Brandon Ashley has continued to impress in Arizona practices following his 20 points and 10 rebounds on Nov. 19 against Long Beach State.

“Brandon Ashley right now has really established himself as being on the upswing,” Sean Miller said. “You guys see it in games; we see it every day in practice. He led our team in practice points leading up to the (Long Beach State) game and even this past week he’s continued to do a good job.

“He’s played with a lot of confidence. He’s learning how to play with more effort and he’s getting better on both ends of the ball. It’s exciting to see somebody as young as he is improve through his work ethic.”

Aaron Gordon has narrowed his list of potential college destinations to Kentucky, Arizona and Washington.

Gordon, a top-10 player in the 2013 class, eliminated California, Kansas and Oregon from consideration.

The Arizona Wildcats are significantly taller this season with newcomers Brandon Ashley, Grant Jerrett, Kaleb Tarczewski and Angelo Chol raning from 6'8 to 7'0.

Sean Miller has said he’s developing Ashley as a power forward with the intent of moving him permanently to small forward in the future.

Solomon Hill is a natural small forward, but played a lot of power forward last seaosn.

“It adds a different dynamic to our team,” Hill said. “We’re not going small, we’re always going to be big.”

Solomon Hill, senior forward for Arizona, can foresee high profile recruits who end up under prolonged NCAA investigations to hire an agent and trainer in preparation for the NBA Draft.

This path would be somewhat similar to Brandon Jennings' decision to play one year professionally in Italy.

"If you don't want to be investigated, just don't go to college," said Hill. "If you take money early, make the decision that you're not going to attend college and you're going to seek training. There's nothing bad with that decision." 

Muhammad is expected top be a top-3 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft regardless of whether he plays his freshman season at UCLA.

Nerlens Noel, another expected top pick of 2013, was also the subject of an extended NCAA investigation.

"Why take classes? Go get a trainer," siad Hill. "You're going to be a top-five pick. Do what you love to do … I'm pretty sure there are a lot of guys out there that went to a program and took some type of benefits. You're telling him that he has to go to college and now you're going to sit him down because he did something? He is going to be a millionaire."

The 2012-13 Naismith early season watch list was released on Wednesday.

Below is a full list of nominees:

Kyle Anderson, UCLA
Chane Behanan, Louisville
Kenny Boynton, Florida
Lorenzo Brown, NC State
Trey Burke, Michigan
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse
Rotnei Clarke, Butler
Jack Cooley, Notre Dame
DJ Cooper, Ohio
Aaron Craft, Ohio State
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's
Gorgui Dieng, Louisville
Michael Dixon Jr., Missouri
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State
Tim Frazier, Penn State
Archie Goodwin, Kentucky
Elias Harris, Gonzaga
Pierre Jackson, Cincinnati
CJ Leslie, NC State
Mark Lyons, Arizona
Trevor Mbakwe, Minnesota
James Michael McAdoo, North Carolina
CJ McCollum, Lehigh
Doug McDermott, Creighton
Rodney McGruder, Kansas State
Ben McLemore, Kansas
Tony Mitchell, North Texas
Mike Moser, UNLV
Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA
Nerlens Noel, Kentucky
Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Otto Porter, Georgetown
Alex Poythress, Kentucky
Phil Pressey, Missouri
Andre Roberson, Colorado
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Michael Snaer, Florida State
Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee
Adonis Thomas, Memphis
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State
Christian Watford, Indiana
Jeff Withey, Kansas
Nate Wolters, South Dakota State
BJ Young, Arkansas
Patric Young, Florida
Cody Zeller, Indiana