Compared to recent years, the 2015-16 season was rather disappointing for the Arizona Wildcats especially in the tourney when they bounced by Wichita State in the opening round. Half of their roster this season is made up of newcomers, but extremely talented players who should have Zona back in the national picture.
ARIZONA WILDCATS
Last Season: 3rd, 12-6 in Pac-12, 25-9 overall
Predicted Pac-12 Finish: 1st
Projected Depth Chart
C: Dusan Ristic (Jr)/Chance Comanche (So)
PF: Lauri Markkanen (Fr)/Keanu Pinder (Jr)
SF: Ray Smith (Fr)/Rawle Alkins (Fr)
SG: Allonzo Trier (So)
PG: Kadeem Allen (Sr)/Kobi Simmons (Fr)/Parker Jackson-Cartwright (Jr)
Gone: C-Kaleb Tarczewski, PF-Ryan Anderson, SG-Gabe York, F-Mark Tollefson, PG-Justin Simon (transfer-St. John’s), G/F-Elliott Pitts (transfer-Diablo Valley College)
Strengths:
The Wildcats are littered with incredible athleticism at every position. Getting explosive forward Ray Smith back after he missed all of last season with a torn ACL provides a huge boost to the frontcourt along with European freshman Lauri Markkanen, JUCO transfer Keanu Pinder, and the bouncy Chance Comanche who should make a much bigger impact than he did as a freshman.
The backcourt is athletic as well with the additions of 6-5 point guard Kobe Simmons and Rawle Alkins, who is also built like a linebacker, as well as returning players Allonzo Trier and Kadeem Allen. As a result, Sean Miller should have Arizona getting up and down the floor at a more frantic pace than they have played in year’s past.
Question Marks:
Zona frequently relied on sharpshooter, Gabe York to bail them out late in the shot clock last season. With York graduating, Trier figures to be the Wildcats’ most dangerous perimeter weapon. Allen and Jackson-Cartwright are decent outside shooters but none of Arizona’s newcomers are really known as three-point threats.
With the all new faces on the roster, the question emerges as to who will serve as the leader of this team? There is no York or T.J. McConnell or Nick Johnson or Solomon Hill to easily transition into that role.
Player to Watch:
Miller should deplore a scoring-by-committee approach since he has so many talented players on the roster. Make no bones about it though, Trier is the go-to option when needed. The 6-4 sophomore missed a stretch of last season due to injury but scored 20+ points eight times.
X-Factor:
Watch out for Lauri Markkanen. The Finnish seven-footer is rather unknown by most college basketball fans but reminds me of Henry Ellenson, the versatile big man from Marquette last season. Markkanen is versatile, mobile, and can stretch defenses with his outside shooting. His natural position is at power forward but expect the Wildcats to use him at the five as well. He will need to be as good as advertised if Arizona is going to have any chance at making a deep run in March.
Looking Ahead to 2017-18:
Miller has already made his mark by landing a verbal commitment from the top ranked player in the 2017 class, seven-footer DeAndre Ayton. They also add a pair of top 100 shooting guards in Brandon Randolph and Alex Barcello as well as another scorer in UNC-Asheville transfer, Dylan Smith. Zona likely isn’t done landing big time prospects for their 2017 class which will be needed since a few of their young, talented players could easily take their talents to the NBA.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/11 vs. Michigan State (in Honolulu)
11/24 vs. Santa Clara (Las Vegas Invitational)
11/25 vs. Butler/Vanderbilt (Las Vegas Invitational)
12/3 vs. Gonzaga (in Los Angeles)
12/10 at Missouri
12/17 vs. Texas A&M (in Houston)
12/20 vs. New Mexico
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.