Kaleb Tarczewski
Photo courtesy of adidas
The nation's top college basketball recruiting class got better Monday as Arizona received a verbal commitment from five-star 7-footer
Kaleb Tarczewski of
St. Mark's (Southborough, Mass.) and the New England Playaz club team.
Tarczewski is ranked No. 7 in the MaxPreps Class of 2012 Top 100. He joins fellow five-star prospect
Brandon Ashley (No. 6 overall) and four-star Californians
Gabe York (No. 23) and
Grant Jerrett (No. 29) to give the Wildcats four elite prospects.
The decision came down to Arizona and Kansas.
"I had great programs and great coaches recruiting me," Tarczewski
told Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. "It just felt right at Arizona. I fell in love with everything – from the current players to the staff to Brandon Ashley, Grant Jarrett and Gabe York."
Following a 30-8 campaign that included a NCAA Tournament regional final appearance, Arizona is the Pac-12's hottest program under head coach Sean Miller. The Wildcats have four Top 100 freshmen on this year's roster.
Tarczewski is a New Hampshire native and averaged around 17 points and 12 rebounds per game as a junior at St. Mark's playing alongside Duke freshman Alex Murphy. He earned first team honors in New England's highly-competitive NEPSAC Class AA division.
Before naming Arizona and Kansas his co-finalists, Tarczewski also considered offers from Kentucky and North Carolina.
