Even though the Arizona Wildcats lose the Pac-12 Player of the Year and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, Sean Miller’s team will be among the elite in the country. The challenge for this season’s team; help Miller get over the hump and to his first ever Final Four.
Arizona Wildcats
Last Season: 1st, 15-3 in Pac-12, 33-5 overall
Predicted Pac-12 Finish: 1st
Projected Depth Chart
C: Kaleb Tarczewski (Jr)/Dusan Ristic (Fr)/Matt Korcheck (Sr)
PF: Brandon Ashley (Jr)/Craig Victor (Fr)
SF: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (So)/Elliott Pitts (So)
SG: Stanley Johnson (Fr)/Gabe York (Jr)/Kadeem Allen (Jr)
PG: T.J. McConnell (Sr)/Parker Jackson-Cartwright (Fr)
Gone: F-Aaron Gordon, SG-Nick Johnson, G-Jordin Mayes, PF-Zach Peters
2014-2015 Outlook:
Though Gordon and Johnson left for greener pastures in the NBA, Arizona still returns five key contributors from last season’s Elite 8 team. Leading the charge is gritty senior T.J. McConnell who epitomizes leadership at the point guard position. He stepped into the starting role last season after transferring in from Duquesne and provided Miller with the true distributor the team had been lacking in previous years.
Miller has plenty of options as to who to start alongside McConnell in the backcourt but it is going to be extremely difficult to keep highly-touted freshman Stanley Johnson out of the starting lineup so expect him to start at the two. Johnson is perhaps the most versatile freshman in the country as he can play numerous positions which is a huge asset for a 6-6 player.
The Arizona Wildcats could also keep Gabe York in the starting five, a role he stepped into quite a bit after Brandon Ashley’s season-ending injury. York is a sharpshooter from deep and is probably better served coming off the bench as a offensive threat. Junior college transfer Kadeem Allen, undersized but creative freshman point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright, and seldom-used Elliott Pitts will all compete for minutes in the backcourt as well which provides Miller with a ton of depth.
Junior Kaleb Tarczewski and Brandon Ashley hold down the fort inside along with Rondae-Hollis Jefferson. RHJ is the most talented of that group and one of the more aggressive forwards in college basketball. He will step into the starting role but needs to stay out of foul trouble which was a struggle for him last season. Zeus provides size and physicality down low but is still a work in progress offensively while a healthy Ashley is effective since he can stretch defenses with his outside shooting.
Expect Zona to use a smaller lineup when Tarczewski is taking a breather. Miller will likely slide Ashley to the five with RHJ and Johnson playing the forward spots. Freshman Craig Victor should factor into the frontcourt rotation in some way and Serbian big man Dusan Ristic could be an x-factor if he transitions smoothly to the college game.
Miller also added a key transfer in Boston College forward, Ryan Anderson. He must sit out this season per NCAA transfer rules but will add depth up-front for the 2015-16 especially if Ashley or Zeus leave early for the NBA. On top of that, Zona has already secured four verbal commitments from top 100 recruits in the 2015 class. That’s how Sean Miller rolls though…
Had it not been for Ashley’s injury, the Arizona Wildcats may have won the NCAA Tournament last season. With a ton of depth, skill, and returning talent, Zona has put themselves among the elite teams in college basketball. If they can stay healthy, the Wildcats have a realistic shot of cutting down the nets.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/24 vs. Missouri (Maui Invitational)
11/25 vs. Kansas State/Purdue (Maui Invitational)
11/26 vs. San Diego State/BYU/Pitt/Chaminade (Maui Invitational)
12/6 vs. Gonzaga
12/13 vs. Michigan
12/19 at UTEP
12/23 at UNLV
OTHER PAC-12 PREVIEWS:
#4 UCLA BRUINS
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.