Men's College Basketball 2021-2022 Season Preview: Arizona Wildcats

The Pac-12 doesn’t get a whole lot of respect in college basketball lately, but that’s the conference’s own fault, as it’s been a fairly pathetic conference over the last couple of seasons. Many of the teams took advantage of the largest transfer portal ever, and we will see a lot of new faces this season. There will be plenty of hype surrounding the UCLA Bruins after their unlikely final four run last year while teams like Oregon, Arizona and USC try to gain relevance once more. There is plenty of excitement surrounding the WSU Cougars and their juicy roster, but the amount of projected bottom feeders could lead to another disappointing season for the Pac-12.

Nevertheless, there will be firepower on each of these rosters and Pac-12 Thursday DFS slates tend to be some of the most chaotic of the week. Let’s break down each team and identify the players to watch for this upcoming season.

In this one, Arizona.

(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)

Arizona Wildcats 2021-2022 Season Preview

2020-2021 record: 17-9 (11-9 Pac-12), fifth in Pac-12
Postseason: None (ineligible)

Key Departures | Arizona Wildcats

James Akinjo (transferred to Baylor)
Terrell Brown (transferred to Washington)
Jemarl Baker (transferred to Fresno State)
Ira Lee (transferred to GW)
Jordan Brown (transferred to Louisiana)

Key Additions | Arizona Wildcats

Justin Kier (transferred from Georgia)
Pelle Larsson (transferred from Utah)
Oumar Ballo (transferred from Gonzaga)
Kim Aiken (transferred from EWU)
Shane Nowell (top 100 recruit)

Returners | Arizona Wildcats

Kerr Kriisa (5.5 PPG/2.4 APG)
Azuolas Tubelis (12.2 PPG/7.1 RPG)
Bennedict Mathurin (10.8 PPG/4.8 RPG)
Dalen Terry (4.6 PPG/3.2 RPG)
Christian Koloko (5.3 PPG/4.8 RPG/1.3 BPG)

Arizona Wildcats Outlook for 2021-2022

The powers that be at the Arizona program finally had enough of Sean Miller and the dark cloud hanging over the program. He was let go, and the university looks to turn the page. Leading the new era of Arizona basketball is longtime Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd. He has a fantastic reputation as a strong recruiter and has excelled in player development. He has a great relationship overseas as well and has been able to bring in diamond in the rough style players from other countries. Just a few names that he was responsible for bringing to Gonzaga were Rui Hachimura, Kelly Olynyk, Domantas Sabonis, Killian Tillie … and the list goes on. He has already started the reshaping of the Wildcats roster and has eight international players at his disposal.

There could be some growing pains at first for Arizona as the Wildcats look to replace most of their backcourt production from a season ago with Akinjo, Baker and Brown leaving. I’m really optimistic about Kerr Kriisa who will be handed the keys to this offense going forward after playing in less than 10 games last season while Miller brought him along slowly. He has the upside to be one of the most lethal spot-up shooters in the Pac-12 and has plenty of weapons around him on the wing and in the paint to rack up his assist numbers.

Pelle Larsson is another mega-accurate three-point shooter coming over from Utah, and he should fit into the Lloyd system extremely well. He shot over 46% from distance last season. Kier brings with him experience as a sixth-year player with a strong defensive pedigree. He won’t need to score to impact the game. Shane Nowell is a prospect to watch but probably won’t make much noise until his sophomore season. Bennedict Mathurin is a future NBA pro, and this will surely be his final collegiate season. He went through spurts last season where he was simply unguardable and he should make life miserable for opposing defenders. Terry is a pure athlete and excels in transition.

On the interior it’s all about Azuolas Tubelis, who is coming off an All-Freshman season last year and was also an honorable mention for All-Conference. Tubelis ranked near the top of the Pac-12 in rebounding efficiency, block rate and fouls drawn rate. He is the real deal. He will be joined by rim protector Christian Koloko and newcomer Oumar Ballo who is still pretty raw but follows Loyd from Gonzaga. Kim Aiken is the wildcard and the EWU transfer is a jack of all trades type that should see a lot of playing time throughout the year.

(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams and top 100 players for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)

Summary

The Arizona program hits the reset button on the Sean Miller era, and there is reason for excitement for this team. The Wildcats have a solid blend of youngsters and experienced vets that should help them be a top 4-5 team in the Pac-12. Mathurin and Tubelis should have monstrous statistical seasons.