Arizona
4-star QB Robert McDaniel flips his commitment from Arizona to UCLA
At one time, Hughson (Calif.) quarterback Robert McDaniel was committed to Cal. He always liked the idea of staying home and playing football in the state of California.
The four-star felt good about Arizona. He had been committed to Brent Brennan and the Wildcats since May 24. All was well, but UCLA came in late. The Bruins lost Madden Iamaleava to Arkansas on Wednesday and McDaniel has flipped his commitment to the in-state school.
UCLA was McDaniel’s dream school and this is a big flip very late for DeShaun Foster and his staff.
McDaniel is a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder who is ranked the No. 22 quarterback and No. 299 prospect in the On300.
Gamer – Robert McDaniel
On3’s Director of Scouting Charles Power had this to say about McDaniel:
Robert McDaniel is a skilled pocket passer who has led his Hughson (Calif.) High team to its best season in at least 20 years. McDaniel and Hughson are currently 12-0 and in the mix for a state championship. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder has a loose arm and is adept at attacking the middle of the field. He’s thrown for 2,796 yard and 33 touchdowns against five picks on the season. We saw the type of competitiveness he shows on Friday nights at the Elite 11 Finals in June. McDaniel was a very late invite to the event following an injury to another quarterback. Despite the lack of notice, he showed up and had a very strong performance.
TEMPE — Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley is relatively pleased, yet not exactly thrilled with his team’s performance in what was an 87-74 loss to the top-ranked Arizona Wildcats on Saturday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
Hurley discussed a wide range of topics during his press conference that featured a surprising amount of praise for their rival.
Watch Hurley discuss the result of the game, reflect on the season series against Arizona, and more below.
Hurley Discusses What Went Wrong
Arizona State brought a free-flowing offense, intense on-ball defensive pressure, and well-timed shot making to the table in what resulted in a game that was tied at 38 going into the half.
The Wildcats asserted their physical dominance over the last 20 minutes of the game, which is something Hurley didn’t mince words on following the final buzzer.
“This game felt like very similar to like a mirror of our last game in Tucson, just really good first half, and then you know, whether it’s they’re just too big and physical that you know they wear you down, and eventually… the encouragement of having our defense in front of us in the first half and now down at the other end, and we just weren’t able to stand up to challenge on the interior, whether that meant, you know, stopping their drives or getting a big defensive rebound when we needed to, we still had our chances.”
There were several points in the final 10 minutes in which Arizona State had an opportunity to bring the deficit down to two possessions or less, although the Wildcats’ sheer physicality, depth, and timely shot making resulted in remaining undefeated.
The 11th-year head coach also discussed Arizona State’s shortcomings on the offensive side of the ball – including not shooting well enough to keep up with an Arizona offense that continued to fire on all cylinders.
“We didn’t shoot free throws well. think we were four for 15 on unguarded threes. So things against the team, as good as this Arizona team, is you can’t afford to do those things offensively.”
Arizona State shot 27-65 from the floor, 8-24 from behind the arc, and missed eight free throws – including ones in key moments that has potential to bridge the gap that had been built in the second half.
Hurley Discusses “Putting Things Together”
Hurley was pleased with what he saw overall in the loss, although there were areas that the team fell short in that were made an emphasis.
“It’s kind of too late to put things together, I would say. But like, more or less like, we’ve been scrappy… we’ve beaten, beaten Texas, Oklahoma, being Santa Clara, close games, fortunate to win a couple of them, we’ve kind of done as good as we can do… Now we should be able to shoot free throws better. There’s no excuse for that. There had to be two or three more rebounds that we should have gotten that we didn’t get. Maybe if you do that, it closes the gap a little bit.”
One would have an incredibly strong case to make that Arizona State would be considered a bubble team in the NCAA tournament picture at absolute worse had they prevailed against Oregon State, Colorado, and UCF.
A pair of competitive losses to Arizona, an effort that had Gonzaga sweating, and a 13-point loss to UCLA that was really only realized in the closing minutes of the game have displayed what team the Sun Devils can be, although they have yet to capitalize in capturing a season-defining triumph.
The acknowledgement that the Sun Devils were “close” to their ceiling in this game serves as a stark reminder that the team has so much potential to be a competitive one, but they have yet to fully realize it over a full 40 minute game – at least in Big 12 play.
The Sun Devils return to action on Wednesday night in a road battle against the Utah Utes.
Read more on the bold strategy that head coach Bobby Hurley employed with comments on 1/21 here, and on why Arizona State may have saved the season with the win over Cincinnati on Saturday here..
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Arizona freshman standout Ivan Kharchenkov has adjusted nicely to the college basketball landscape since coming from overseas before this season.
While Brayden Burries and Koa Peat have taken a lot of the attention as the star freshmen talents of the #1-ranked Wildcats, Kharchenkov cannot be forgotten as well. The 6-foot-7 forward from Germany is averaging 9.4 pounds, and 3.3 rebounds per game as a freshman this season.
Prior to joining Arizona before this season, Kharchenkov had played in the EuroLeague since he was 16. In the 2024-25 season, he helped Bayern Munich earn the Bundesliga championship.
Now making the transition to college basketball in America, Kharchenkov has had no problem adjusting to the pace, and physicality of the Big 12. He has been a key figure for Arizona as they currently remain undefeated at 21-0, and are the nation’s top team in not just the AP Poll, but also KenPom, and NET rankings, making them the unanimous choice for the country’s best team by the most respected metrics.
Overseas basketball has been brought to prominence thanks to the passion, and hardcore fandom by the fanbases in the leagues. Rivalry games in particular show plenty of intensity, so Kharchenkov is no stranger to big games with tons of animosity.
Kharchenkov’s thoughts
In light of Arizona’s thrilling victory over the #13 BYU Cougars, Kharchenkov was asked recently about the difference between playing overseas, and playing college basketball in the United States.
- “It’s definitely a little bit different,” Kharchenkov said. “In Europe, derby games are a little bit more harsh, like in language. Here, they’re kind of nicer, but the hate itself is a little bit bigger. Both are good, I like this one more because it’s a little more correct, and more sportsmanlike.”
Kharchenkov’s composure in big games must be contagious, as the Wildcats have excelled in big-time matchups this season. They’ve earned themselves six wins over ranked teams this season, are 9-0 in Quad 1 games, and 3-0 in Quad 2, giving them an already impressive resume with the NCAA Tournament still over a month away.
They’ll look to continue their incredible season as the schedule now enters the stretch run heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats currently look like potentially the most dangerous team in all of college basketball, and the fact that they are led by several freshmen makes them a truly unique team capable of earning the second national title in program history.
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CHANDLER, AZ — He thought he was ready to walk away, but his customers had other plans.
After nearly three decades in restaurants, the owner of a beloved South Chandler burrito shop, Rita’s Burritos, decided it was time for a new chapter and announced he was closing for good.
What happened next stunned him.
Within hours, his phone lit up nonstop with texts, calls, and messages from a community that wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
The overwhelming response didn’t just save a restaurant; it reignited a passion.
In the video player above, ABC15’s Cameron Polom shows how a neighborhood rallied around a small business owner to make a big impact.
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