‘It felt good in my heart’: Modesto Christian’s Jamari Phillips picks Arizona in crowded field
One of the nation’s top high school juniors is officially off the board.
Modesto Christian guard Jamari Phillips committed to the University of Arizona on an official visit to the campus in Tucson this weekend.
Phillips, rated 4-star prospect by 247Sports, is the No. 6 shooting guard and the No. 25 player in his class. He was the Bee’s 2022 Player of the Year.
He received nearly 20 scholarship offers and picked the Wildcats over UCLA, Cal, Kansas, Illinois and others.
“Arizona felt like the place for me,” the 6-foot-4 guard said. “It felt good in my heart. The way they plan on using me … I feel I fit in their system really well, and it can help me and the team be very successful.”
Arizona had been recruiting Phillips for about a year but just offered him a scholarship in early November. With other schools already in the equation, they seemingly made up for lost time.
Phillips was in the arena for Arizona’s top 10 match-up with Tennessee, an exciting game televised on ESPN2, which the Wildcats won 75-70.
“We went to that Tennessee game and everyone was chanting and standing up more than half the game and the players on the bench were locked in,” he said. “It was all just a great experience and I loved it.”
Playing basketball in the Pac-12 has many advantages. For Phillips, it means he will get to play road games close to people he cares about. Cal and Stanford are a quick drive from the Central Valley.
“I can have close family come out and it’s not so far of a drive for them.” he said.
Phillips received his first offer from Cal the summer after his freshman year and says the entire recruiting process was “a lot” but he was happy to find a place that fit him and his goals.
“I was planning on committing my junior year, but it was supposed to be more towards the February-March time, but now felt like the right time to commit to Arizona.”
Phillips, a prolific scorer who has already crossed the 1,000-point threshold last season, averaged 23 points a game as a sophomore and helped lead the Crusaders to a Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship and a CIF Northern California Open Division championship.
In the college game, he translates to a combo guard who can make plays for his teammates and also score when needed. He also has a free-flowing, fast-paced style of play, which he felt fits what Arizona does on offense perfectly.
“I’m looking forward to coming down in transition and scoring or facilitating and running the open floor and getting other people shots.” he said.
This story was originally published December 19, 2022 at 5:23 PM.
