Arizona soccer update: On coronavirus crisis, a 2020 outlook, roster notes, and more

Grace Santos | Photo by Ryan Kelapire

When the coronavirus crisis sent Arizona soccer home for the spring, the first thing on Tony Amato’s to-do list was making sure his players were healthy, safe, and in a good place mentally and academically as they transitioned to life off campus.

The next thing was ensuring they are staying engaged with each other, that they aren’t losing their minds in quarantine.

That’s where the Bear Down Games come in handy. Every spring the Wildcats break into two teams—Red and Blue, of course—and compete in various soccer-related activities to hone their skills and learn some valuable team-building lessons.

With the soccer component virtually impossible to replicate these days, the Bear Down Games have taken on new life this spring. The Wildcats regularly meet—and compete—in Zoom meetings. One of the events was a scavenger hunt.

“One person came into the room and we gave them instructions that say to make an omelet,” Amato said. “Every person on the team had to go in their house, get an ingredient that we gave them, and no two people could have the same ingredient. And then once their team accomplishes it, they move on to the next task and the team to accomplish all the tasks first wins.”

Other Bear Down Games include charades and, coming Thursday, trivia.

“It’s just some things like that to get them competing and working with each other,” Amato said.

It builds team leadership, one of the many things Amato and his staff assess after every season.

“We look at: how did we give up goals? How did we score goals? We put a lot of emphasis on the areas that we trained that are our identity pieces, like set pieces or pressing, defending or finding a way forward in terms of our possession,” he said. “We look at all those things and see if what we trained translated to goals or preventing goals. And if it did, how can we do more of that? If it didn’t, how can we improve that or change things to make sure we keep evolving and developing every year?

“And the other thing, and this season was a big reminder of it, is where are we at with the competitive, ‘tough stuff’ we like to call it. Where’s our toughness, our mental toughness? How hard do we compete? Are we doing that at a higher level than our opponent? And I think coming out of the season we showed once again that when we compete at a high level, we can do a lot of good things.”

Amato said his team’s effort, as usual, fluctuated in 2019. The Wildcats experienced some incredible highs, like beating two Final Four teams in UCLA and Washington State, but also some maddening losses like the late collapses vs. Washington and Penn State.

Arizona held leads of 2-0 and 3-2 on the No. 4-seeded Nittany Lions in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but surrendered the game-tying goal with two minutes left in regulation and then the game-winner seven minutes into overtime.

It marked the third straight year the Wildcats lost in the second round, but also the first time in program history they made three straight postseason appearances.

A bittersweet ending, to be sure.

“I was proud of our team and the way we competed, the effort we put in an NCAA Tournament game against one of the better teams in the country every year,” Amato said. “We gave them everything they could handle, competed at a high level and lost in overtime in a game that could have gone either way.”

Who knows what the future holds

If there is a college sport at the greatest risk of having its season canceled or postponed by the coronavirus, it’s soccer. Opening night is usually in mid-to-late August, less than four months from now.

Pro sports aren’t remotely close to resuming, but Amato is optimistic that there will be a college soccer season and that it will start “relatively on time.”

“I’m trying not to get bogged down by all the speculation and all the doom and gloom stuff you’re seeing out there, whether it’s in the news or social media,” he said. “And I think some of the states reopening will be the initial test of, are there spikes (in cases)? Are there declines? Does it stay the same? How does that relate to college campuses? How does that relate to student-athletes? Because I want to make sure that we’re responsible and safe.”

If college soccer does have an advantage during this crisis, it’s that it can restart quickly. It’s used to lightning-quick turnarounds, after all.

Normally, teams start summer workouts in mid-July and begin formal practices around the first day of August. The regular-season opener is typically just two weeks after that.

“We have the shortest amount of time compared to any sport in the country,” Amato said. “I would say we’d be nimble and be able to move pretty quickly. I don’t have like an exact set time (it would take us to get ready) because I don’t know exactly where our athletes are from a fitness and strength standpoint. We wouldn’t want to do anything that’s like going 1,000 miles out of the gate if they didn’t do any sort of fitness and training during this time.”

Fortunately, Arizona has been using an app called “Bridge”, which allows strength and conditioning coach Jim Krumpos to design and deliver individual workout plans to each player based on the equipment available to them during this national quarantine.

“He was also able to send some people some bands and things to be able to stay active and mobile and workout a little,” Amato said. “Obviously, it’s a lot different than if you’re in camp, but it’s something that we felt was important from a physical and mental standpoint. And then weekly, we’re just sticking to individual workouts, soccer videos in our group communication so that if they can get out and touch the ball, there’s a way to do that on their own.”

A 2020 outlook

Unlike last year, the Wildcats have lots of question marks entering the season. They lost 13 players—six seniors and seven transfers—including five starters: midfielder Kelcey Cavarra, centerbacks Samantha Falasco and Hallie Pearson, outside back Morgan McGarry and forward Brooke Wilson, the team’s third-leading scorer.

While the backline and midfield are works in progress, Arizona knows it can lean on All-Pac-12 Freshman goalkeeper Hope Hisey, a stout left back and senior leader in Sabrina Enciso, and a cadre of dynamic attackers.

Led by a trio of upperclassmen, the Wildcats netted five goals in a shutout of UTEP in late February, their lone match of the spring. Jada Talley had a brace. Hannah Clifford had a hat trick. Jill Aguilera set them up.

That display was nothing new for Talley (10) and Aguilera (9), who led Arizona in goals in 2019. But it was a big breakthrough for Clifford, whose three goals vs. UTEP matched her career total.

“That showed that she’s ready to really take on a bigger role as a senior,” Amato said. “She’s always played for us, but she was really dynamic in that game.”

Junior center back/midfielder Ava McCray and junior center midfielder Grace Santos also look primed for more playing time. They were key reserves in 2019 after transferring in from Cal Poly and William & Mary, respectively, where they made their conference’s all-rookie team.

“Usually transfers and new players, you see them take about a season to really take off with us,” Amato said. “And I thought they did a good job in the fall, but in that game I thought ‘okay, those two transferred in, they have their feet under them now.’”

Amato said similar things about sophomore outside back Mariah Dunn, who only appeared in six matches as a freshman but should help solidify the right side of the revamped backline.

“This is my time to shine and show what I can do for the program and show I can be an impact for the team since I didn’t get to do that last year,” Dunn said earlier in the spring. “[Fans] can expect my aggressiveness on the field, and I like to attack down-line and stuff. So getting crosses in, anything that can help.”

How quickly can the freshmen adjust?

Of course, the burning question is the same every offseason: How much will the freshmen be able to contribute?

“And what I mean by that is which freshmen are going to adapt quickly,” Amato said.

The Wildcats signed 12 recruits in this cycle, one of their largest classes to date. Almost half their roster will be freshmen, so some will need to grow up quickly.

“I would say competitiveness, height, toughness, kind of that grit factor is all there, and they can also fill what we need to do soccer-wise,” Amato described the group. “Sometimes you fall into (the mindset) of ‘well, they’re just an athlete or they’re just a technical soccer player.’ And I think they provide some balance. And whenever we’ve had players that can do that, they always help us, so we feel like this class does that.”

Four of the 12 incoming recruits were added in the spring to account for the transfers. The other eight signed in the fall. You can read about them HERE.

Recruiting changes

If there was no pandemic, Arizona soccer’s staff would be traveling to different camps and events evaluating 2022 recruits right now. Instead, those prospects have been emailing highlights and game tape to college coaches, who aren’t allowed to correspond until June 15.

“So that’s been helpful,” Amato said. “And the 2021 class, we’re still looking to fill some spots there and we’ve been able to use this time to really dig into getting to know them more via Zoom via phone calls, to get references from guidance counselor’s or academic advisors or high school and club coaches. And then that class has been utilizing virtual tours on campus and some stuff virtually that we’ve been sharing about our program so that they learn more about us and we learn more about them. We just haven’t been able to do it in person.”

Roster notes

• Kayden Heinrich is the latest addition to Arizona’s signing class. The forward from Huntington Beach High School and Strikers FC was originally committed to UC Davis. The other late adds were forward Jordan Hall, defender Jasmine Young and goalkeeper Sami Hauk. Hauk was originally an Oklahoma commit.
• Arizona also added sophomore defender Jordyn Schulte as a walk-on. The Chandler native was the 2018 Hamilton High School Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
• The Wildcats may still add some talent via the transfer portal. “We’re looking at some players, talking to some players and just seeing if it’s a good fit for them and a good fit for us,” Amato said. “Obviously we have 12 coming in that we feel really good about.”
• Junior Iliana Hocking recently underwent a hip procedure but Amato said she will be ready for the start of the season, whenever that may be. A tenacious midfielder, Hocking was a backup in her first two seasons and will be a strong candidate to start in 2020. She missed the match vs. UTEP. “She’s going through [physical therapy] and is in a good place,” Amato said.

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Arizona offers 2021 4-star forward Ben Gregg

Photo courtesy Oregon State Athletics

The Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year

The Arizona Wildcats continue scouring the Pacific Northwest, this time offering a scholarship to four-star forward Ben Gregg.

Gregg is a 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward from Clackamus, Oregon. He is the No. 71 recruit and No. 15 power forward in the 2021 class, per 247Sports composite rankings.

Gregg was the Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 blocks per game at Clackamus High School, while maintaining a 3.3 GPA and volunteering at youth basketball clinics.

After a great talk with coach Miller, I am thankful to receive an offer from the University of Arizona! #beardown ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mbgaLNiiTm

— ben gregg (@bengregg20) April 30, 2020

“I was impressed with most everything about him,” a rival coach told Pamplin Media. “He has a great understanding and feel for the game. He’s multifaceted. He can shoot, he can score in the post, and he’s a very good passer. Because of his size and athleticism, we had a hard time getting anything at the rim against him. He anticipates well. He’s a really good player for his age, and he’s going to be a very good college player, too.”

Gregg also holds offers from Oregon, Oregon State, Texas, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, USC and some mid-majors. The Wildcats recently offered four-star Washington point guard Nolan Hickman and are one of six finalists for five-star forward Paolo Banchero, another Seattle-area player.

Here are highlights of Gregg battling five-star center Nathan Bittle, another Arizona PNW target:

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Arizona freshman LB Jabar Triplett to miss 2020 season with torn Achilles

247Sports

Though the Arizona Wildcats had to cut short spring practice back in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, that didn’t stop athletes from working out on their own to stay in shape and be ready for when activity resumes.

That includes players who had yet to join the program, such as incoming freshman linebacker Jabar Triplett, who was doing his best to maintain his physique at home in Louisiana. Unfortunately, that led to an injury that will keep him sidelined for the 2020 season.

Triplett announced Thursday he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a workout earlier this week, an injury that has since been surgically repaired.

To my Wildcat family, this has been tough for me. I won’t be playing this season, due to a torn Achilles working out on Tues. My surgery is scheduled with one of the best in BR. I know that GOD is in control. I will come back, stronger, faster, & better!! ⬇️ ❤️

— JabarTriplett. (@showtime9_) April 30, 2020

The 6-foot, 215-pound Triplett signed with Arizona in February after committing to the Wildcats over Texas Tech last October. 247Sports had Triplett as a 3-star prospect, ranked No. 1,621 in the 2020 recruiting class as well as 109^th among outside linebackers and the No. 74 player in Louisiana.

Triplett’s injury still leaves Arizona with eight healthy scholarship linebackers on the roster including returning starters Tony Fields II, Jalen Harris, Anthony Pandy and Colin Schooler.

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A look at some of Arizona’s worst uniforms

It’s Jersey Week here at SB Nation so we will be doing a two-part series to reflect on some of the best—and worst—uniforms the Arizona Wildcats have worn in recent years.

Below are the ones I cannot stand. We encourage you to make your submissions in the comment section.

Arizona football’s copper helmets and gradient jerseys

Let’s kill two birds with one stone here. Arizona introduced the copper helmets in 2012 as a tribute to the state’s mining history. And while that is a nice sentiment, they look horrible with the school’s red, white and blue color scheme. It gives off Pitt vibes.

As for the jerseys themselves, these marked the beginning of Nike’s insistence on incorporating gradient into Arizona’s uniform schemes (because of the sunsets?) across multiple sports. None of them have looked sharp.

Arizona football’s gradient jerseys with solid numbers, paired with white helmets

Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images

An obscure NCAA rule forced the Wildcats to ditch the gradient numbers, and for some reason they went ahead and ditched the white outline too. That made for an awful visual anytime the Wildcats donned their white helmets (which should have stripes and/or a colored facemask).

Here’s another example:

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Arizona football’s tomato can helmets

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

A red helmet with a red facemask creates a contrast that is too much for the rest of the uniform to compete with. And not in a good way.

The white gradient Arizona basketball uniforms

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

I can’t believe someone actually looked at these and said, “yep, these are cool! Let’s roll with them!” First off, gray is not an Arizona color. Secondly, the gradient is so poorly executed that it looks like there’s masking tape on the jerseys. I would have been interested to see how a white-to-blue or white-to-red gradient would have looked instead.

Arizona has somewhat phased these out by occasionally wearing a non-gradient version, but they need to be scrapped altogether.

Arizona basketball’s gold alternates

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Photo by Josh Holmberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Since when is gold an Arizona color? These look way too much like ASU. Thankfully they did not surface in 2019-20.

The Kevin O’Neill-Russ Pennell era basketball uniforms (pick any color)

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images

Arizona trashed its iconic 90s and early 2000s uniforms for this bland design. What a shame. The piping and shoulder patch is so tacky. Why do the numbers have a white outline but the names don’t? And why are the jerseys so tight and the shorts so baggy?

Combine these uniforms with the fact Lute Olson was no longer strolling the sidelines and it made the Arizona program unrecognizable.

Arizona women’s basketball’s grays

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The uniform design itself is fine and actually pretty cool, but I will never be onboard with Arizona basketball wearing gray, especially at home. It is, and I cannot repeat this enough, not a school color.

Arizona softball’s charcoal grays

Photo by Ryan Kelapire

Gray is more appropriate when it comes to softball and baseball, but the charcoals, introduced in 2019, are still too dark for my liking. The traditional light grays are better.

Arizona soccer’s white (but mostly gray) kits

Look good, play good.

The new white kits pic.twitter.com/s3kvdUTJHq

— Arizona Soccer (@ArizonaSoccer) August 1, 2019

Like football, gradient has become a prominent part of Arizona soccer’s uniform schemes over the last several years. The “white” kits they wore in 2019 featured too much gray.

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Zeke Nnaji is first Arizona player taken in The Athletic’s new NBA mock draft

Zeke Nnaji wasn’t as heralded out of high school as Josh Green or Nico Mannion, but he outshined them with the Arizona Wildcats and could be the first one taken in the 2020 NBA Draft.

At least that’s what Sam Vecenie of The Athletic thinks. He has Nnaji going 21st overall to the Denver Nuggets in his updated mock draft. That is a fitting destination since Vecenie told us earlier in April that Nnaji reminds him of a bigger, more skilled version of Kenneth Faried, who was picked 22nd overall by the Nuggets in the 2011 draft.

Vecenie has Green going 25th overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Mannion going 29th overall to the Los Angeles Lakers, one spot ahead of Stanford point guard Tyrell Terry.

It would be the first time in NBA Draft history that three Arizona players are selected in the first round. Here is what Vecenie wrote about them.

On Mannion: “More and more evaluators are getting skeptical of Mannion’s long-term future. His inability to get penetration consistently this year was a real problem for Arizona, and often led to its offense stagnating. Despite having three projected first rounders and shooting solidly from 3, Arizona still finished outside of the top 30 in adjusted offensive efficiency. It also doesn’t help Mannion that there’s no pre-draft process for him to wipe clean the bad images he left in evaluators’ minds over the last month of the season.”

On Green: “The idea behind Green is that he can be a 3-and-D guy. He averaged 12 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists, and does play very tough, physical on-ball defense. He also has the athletic tools to be able to translate into playing as a high-level defender. But I’m a little worried about the offensive side of the floor. He hit 36.1 percent of his 3-point attempts, but I’m pretty skeptical of the jump shooting mechanics, especially early on in his career. He has an exaggerated elbow bend that he’ll need to fix to get a consistent release.”

On Nnaji: “He’s a fluid, can move his feet really well and is stronger than his slender frame looks. His body control is also terrific, and that bears itself out around the basket. He’s an elite finisher and has terrific touch. That touch also extends out into range, where most teams believe Nnaji has real potential, even if he didn’t showcase it much during the season.

“The conversation with Nnaji that I have with NBA executives typically revolves around “what is his role? Is he a 4 or a 5? I say a 5. Unless he develops requisite ball skills, it seems like it would be hard to get him on the court next to another center and have the right amount of playmaking necessary. He also lacks great interior defensive awareness and is often late on rotations.”

Be sure to check out Vecenie’s full two-round mock draft HERE.

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Arizona women’s basketball season review: Semaj Smith

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Arizona Wildcats never got to complete their historic 2019-20 season. After setting one record after another and securing what was sure to be a chance to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the team saw its drive for a special ending to the year stopped in its tracks when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the sports world in mid-March.

While we’ll never know what this team could have accomplished in the NCAA Tournament, a full regular season and conference tournament worth of competition is more than enough to assess each individual player’s performance.

Semaj Smith

• Year: Sophomore
• Height: 6-foot-6
• Position: Center
• 2019-20 statistics: 31 GP, 8 GS, 14.3 MPG, 3.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 0.3 APG, 0.9 BPG, 0.3 SPG, 49.4 FG%, 85.7 FT%

Season breakdown

When the season started, several players were asked who had improved the most since last year. Semaj Smith came up time and again. Her season backed up her teammates’ confidence in her, especially when Dominique McBryde went down with injury and Smith stepped into the starting lineup for eight games in December and early January. Her club went 5-3 over that stretch with all three losses coming against top-10 teams.

Smith improved in just about every area of the game—dramatically so in some areas. From the charity stripe, she went from 37.5% to 85.7% shooting. She also saw a 20% increase in her number of trips to the line per 40 minutes. Her effective field goal percentage jumped from 41.8% to 52.9%.

However, Smith continued to struggle with fouls on both ends of the court. The illegal screen is still her enemy and her size does her no favors in the officials’ eyes.

While Smith did improve on the number of fouls she got whistled for this season, they were still excessive. If she were allowed to play 40 minutes per game, she would average six fouls per contest. She wouldn’t even be able to stay on the floor for an NBA team at that rate.

Still, there were bright spots on the defensive end. Smith was fourth in the Pac-12 in block rate and 109th in Division I, finishing just behind Stanford’s Ashten Prechel. That puts Smith in the 97th percentile in the sport.

On the boards, she was by far the most effective rebounder on the team. Her offensive rebounding rate ranked the best on the team at 9.3%, according to Her Hoop Stats. That placed her in the 83rd percentile across the country.

On the defensive end, Smith had a rebounding rate of 22%, which placed her just inside the top 150 in the sport. That placed her in the 95th percentile. Her 16% total rebounding rate placed her 182nd in the country.

Best stretch of play

As to be expected, Smith’s best stretch of play came after McBryde was injured and the sophomore was forced to take on the job of protecting the paint. When the senior went down in the Monmouth game, Smith stepped in as if nothing had happened. She would keep it up for seven straight games until the team ran into Oregon.

She had her highest-scoring game against Monmouth, putting up 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting. She also grabbed six rebounds and blocked a shot over 19 minutes of play.

Beginning with Monmouth, Smith averaged 25.7 minutes per game over seven contests. She hit 19 of her 35 shots (54%) and averaged seven rebounds per game. She also averaged 1.6 blocks per game.

Worst stretch of play

Right after her hot streak, Smith had the roughest time of her season from a statistical standpoint. That this coincided with her being moved back to a reserve role should be no surprise.

Beginning with the Oregon game on Jan. 10, she would play double-digit minutes only once over five games. She put up only two shots, although she did make both of them. She averaged a single rebound per contest.

The low point came when Arizona State came back to Tucson. The Wildcats put the finishing touches on the season sweep, but Smith didn’t have much to do with it. She played only two minutes and her lone stat was a turnover.

Quotable

Cate Reese on playing alongside Smith while McBryde was injured: “Last year, a lot of times we were not in together—for a reason, I guess. It’s nice to be able to build that chemistry ...because Dominique, this is her last year, and it’s gonna be important for Semaj and I to be able to work together, especially looking forward into the future next season.”

What’s next?

When Smith got on the court, she showed that she has a lot of promise. She just needs the opportunity to put it all together. Will she get that opportunity? She will have to fight for it, because a new crop of bigs will be walking onto campus as soon as the coronavirus gives us the all-clear.

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4-star point guard Jada Walker lists Arizona in Top 5

Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Four-star point guard Jada Walker listed the Arizona Wildcats as one of five finalists on Wednesday, the others being Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi State and NC State.

Walker is the No. 63 recruit and No. 15 point guard in the 2021 class, according to ESPN. Prospects Nation ranks her as the No. 99 recruit.

Top 5!!! pic.twitter.com/fnLP2TgLLO

— Jada Walker (@jadawalkr11) April 29, 2020

This is what ESPN has to say about Walker, who is listed at 5-foot-7:

Confident game manager executes in half-court game; left-handed playmaker knocks down jumpers with range to the arc; elusive off the dribble, penetrates and finds a way to the rim, takes contact and finishes plays, gets to the stripe; brings consistency, toughness to the back court; clock manager, basketball IQ.

Walker attends New Hope Academy in Landover Hills, Maryland where last spring she led the school to a championship at GEICO Nationals and earned MVP honors. It was only the program’s second year in existence, so Walker is used to being part of an upstart program like the one Adia Barnes is building at Arizona.

The Wildcats currently have one commit for the 2021 class, four-star guard Madison Conner from Gilbert, an elite-shooting off-guard.

The Wildcats will need to replace Aari McDonald after the 2020-21 season so a point guard like Walker would be a nice fit moving forward.

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5-star forward Paolo Banchero lists Arizona in final 6

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Duke, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Tennessee and Washington are also in the mix

While the Arizona Wildcats still have to figure out what to do with their last available scholarship for the 2020-21 season, one of their top targets for the year after is showing strong interest in joining the program.

Paolo Banchero, a 5-star power forward from Seattle, has included Arizona among his final six schools according to Evan Daniels of 247Sports. Duke, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Tennessee and Washington are the other finalists for the 6-foot-9, 235-pound Banchero, whom 247Sports ranks as the No. 4 player in the 2021 recruiting class.

Arizona is the only finalist that Banchero has yet to visit, mostly because it was the last program that he took into consideration.

“They had recruited me as a freshman when Lorenzo Romar was there and then a little bit this past year as a sophomore but then they kind of stopped,” Banchero told Daniels. “I always loved Arizona growing up. I would say my freshman year before I had my eyes on the blue bloods and stuff, I was really focused as a freshman on like, I remember coach Romar came to a couple of my games and I remember wanting to play really well because Arizona was a school that I really wanted to get to know and get an offer from. That was a school that I focused on early so I always just liked Arizona. When I heard that coach [Sean] Miller wanted to talk and reach out, I didn’t hesitate. They made up a lot of ground quickly. I talk to their coaches almost every day.”

Banchero told Daniels he plans to can an official visit to Tucson in the fall, noting Arizona’s recent trend of top-tier freshmen big men.

“They have had several Pac 12 freshman of the years, several freshman be top five lottery picks, especially bigs or forwards,” Banchero said. “They’re just a great program.”

Here’s what Banchero’s 247Sports scouting report says:

Respectable size for post with decent length, wide shoulders and a very good frame. Strong for his age but has plenty of room to grow into frame. Shouldn’t have issues increasing strength. Best from high post where he can hit jumpers, take bigger defenders off dribble or use his outstanding vision to find cutters. Terrific rebounder. Uses his size and basketball IQ to protect rim. Should be able to play both the four and five at college level. Improving efficiency from perimeter would take game to next level and greatly impact his NBA upside. Projects as a high level performer at high major level. Has first-round upside with continued development.

The Seattle area, once a gold mine for Arizona, is returning to the forefront of late. The Wildcats added Seattle University grad transfer guard Terrell Brown this offseason, and the expected hiring of former UA standout (and Seattle native) Jason Terry to the coaching staff only furthers this effort.

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Change in recruiting? Arizona may finally be on the right track

Jacob Snow-USA TODAY Sports

Whether it’s due to necessity or desire, Arizona’s recruiting approach appears to have changed.

And maybe not a moment too soon.

In the seasons since Arizona fell to Wisconsin for the second straight year in the Elite 8 there has been a school of thought permeating through the minds of Wildcats fans.

Not all of them, but many.

Essentially, it goes something like Sean Miller cannot win with the five-star, one-and-done players and therefore needs to spend his time recruiting those who will be in Tucson for multiple seasons.

Indeed, Miller has yet to make a Final Four with a one-and-done star; then again, that holds true for him with players who have stuck around, too.

Whatever recipe the coach has used to build his rosters, a few dashes of bad luck have led to the season ending prior to the NCAA Tournament’s final weekend.

It’s obvious to anyone that the momentum Miller and the program carried through the first six seasons of his tenure has largely dissipated, with the Cats collecting just a pair of NCAA Tournament wins — in 2017 — over the last five campaigns. Even if this year’s dance wasn’t canceled due to COVID-19 it would have taken an optimistic approach to expect much of a run from Arizona.

Was inexperience the problem? It certainly wasn’t the solution and history shows teams that feature experience often have the most success.

Imagine that.

The challenge has been to construct a roster with that luxury, though from the looks at this current recruiting class the Wildcats are on their way.

The group, which currently consists of five players, does not boast one who arrives with a five-star rating. The class that currently consists of Dalen Terry, Bennedict Mathurin, Kerr Kriisa, Daniel Batch and Tibet Gorener may lack flash, but it has a good chance of bringing substance.

Eventually.

While it is entirely possible one or more could play their way into being one-and-dones (see Markkanen, Lauri or even Nnaji, Zeke) or just decide they’ve spent enough time in college (see Jerrett, Grant or Simmons, Kobi), it seems as though that is not the plan for any of the five.

Instead each of the team’s newest additions are all projected to take their time before skipping town. If that turns out to be the case and many of this year’s recruits last until their junior or senior seasons, the Wildcats will not only have the kind of team fans can genuinely root for, but also get back to being the kind Miller can guide deep into the dance.

That’s not one without bereft of five-star talent, because it would be silly to avoid them altogether. Instead the Wildcats would have the kind of roster that would allow said freshman (or freshmen) to slide right in and instead of lead the team, enjoy the benefit of established talent around them.

It’s the proven recipe for success under Miller at Arizona.

The coach’s first Elite 8 team, 2011, featured just one senior — Jamelle Horne — and saw four of its five leading scorers be sophomores. It was Miller’s second season in Tucson and his program was hardly established, but got the benefit of an other-worldly season by Derrick Williams.

It was not until a few years later where Miller’s vision began to take shape.

The 2014 team that earned a No. 1 seed but fell in OT to Wisconsin was led in scoring by a junior Nick Johnson. The rest of the team’s top-five point scorers included two freshmen and two sophomores, though it was all held together by a redshirt junior T.J. McConnell.

A year later the team had just two seniors — McConnell and Drew Mellon — and was in fact led in scoring by a freshman, Stanley Johnson. But that squad benefited from juniors Brandon Ashley and Kaleb Tarczewski along with a sophomore Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

It’s not that one-and-dones are the issue, because they are not. Other teams have won with star freshmen who were around for just one season, and Arizona is no different. As Ryan Kelapire wrote, Arizona has had some pretty good one-and-dones over the years.

What’s clear in each of their cases, however, is their success was predicated on the talent — or lack thereof — that surrounded them. In other words it’s good to have one-and-done talent on the team, but it’s less good to have one-and-done talent essentially be the team.

Which takes us back to this recruiting class and its potential.

As is the case with any new players, we can’t really know what kind of impact they will make until they start playing the games. Some may be more ready to contribute than anticipated, while others are likely to need a bit more time to mature.

Are fans willing to give them that time? Is the university prepared to give it to Miller, who has two years left on his contract?

We’ll have to see, but at least the freshmen won’t be viewed as saviors, which was an unfair expectation placed on last year’s class.

Terry, Mathurin, Kriisa, Batcho and Gorener will be joining a roster that has plenty to prove, but also a good amount of experience at the college level. If all goes according to plan, at least for this season the Cats will rely on guys like James Akinjo and Jordan Brown, both of whom were highly-regarded recruits who have now spent a considerable amount of time in the program.

A senior, Ira Lee will also be counted on, as will sophomore Christian Koloko, junior Jemarl Baker Jr. and grad transfer Terrell Brown. In a perfect world Brandon Williams will be healthy enough to contribute, too.

That team should at least be competitive, and with some luck could actually be pretty good. One thing it will not be is expected to make a Final Four, which may actually be fine for the program right now.

Because while that is ultimately the goal, it can take time to build a roster that is ready to make that kind of run. And for the Wildcats, the clock may have just begun to tick.

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How should Arizona use its last scholarship?

Jacob Snow-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Wildcats landed three international recruits and a grad transfer in April, quickly loading up the roster for the 2020-21 campaign.

Now with 12 players in the fold, the Wildcats have one more scholarship left to offer. Here are some ways they can use it.

Sign a graduate transfer

While Arizona has a nice assortment of talent, it is still unproven at virtually every position, as Brandon Williams, James Akinjo, Terrell Brown and Ira Lee are the only ones who have ever started in a college game. And all of them come with major question marks.

Will Williams be limited by his knee? When will Akinjo be eligible to play? How will Brown translate to the high-major basketball? Is Lee finally ready for a bigger role?

Arizona doesn’t have any five-star freshmen to lean on this time, so it would ease some uncertainty if it can add a veteran to its rotation, preferably on the wing since four-star freshmen Dalen Terry, Bennedict Mathurin and Tibet Gorener are the 3s on the roster and who knows how ready they will be to contribute.

But really, aside from a small guard, the Wildcats can use help everywhere. They have not been connected to any transfers lately, so it is hard to provide any specific names, but new names are always being added to the transfer portal so it could just be a matter of time before you see one of those “Arizona reaches out to [insert grad transfer here]” stories pop up on this site.

Sign a multi-year transfer

Now that Arizona has more than enough bodies to get through the 2020-21 season, it can afford to shift its recruiting focus to the future. This includes adding a transfer that it knows will not be eligible to play in 2020-21. In this case, the Wildcats should be grabbing the best transfers available not just ones who play a particular role.

There is so much turnover in college basketball these days that you’re never truly set at any position for the long term.

Sign a high school or JuCo recruit

This is pretty self-explanatory. Again, the issue here is that it’s unclear who Arizona is targeting. The Wildcats have done much of their work under the radar lately.

We do know that there aren’t many highly-ranked high school recruits left on the market. Only two top-100 2020 prospects remain uncommitted—Makur Maker and Frank Anselem.

Maker, a five-star center from Hillcrest Prep, the same school Deandre Ayton attended, is expected to go pro and does not have an offer from Arizona.

Anselem, a four-star center, recently reclassified from 2021 to 2020 and reopened his recruitment after previously narrowing it down to three finalists. Arizona has offered him and hosted him on an official visit back in October.

The 6-foot-10 big man is another physical specimen who is raw offensively, so his fit at Arizona is questionable. Not sure if this is super notable, but Anselem attends Prolific Prep in Napa, California, the same school UA forward Jordan Brown attended before enrolling at Nevada.

Save it for later

With Arizona not seemingly close to landing another player, it could opt to hang on to its last scholarship and be ready to pounce on midseason transfers.

Arizona did that the past two years when it landed Akinjo and Stone Gettings. It gave them an extra semester to get comfortable in Tucson rather than forcing them to wait until the summer to start the onboarding process.

Pocketing that last scholarship could also come in handy if, say, a 2021 recruit unexpectedly reclassifies to 2020 or the NCAA passes the one-time transfer waiver in May, causing tons of new players (who would be immediately eligible!) to enter the portal.

If nothing like that comes to fruition, Arizona will simply have an extra scholarship to play with in the 2021 recruiting cycle, where it should have more success than it did in 2020, particularly when it comes to wooing American high-school recruits.

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Arizona volleyball recruiting class ranked No. 7 in the country

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Back in November, Arizona head coach Dave Rubio said the incoming class of Wildcat recruits would be a top-10 class by the time all was said and done. This week, his prediction came to pass. Not only is Arizona in the top 10, but the Wildcats are the No. 1 class in the Pac-12, just edging out Stanford.

John Tawa, founder of PrepVolleyball and long-time producer of their recruiting rankings, issued his top classes via his new enterprise, Volley High.

2020 recruiting classes. Here’s how we rank classes 6-10:

6. Florida @GatorsVB
7. Arizona @ArizonaVBall
8. Ohio State @OhioStateWVB
9. Stanford @StanfordWVB
10. Kansas @KUVolleyball

— VolleyHigh (@volley_high) April 28, 2020

Tawa also offered brief breakdowns of the five U.S.-based recruits who will be on scholarship at Arizona.

• Jaelyn Hodge is “probably going to lead that team in kills. Super athletic on the outside.”
• Lauren Ware is “coming off of a knee injury. A North Dakotan. Going to play basketball, also. Expect her to make an impact in both sports. She’s that good.”
• Shelby O’Neal is “hard-hitting.”
• China Crouch is “fast-improving. At 6’6” in the middle,”
• Emery Herman is a setter who along with all of her class is going to be a good player.

Not mentioned in the video was Sofia Maldonado from Juarez, Jalisco, Mexico.

UCLA was the only other Pac-12 team in Volley High’s top 25 classes, appearing among the classes ranked 11-15. (Only the top 10 positions have been released so far.) However, Utah, Washington and Washington State all appear as honorable mentions.

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Pac-12 roundup: Daishen Nix spurns UCLA for G League, Tyrell Terry unlikely to return to Stanford?

Former UCLA signee Daishen Nix is headed for the G League | Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

One of the top incoming freshmen in the Pac-12 has decided to begin his professional career at least a year earlier than expected, a decision that figures to affect the balance of power in the conference in 2020-21.

Daishen Nix, a 5-star point guard who signed with UCLA in November, said Tuesday he would not attend college but instead would sign a deal with the NBA’s G League.

“Going to the NBA was always a dream for me, and playing for the G League is just one step down and it will help me develop my game for the 2021 Draft,” Nix told 247Sports’ Evan Daniels.

The 6-foot-5 Nix, a McDonald’s All-American was ranked as the No. 15 player in the 2020 recruiting class, becomes the third prospect from that class to bypass college for the G League. Combo guard Jalen Green, the No. 3 overall player, and power forward Isaiah Todd, the No. 13 player.

In 2018 the G League created the Pathway Program meant to provide a different route to the pros for top prep talent than playing in college, though nearly every top-tier prospect who bypassed college either entered the NBA Draft early or played professionally overseas. Earlier this month the G League announced a new Select teamspecifically for such players, with salaries reportedly being as high as $500,000 for the 5-month season.

Nix’s decision to go pro could be a big boost for Arizona, since it’s one less elite prospect joining the Pac-12 (though ASU, Stanford and USC all have 5-star players set to join their teams this fall). It’s also a further indication that the days of focusing on one-and-done college basketball players may no longer be the best course of action, which aligns well with the UA’s current recruiting approach which has seen it sign four international players for 2020-21.

Stanford PG Tyrell Terry unlikely to return, per report

NBA Draft early entrants have until June 15 to withdraw their names from consideration, assuming they haven’t hired an agent. There are exceptions if the agency has NCAA certification, which is the case with the one Stanford point guard Tyrell Terry signed with.

Terry told The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie he has yet to make up his mind, though it sounds like he’s not going back to The Farm for another season:

“I’m looking for information that favors me, to try to figure out if it’s better for me to come out this year or next year,” Terry said. “There are certain things I’m looking for specifically, but I’m confident in my ability to play at the next level right now. My intentions are to stay in this draft.”

The 6-foot-1 Terry averaged 14.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game as a freshman. His departure would be a big blow to Stanford, but the Cardinal aren’t going to be hurting too bad. Not when they signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the Pac-12 which includes 5-star wing Ziarie Williams, a top UA target.

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What Tibet Gorener’s commitment means for Arizona

FIBA

The Arizona Wildcats continued their recruiting hot streak Monday when they landed four-star Turkish forward Tibet Gorener, who becomes the fifth member of the 2020 class.

Here is what his commitment means for the Wildcats.

This is a (International) Player’s Program

By landing Gorener and whiffing on Kerwin Walton, Arizona ensured that it will be adding more international players (4) than domestic players (2) to next year’s roster since it only has one more scholarship to fill.

They come from quite the array of countries too:

• France (Daniel Batcho)
• Estonia (Kerr Kriisa)
• Canada (Bennedict Mathurin)
• Turkey (Tibet Gorener)

It’s hard to know what kind of implications this will carry. I’ve seen a lot of people assume they will all be multi-year players, that one-and-dones are a thing of the past. But I wouldn’t go that far. Not yet.

Just like American players, foreign prospects dream of going pro and will have plenty of offers to do so if they turn in strong seasons with the Wildcats, whether that is a chance to get drafted into the NBA or sign a lucrative contract overseas. In fact, their willingness to play overseas could make them more likely to leave early than an American prospect with a similar résumé.

When I talked to former UA center Dusan Ristic last month, he said he weighed his options after every season in Tucson, and strongly considered signing overseas after his junior year even though most fans probably thought he was a lock to return since he was a good, but not great, college player.

So, my advice: take it year by year with these international players—and every player for that matter. College basketball isn’t what it used to be.

More shooting, but this time from the frontcourt

Even after signing Kriisa, Arizona needed more 3-point shooters, and what a way to address that by adding Gorener who is one of top shooters in the 2020 class, according to 247Sports.

“Has range to perimeter and can shoot off catch and pull. Improved ball skills have made him bigger threat off bounce,” his scouting report reads.

Gorener shot 14 for 40 (35%) from 3 for Turkey in the 2019 FIBA U18 European Championships and 15 for 38 (39.5%) in the U16 European Championships.

Gorener is the only forward on the roster who can shoot from distance. That brings balance to the offense and allows for more versatility since he can also serve as a small-ball 4 if/when he adds some muscle to his 6-foot-8, 195-pound frame, something he acknowledged he needs to work on.

“I feel like coach (Sean) Miller is going to help me get my defense a lot better and get me a lot stronger,” he told 247Sports.

A unique skill set for his size

Arizona hasn’t had many 6-foot-8 small forwards lately. The only players in the past five years who fit that bill (or are within one inch of it) are Emmanuel Akot and Mark Tollefsen. Ray Smith would have counted too but we know how that went (sigh).

Arizona has generally gone small instead, starting 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6 guys like Dylan Smith and Rawle Alkins at the 3.

But Gorener is more of a 3/4 than a 2/3. So throw him into a lineup with guys like Jordan Brown and Christian Koloko and all of a sudden you have the tallest lineup Arizona has trotted out there in quite some time.

What also makes Gorener a rare talent for Arizona is that he is, for now, a 3-point specialist. In his time with Turkey in the FIBA Championships, 78 of his 132 shots (59%) came from behind the arc, including 40 of 54 in the 2019 tournament.

Some Miller-era players who’ve posted seasons with 3-point rates around 59%:

• Gabe York
• Brendon Lavender
• Jamelle Horne
• Max Hazzard
• Dylan Smith
• Elliott Pitts
• Jemarl Baker Jr.
• Alex Barcello
• Parker Jackson-Cartwright
• Jordin Mayes

Horne (6-foot-7) is the only one taller than 6-foot-5, so at 6-foot-8 Gorener will be a unicorn in this era of Arizona basketball assuming his playing style doesn’t change too much in college.

And then there was one...

How should Arizona use its last scholarship? I will dig into these options later Tuesday but here is the skinny for now:

1. Sign a grad transfer. Arizona could use a proven player at the 3. Otherwise it will have to rely on three freshmen—Gorener, Terry and Mathurin—or be content with playing small. Another shooter or big man wouldn’t hurt either.
2. Sign another incoming freshman. The problem is Gorener was Arizona’s last known target.
3. Sign a multi-year transfer. Arizona has stockpiled quite a bit of talent for 2020-21 by now, so start focusing on the future.
4. Hold on to it. And use it to bolster the 2021 recruiting class, which could be a lot better than this one. This route also gives Arizona the flexibility to add a midseason transfer like it did when it brought in Stone Gettings and James Akinjo the past two years.

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4-star Turkish forward Tibet Gorener commits to Arizona

247Sports

The Arizona Wildcats continue to strike it rich across the globe. They received a commitment from four-star Turkish forward Tibet Gorener on Monday, according to Evan Daniels of 247Sports.

Gorener becomes the fifth member of Arizona’s 2020 recruiting class and the fourth from outside the United States, the others being Kerr Kriisa (Estonia), Bennedict Mathurin (Canada) and Daniel Batcho (France). Four-star wing Dalen Terry, from Phoenix, is the lone domestic product.

The 6-foot-8, 195-pound Gorener is the No. 147 player in his class, per 247Sports rankings. He has spent the past two years at Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, California, the same school former UA guard Gabe York attended.

Gorener also had offers from Creighton and Nebraska. He told 247 that the Wildcats “play with a very European style” and that was appealing for him. He adds much-needed shooting and depth at the 3 and the 4, among other things.

“Basketball IQ, good feel, energy, getting up and down the court and creating for myself for others,” he told 247Sports. “I feel like coach (Sean) Miller is going to help me get my defense a lot better and get me a lot stronger.”

Arizona has one more scholarship left. Here is what their depth chart could look like at the moment:

PG: James Akinjo/Terrell Brown/Kerr Kriisa

SG: Brandon Williams/Jemarl Baker Jr.

SF: Dalen Terry/Bennedict Mathurin/Tibet Gorener

PF: Jordan Brown/Ira Lee

C: Daniel Batcho/Christian Koloko

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Arizona Wildcats mailbag: On facility upgrades, 2020 recruiting targets, softball transfers, and more

Jacob Snow-USA TODAY Sports

It’s Mailbag Monday! You asked us questions about the Arizona Wildcats on Twitter and we answered them! We got quite a few football questions, so we will save those for another mailbag next week or later this week.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter at @AZDesertSwarm and me at @RKelapire to participate next time.

Let’s get into it.

@AndyBlaho: What facility upgrades would you make if you were the athletic department? I want to hear some creative ideas.

Arizona soccer is one of my favorite programs to cover, so I would overhaul their facilities. They deserve it. They need it.

The program is, in my view, a sleeping giant.

• It’s in the best, most reputable soccer conference in the country.
• It’s proximal to Southern California, the deepest recruiting pipeline in the sport.
• It has established a winning pedigree over the past eight seasons, so recruits these days only know Arizona as a perennial NCAA Tournament team, not the bottom feeder it used to be.
• The UA/Tucson community will support women’s sports in droves as we’ve seen with softball and now women’s basketball.
• Soccer is big in Arizona as a whole. Look at the enthusiasm surrounding Phoenix Rising.

The only thing missing is modern facilities. Built in the 1990s, Mulcahy Stadium is more or less a high school venue with Arizona’s branding slapped on it.

In a dream scenario, you’d replace it with an on-campus facility—the best location being where beach volleyball plays on Enke Drive, just east of Arizona football’s practice fields. Another spot is Dave Sitton Field, adjacent to the UA rec center, though space might be an issue there. Some major touchups would be required too.

Especially when it comes to non-revenue sports, you need to make it as easy and comfortable as possible for fans to attend games. Otherwise they will come up with excuses not to go.

Mulcahy misses this mark in several ways.

The parking is constrained and disorganized. The bleachers are, like I said, something you’d see at a high school. There is no shade for those scorching weekend games. There is one concession stand and like two restrooms. Not enough when attendance figures can spike above 1,000.

There is also that extra effort it takes for students, particularly freshmen who live on campus and are impressionable customers, to make their way over to 15th and Plumer.

This is also an inconvenience for the players, who have to drive to practice as opposed to walking over from their McKale Center locker room like other sports do. Yeah, it’s a short commute, but student-athletes are already so pressed for time that it adds an unnecessary item to their schedule.

If an on-campus facility is not an option, the next best thing would be to kill two birds with one stone and totally overhaul Mulcahy and Drachman Stadium (where track and field competes) into one modern mega-facility.

The idea would be to construct a concourse that can serve both programs. We’re talking multiple locker rooms, restrooms, concessions, the whole nine yards. (Visiting teams currently do not have a locker room at Mulcahy. They dress in McKale Center and then bus over for the game. It’s a homefield advantage of sorts but overall not a good look for the program.)

Since space is limited and a concourse like that would require lots of room, an overhaul could mean soccer playing on the infield of the track and a new grandstand stretching along one of the sidelines. There is already a large section of bleachers along the west side of the track but they have seen better days and have no shade, a must since the bulk of soccer’s season is in the hot months of August and September.

The pitch at Mulcahy could then be used as a practice field or parking lot.

Arizona soccer routinely sneaks into the Top 25 as it is, but its ceiling to this point has been the Round of 32 or, on a rare occurrence, a Sweet Sixteen. New facilities and an electric atmosphere that can woo recruits (and their families) and excite the fanbase are the keys to taking the next step, in my opinion.

Maybe Arizona will never challenge Stanford, UCLA, and USC for Pac-12 and national titles, but there is nothing stopping it from being the next-best thing in the West.

Unfortunately, no projects are currently in the works and this economic climate could only prolong one.

@Jacobma77833453: Any idea if there is any other basketball players for the 2020 class that Arizona can bring in besides Tibet Gorener now that Kerwin Walton is off the board?

Gorener is the only reported target for now, but Kerr Kriisa and Daniel Batcho were off-the-radar additions, so I’m sure Sean Miller has something up his sleeve.

At this point though it might make more sense to only add one more recruit and carry 12 scholarship players instead of the maximum 13. That would put the Wildcats in the market for midseason transfers like Stone Gettings and James Akinjo and/or allow them to roll over a scholarship to 2021 where they should have more success recruiting higher-end American players. (It can’t go worse than 2020.)

That said, one 2020 target to monitor is Frank Anselem. The four-star center recently reclassified from 2021 and reopened his recruitment after previously narrowing it to three finalists.

Arizona was not of those three preferred schools, but Anselem officially visited the UA in October, so there was at least some level of mutual interest. The Wildcats don’t need another athletic big man who’s raw offensively, but they could use another body.

@altman_bj: When will the NCAA finally come down with their ruling and/or sanctions for the U of A basketball program?

It’s impossible to answer this because the NCAA works on its own timeline.

But given how much Arizona struggled to recruit American players in this cycle, it’s pretty clear that its recruiting efforts have been hurt by the uncertainty that comes with looming sanctions—possibly more than if the punishments had been issued already. At least that way recruits would know what they are getting into when they are considering the Wildcats.

@Irishtike09: Who else will leave from softball? What does the 2022 season look like after all the seniors are gone?

The only obvious transfer candidate left is Riley Kuderca, a speedy sophomore outfielder who has only had one at-bat in two years (though she did miss the 2020 campaign with an injury).

Other than that, the roster could be set. Not including Dejah Mulipola, the Wildcats currently have 22 players, a very doable number to carry. They had 20 players in 2020 but 23 at the start of the 2019 season. And despite the large roster size, that team was extremely cohesive on its way to the Women’s College World Series.

As far as 2022 goes, the hope is that this freshman class—the incoming freshmen plus the freshmen who were just granted an extra year of eligibility—will be ready to take the reigns when they are sophomores. At that point, there will only be two seniors—Hanah Bowen and Peanut Martinez. Both are solid, but neither are stars. The junior class will be just as barren, only consisting of Kuderca and Izzy Pacho.

Arizona can also reload through the transfer portal. Oregon did that under second-year coach Melyssa Lombardi. Before the 2020 season was canceled, the Ducks were in the Top 10 despite having a dismal 2019 campaign.

@Pac12lovefest: Do you think Mike Candrea will retire if this star-studded senior class wins the World Series?

No way. In my four years of covering Arizona softball, never have I gotten the sense that Candrea has even considered retiring. He is 64 going on 34.

“When you have a passion for something, it’s amazing how 35 years has gone by,” he told me in March. “I don’t feel like I’m that old. I think young people keep you young.”

What’s cool is that whenever Candrea does decide to step away, UA legends Caitlin Lowe and/or Taryne Mowatt will be waiting in the wings to take over and keep the tradition going.

Mike Candrea has been coaching @ArizonaSoftball for over 30 years, so I asked him what keeps him going. pic.twitter.com/TIgyeCqiBx

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) March 3, 2020

@booradley1968: Have any of the three freshmen hired agents? What’s your best guess about Zeke Nnaji or Josh Green staying?

Zeke Nnaji signed with Adam Pensack of Pensack Sports Management Group. No word on Nico Mannion or Josh Green. But there is still zero chance they return for their sophomore seasons.

@tcampos583: What do we have to do to get Arizona basketball new uniforms?

I don’t know, but Arizona is definitely due for a fresh look. Here are the seasons Arizona has introduced a new uniform design:

• 2007-08
• 2010-11
• 2014-15
• 2016-17

One year with those hideous gradient uniforms was enough, let alone four. My proposal? Just modernize these and never change them again:

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Arizona among ‘big losers’ of NBA draft early-entry deadline

Jacob Snow-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Wildcats had three potential (likely?) first-round picks on their roster in 2019-20, so why weren’t they better?

Kyle Boone of CBS Sports is wondering just that, leading him to name Arizona as one of the big losers of Sunday’s NBA Draft early-entry deadline:

Arizona’s losing its entire starting lineup for the second time in three years. This isn’t a new trend for Sean Miller. But it’s surprising, if not alarming, that three of his five starters — Josh Green, Nico Mannion, Zeke Nnaji — may all go on to be first-rounders ... after going just 10-8 in a wide-open Pac-12 and finishing 21-11 overall on the season.

That’s tough to comprehend. Miller had a wealth of talent in Tucson, Arizona, last season and couldn’t quite fit the pieces together. It helps underscore just how tough it is to win with freshmen — and just how badly UA underachieved last season.

While we will never know how Arizona would have fared in the NCAA Tournament because of the coronavirus crisis, Boone’s assessment is fair.

That said, one could argue the Wildcats were better than their record indicates. Arizona, which finished the year unranked, finished No. 19 in KenPom’s ratings, posting the No. 35 offensive and No. 14 defensive efficiency in the country.

A big reason for their unimpressive record, both overall and in conference play, was their inability to win close games. The Wildcats were 3-7 in games decided by five points or less. That, as Boone pointed out, can partly be attributed to Arizona’s reliance on freshmen.

It also did not help that seven of their rotation players were in their first year with the program. So not only were the Wildcats hindered by youth and the inconsistency that comes along with it, but a lack of continuity as well. That became evident when the game was on the line, the pressure ramped up.

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