elite Eight teams in Tucson, it's been a mess at the position -- dating back to before Miller's arrival.

Mustafa Shakur was supposed to make everyone forget about Jason Gardner. Instead, he quickly ended any debate on whether he or Chris Paul was the best point guard in the 2003 class. Then came Nic Wise, who had a solid career in what wound up being a forgettable era in Arizona basketball.

Miller was forced to scramble after inheriting a depleted roster. First there was Lamont "Momo" Jones and Jordin Mayes.

Josiah Turner was supposed to finally get Arizona on the road back to being Point Guard U, but he was a mess and flamed out after just one season. Miller was forced to bring in one-year Xavier transfer Mark Lyons as a stop-gap.

McConnell directed Arizona to 67 victories in 2014 and 2015 and was hardly the reason why the Wildcats came up just shy of a Final Four appearance, but he had offensive limitations.

Justin Simon was heralded coming out of high school, but after one season two things were apparent: He wasn't a point guard and he wasn't good enough to warrant a lead role at Arizona. He left after his freshman season for St. John's. Kobi Simmons came aboard last season after Miller and the staff were desperate after not landing De'Aaron Fox or Andrew Jones. Simmons departed after a disappointing campaign.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright was ranked by just about everyone as a top 100 player. He's now a senior, but remains the primary obstacle standing between Arizona and a national title. There's a chance Miller could put the ball in the hands of wing Allonzo Trier -- or even Rawle Alkins this season.

The Wildcats are considered a national title favorite, but most champions have had a high-end point guard running the show. Look at the list: Arizona had Bibby when it rolled through a trio of No. 1 seeds in 1997 to win it all. North Carolina's Joel Berry II was the MVP of the 2017 national championship game. Villanova boasted a pair of point guards two seasons ago with Ryan Arcidiacono and Jalen Brunson. Duke had Tyus Jones in 2015. Shabazz Napier carried UConn in 2014. Peyton Siva did the job for Louisville in 2013. There was Marquis Teague for Kentucky (yes, he was a first-round pick) in 2012. Kemba Walker carried UConn in 2011. Duke converted Jon Scheyer in 2010. Raymond Felton ran the show in 2009 at North Carolina. Kansas had three in 2008 with Mario Chalmers, Russell Robinson and Sherron Collins.

Now Miller is going double-barreled at the point guard position. After landing Williams, a California native and top 50 player who has seen his stock dip while recovering from a knee injury, Miller went to the other coast and secured a pledge on Tuesday night from Quinerly. He is a floor leader out of Hudson Catholic who earned New Jersey player of the year honors as a junior over senior Nick Richards and top 10 junior Naz Reid.

Quinerly is arguably the most complete offensive point guard in the class. He can score, is able to make those around him better and possesses a high basketball IQ.

"Quinerly might wind up being the best college point guard in the class," one head coach who recruited him told ESPN. "Maybe not the highest ceiling, but he's a winner -- and he doesn't have any glaring weaknesses."

Williams is more of a mystery because he didn't play on the summer circuit while continuing to rehab, but he's drawn comparisons to a young Brandon Jennings due to his quickness and ability to thrive in transition. A year ago, Williams played with two of the top big men in the country, DeAndre Ayton and Brandon McCoy, in the summer. He was more of a distributor until McCoy got hurt -- and that's when he displayed his scoring ability.

"Williams is super-talented," another coach said. "He has crazy upside. And if he was healthy, we'd be talking about him among the best point guards in the country. But no one saw him this past summer. So it's out of sight, out of mind -- and that's why his stock has dropped."

Miller isn't the only one excited about putting two high-end point guards on the floor together. Williams told ESPN that there's no concern on his end about Arizona adding Quinerly. In fact, he welcomes the prospect of playing alongside another point guard in what has become a position-less game. He and Quinerly have been communicating about forming one of the best backcourts in the country.

The hope is to put both Quinerly and Williams on the court together, and watch each make plays for themselves and for others. This also gives Miller some leeway in case one of them doesn't live up to the expectations -- as was the case with Turner and Simmons.

There's optimism in Tucson that Quinerly and Williams will not only be able to re-ignite what was once considered the ultimate destination for elite point guards, but also help get Arizona back to the Final Four for the first time in nearly two decades.
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[mvpreed2]

Thanks for posting!

ESPN said some of the obvious, but any Arizona fan knows that Miller has yet to land that elite PG.
Turner was supposed to be it, he showed it on the court, but couldn't get it together off of it.

It is going to continue to be a journey to see how this class is going to form, but I am eager to see how well we are going to play with two PGs next season and the idea of having Barcello be a 3rd PG for us.