Justin Simon to St. John's

6-foot-5 Justin Simon, out of Temecula Valley High in southern California, was a bigtime recruit for Arizona last year. He received a bevy of accolades from the usual recruiting suspects -- ranked #37 in ESPN's Top 100, Scout's #27 and 24th by Rivals -- as did the Wildcats for acquiring his services.

Here was a June 2015 description: "Justin Simon might be the most important part of the recruiting class though due to the departure of T.J. McConnell, the Wildcats have a need at the point guard spot. Simon, who was the first recruit of the class for Miller, won’t be a one-and-done but will be a solid player for all four years at Arizona. Simon can play both on the ball and off the ball, which will allow Miller to get creative with his lineups."

From an August 2014 Draft Express Simon feature:

"Strengths:
-Great size for his position. Measured 6-5 in shoes. Excellent frame
-Tremendous wingspan. Measured at 6-11
-Big hands
-Gifted athlete. Quick in the open court. Can play above the rim with ease
-Excels in transition thanks to his excellent physical tools
-Can find the open man in drive and dish situations
-Outstanding defender capable of guarding multiple positions
-Moves feet extremely well. Puts pressure on the ball
-Generates blocks and steals. Outstanding rebounder for his position

Weaknesses:
-Limited offensive player in the half-court
-Lacks serious range on his jump-shot. Only made 11 total 3-pointers in 28 games (39 attempts) at the adidas Nations and Gauntlet events this summer
-Average ball-handler in the half-court, particularly with left hand 
-Struggles to create high percentage shots for himself and others against set defenses. Shot 40% from 2-point range this summer
-Doesn't have great touch around the rim yet. Not an efficient finisher if he can't simply dunk the ball
-A year old for his class. Will be 20 years old before he's even eligible to be drafted

Outlook: Gifted physical specimen with tremendous potential defensively. Unselfish player who likes to get others involved, but still has a ways to go to round out his offensive skill-level, particularly his outside shot."

As a Wildcat freshman, Simon shot 50% (23-46) but just 1-3 from beyond the arc and a paltry 9-21 at the foul line.

Let's look at this in the context of the annual lamentations about a transfer crisis.

Simon is departing the desert because he desired the opportunity to play more than the 180 minutes he was on the court as a freshman. The player who started ahead of him decided to return to Tucson and a bevy of new talents are coming in, including 6-foot-7 Terrance Ferguson, 6-foot-4 Rawle Atkins and 6-foot-6 Kobi Jordan-Simmons. So Simon is heading to St. John's where he will sit out a season as required for a D1 transfer.

So is this all on Simon for a poor initial choice? Did he choose too high? Is his transfer an attempt to evade quality competition?

Or did Sean Miller and his staff, as well as so many others, overrate Simon?

Or is a combination of multiple factors on all parties?

Simon is your basic basketball conundrum. Core elements were missing from his skills set (shooting range and consistency, separation ability) yet his value as a prospect was still strongly ballyhooed because of what he did show. Arizona was not a good selection on his part if his expectation was to play right away and neither for the Wildcat coaches if they thought he could bring additions that were absent from their pre-Simon roster.

Going to St. John's, especially so with a year to upgrade the weaker elements in his arsenal, simply makes sense. It's currently a step down, if you will, in competition so on-going work on skill deficits in conjunction with playing time a year from now should keep him satisfied regarding playing time. But he must get better offensively or his location won't mean a thing.

A special note:

"Simon, who was ranked No. 9 among the top available transfers by ESPN.com, visited St. John's and coach Chris Mullin over the weekend. He also took a trip to Oklahoma State earlier this month. Providence, New Mexico and Pacific were among the other schools in the mix..."

The 'Stoudamire effect' in action?