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6 Arizona players among Baseball America’s Top 2025 MLB Draft prospects

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6 Arizona players among Baseball America’s Top 2025 MLB Draft prospects


Arizona ended up having its entire weekend starting rotation and its closer taken in the 2024 MLB Draft, while on the recruiting front only one member of its 2024 class was selected and there’s a good chance he’ll make it to campus.

A lot can happen in the next year, but 2025 figures to be an even bigger year for the Wildcats in the draft.

Baseball America has released its top 100 high school and college prospects list for the 2025 MLB Draft, and the UA has a trio on each.

Outfielder Brendan Summerhill is ranked as the No. 8 draft-eligible college player for 2025, with shortstop Mason White at No. 18 and catcher Adonys Guzman at No. 98.

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Summerhill, who had a breakout sophomore year in which he led the UA with a .324 average while hitting eight home runs and 59 RBI, has kept that going in the Cape Cod League. He’s batting .323, has struck out only nine times in 19 games and has 10 stolen bases on 13 attempts.

White led the Wildcats in homers (19) and RBI (65) as a sophomore, while Guzman was stellar behind the plate in his first season after transferring from Boston College and is listed by BA as having “the best arm of any catcher in the class.”

On the prep side, there are three players the Wildcats have commitments from who are expected to be drafted a year from now:

  • RHP Jack Lafflam (No. 38)
  • OF Caleb Danzeisen (No. 77)
  • RHP Dylan Wood (No. 83)

Lafflam, who plays for Brophy Prep in Phoenix, is 6-foot-6 and has been compared to lanky Cleveland Guardians righty Triston McKenzie. He’s ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 84 player in the 2025 recruiting class.

Danzeisen, who plays for Chandler Valley Christian, hit .524 with seven homers and 52 RBI as a junior. He is a left-handed hitter who could be a starting corner outfielder for Arizona in 2026 if he makes it to campus.

And Wood, from Elk Grove, Calif., is a 6-foot-2 arm with an array of pitches who would likely thrive under the guidance of UA pitching coach Kevin Vance.

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Arizona had two signees ranked among the Top 250 overall draft prospects for 2024 but only one got picked. Lefty Mason Russell, considered a top-100 player, went 599th overall in the 20th round to the Cincinnati Reds and has until Aug. 1 to sign a pro deal or he’ll be coming to Tucson, while righty Smith Bailey went undrafted and will be a Wildcat next spring.



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HIGHLIGHTS: Rams WR Puka Nacua with a one-handed touchdown catch against the Cardinals

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HIGHLIGHTS: Rams WR Puka Nacua with a one-handed touchdown catch against the Cardinals


On today’s Digital Pregame Show presented by Little Caesars, J.B Long, D’Marco Farr, and Maurice Jones-Drew preview the Los Angeles Rams’ Week 18 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium. The trio discuss key players to watch, game predictions, and more. Tune in for kickoff at 1:25pm PT on FOX.



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QB Cutter Boley lands with ASU after Kentucky transfer

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QB Cutter Boley lands with ASU after Kentucky transfer


Arizona State is bringing in Kentucky transfer quarterback Cutter Boley after he played 10 full games as a redshirt freshman in 2025, FootballScoop’s John Brice first reported with SunDevilSource’s Chris Karpman confirming.

He gives the Sun Devils a signal-caller with three years of eligibility who had major flashes as a young starter in the SEC, including a career-high 330 yards and five touchdown passes on 74.3% passing against Tennessee on Oct. 25.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Boley had 2,160 yards (65.8%), 15 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions on the season with 85 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.

He was expected to take a two-day visit beginning on Saturday, but he committed before getting to the second day.

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ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham extended an offer to Boley as a high school junior while he was the 24th quarterback in the 2024 class and the coach was serving as offensive coordinator at Oregon.

Dillingham took more of an active role in the offense during the Sun Bowl on Wednesday, and he said postgame recent changes in administration have allowed him to focus more on football. It would make sense the active role carries over to the development of Boley.

He gets to ASU after the departure of Sam Leavitt, who has fittingly been linked to Kentucky in what could be a 1-for-1 transfer swap of quarterbacks.

More about ASU transfer QB addition Cutter Boley

The youngest SEC quarterback to get substantial time this season, Boley played mostly as a game manager with quick passes behind or near the line of scrimmage.

His six big-time throws — tracked by PFF as passes with “excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tight window” — were tied for last among 15 qualified SEC passers.

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His 18 turnover-worthy plays, another PFF-tracked stat, were tied for fourth out of 15.

Comparing the stats to ASU’s quarterbacks this season, Leavitt had 18 big-time throws and 12 turnover-worthy plays in seven games. Jeff Sims had eight big-time throws and nine turnover-worthy plays in eight contests.

Because he has three years of eligibility remaining, Boley could eventually have to compete with young ASU quarterbacks Cam Dyer and Jake Fette, who will be redshirt and true freshmen, respectively, in 2026.




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Arizona men’s basketball cruises to win at Utah in Big 12 opener

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Arizona men’s basketball cruises to win at Utah in Big 12 opener


Weird things have happened to Arizona in Salt Lake City in recent years. In 2022, an unbeaten Wildcats squad fresh off a dominant performance at the Maui Invitational laid an egg against Utah, and two years later the UA needed triple overtime to get past the Utes.

No such drama this time around.

Top-ranked Arizona jumped out to a 17-point lead before the second media timeout and then coasted to a 97-78 win at Utah on Saturday afternoon to open Big 12 play.

The Wildcats (14-0, 1-0) saw their streak of wins by at least 20 points end at eight, tying the school record set in 1928-29. But the victory was no less dominant than the previous seven, with the UA shooting 53.6 percent, finishing plus-13 on the boards and again getting five scorers in double figures.

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Tobe Awaka and Jaden Bradley led the way with 18 points apiece, Awaka going 6 of 7 from the field and 2 for 2 from 3 while adding 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Bradley was 7 of 11 from the field and added five assists.

Brayden Burries and Koa Peat each scored 17 and Ivan Kharchenkov added 13 for Arizona, which scored in the 90s for the 10th time this season including eight of the last nine games.

Utah (8-6, 0-1) got 26 points from Terrence Brown and 15 each from Keanu Dawes and Don McHenry but shot 44.3 percent overall and just 5 of 17 from 3. The Utes turned it over 12 times, leading to 18 points for the Wildcats, who had 11 steals for their seventh game with at least 10 swipes.

The UA led 58-39 at halftime, its most points in the first half of a conference game since dropping 63 on ASU in 1998. That offensive explosion did not immediately carry over to the second half, though, as Arizona didn’t make its first post-halftime field goal until 17:06 left.

But then things went back to normal, with an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 70-46 with 13:56 to go. Utah followed with a 12-3 run to get within 15 but that was the closest it would get.

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The only real drama down the stretch was if Arizona would again win by 20. It led by 21 after a Burries basket with 51 seconds remaining but Bradley fouled Utah’s Brown with 49.8 seconds to go in order to let backups come in and Brown made two free throws.

Utah scored the game’s opening basket and then Arizona followed with 14 in a row, which included a few baskets off Ute turnovers. Six of those points were byKharchenkov, who scored twice off steals.

The rout appeared to be on early, withAwakanailing a 3 to put the Wildcats up 27-10 with 12:16 left in the first half. But the UA went three minutes without a field goal, allowing Utah to cut the deficit to single digits.

A second-chance 3 by Brown got the Utes within 34-26 with 7:49 left in the half. But Arizona righted the ship on both ends, using a 10-0 run (with another Awaka 3) to build a 46-28 advantage. The Wildcats made their final six shots before the break, shooting 61.1 percent overall in the first half.

The UA plays its Big 12 home opener Wednesday against Kansas State. K-State (9-5, 0-1) fell 83-73 at home to No. 10 BYU on Saturday.

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