Recruit Abdul Gaddy is still committed to the Wildcats, but one recruiting analyst says the situation is "treacherous."

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Like many parents of recruits considering Arizona last summer, Solomon Crawford said he wondered about Lute Olson's future.

But then he saw his son, Solomon Hill, play against former UA recruit Mike Moser in a summer-circuit event, and had known how good UA's top recruit, guard Abdul Gaddy, was. So his son committed to UA.

Hill was "looking forward to playing with those guys," Crawford said. "Those guys at least gave him a little bit of confidence (in Arizona.) … I love Arizona and still think Arizona is one of the top basketball programs in the country, but right now it's unfortunate."

So on Friday, a day after Moser's decommitment — although he still came this weekend for his official visit — Hill did, too. And the father of Gaddy said his son has been fielding calls from UCLA and Washington, wondering whether he will go elsewhere, too.

"There's been no decommitment at this point," Abdul Gaddy Sr. said. "We did have a family discussion and we're going to see what's going on. At this point right now it's kind of up in the air."

Gaddy Sr. said his son may consider waiting to sign until the spring signing period, when the Wildcats expect to have a permanent coach in place.

"I know Solomon and Mike decommitted and I'm sure most of these kids are looking at it, going 'Hey, what's going on there?' " Gaddy Sr. said. "We want to go to a great basketball university, and now it's all flipped around. Kind of like last year but now it's a little bit bigger."

The late date of Olson's departure is impacting the Wildcats' ability to retain both 2009 players, as well as get a jump on 2010, according to HoopScoop recruiting analyst Clark Francis. There is also the possibility current Arizona players could transfer either now or in the spring.

"It's the worst possible scenario," Francis said. "If you could have written for Arizona basketball the way you do not want to do it, this is it. Lute should have (retired) last spring or tried to coach this year."

Dave Telep, national recruiting analyst for Scout.com, said a new Arizona coach won't have a chance to make a significant impact on recruiting until 2011, since the 2009 class will be all but gone and many of the 2010 players will have decided or narrowed their decisions by the time a UA coach is named.

"This is a situation where the next couple of years are going to be treacherous," Telep said. "The 2010 guys are falling off the table at an alarming rate right now. So maybe you can get one good player, but you're not going to get three … and the chances of Abdul Gaddy sticking through are not very good. Whether he commits or decommits is just semantics right now."

Telep said the permanent UA coach could face similar circumstances to the empty cupboard Tom Crean inherited at Indiana this season.

"It's a situation where the program's been rocked but now it has to pick itself off the ground," Telep said. "They have to make a strong hire in the spring, circle the wagons and gather everyone together."

The instability is also affecting current UA players. Nic Wise and Jamelle Horne already considered transferring last spring, while freshman center Jeff Withey would not say whether he might leave.

"I don't want to talk about it," Withey said. "Right now, I'm at Arizona."

While Horne, a sophomore forward, considered transferring last spring before talking with Olson, Horne's father, Johnnie, said Jamelle remained committed to playing for the Wildcats this season and would not make a quick decision.

"The bottom line is that you can't let individuals dictate your future," Johnnie Horne said. "Lute was good to us — he gave us a good opportunity. (Jamelle) is wanted and needed this year. He has a chance to supersede the negativity."

Standout forward Chase Budinger declined to comment Friday, after withdrawing from the NBA draft in June in part because Olson said he would return. But his father, Duncan Budinger, said Chase would not leave the UA to pursue an overseas contract or any other opportunity this season.

"I don't believe there's many opportunities there," Duncan Budinger said. "And if people transfer, it's going to be next year, not this year. … In my mind, it's going to work out. You've got three players (Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill and Nic Wise) who are more experienced, more mature and have been through this more than once. Certainly they know how to handle this."