Arizona Wildcats preseason ranked #2

It’s officially the best time of year in Tucson, basketball season. The preseason coaches poll has been released and your Arizona Wildcats are ranked #2 in the country, trailing the defending National Champion Kentucky Wildcats.

What’s not to love about Arizona this year? Senior point guard TJ McConnell running the offense again, perennial lottery picks in freshman Stanley Johnson and sophomore Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. A 100% healthy Brandon Ashley back for his junior campaign and 7-foot junior Kaleb Tarczewski, looking to improve even more.

Feb 26, 2014; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (23) smiles as he joins the bench during the second half against the California Golden Bears at McKale Center. Arizona won 87-59. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Off the bench, junior Gabe York can space the floor out and suffocate on defense. The #1 JUCO player in the country, KaDeem Allen, has has made his way to the desert to add more depth in the backcourt. Surprisingly enough, Sean Miller has said he wants the ball in Allen’s hands in the final seconds. We don’t know too much about him now, so it will be exciting to gauge his abilities in the next few weeks.

This team has depth, but there’s no telling how deep Sean Miller will go. It seems as if 5-star power forward Craig Victor is being over looked heading into the season, similar to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson being in the shadows of Aaron Gordon at the start of last season. Victor should be able to play decent minutes entering season, coming in to relieve Brandon Ashley.

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Arizona adds another 7-footer, Dusan Ristic. There isn’t too much background information on Ristic, as he came from Serbia to play high school basketball in Kansas for a season before committing to Arizona. But a 7-foot body is a nice asset should Tarczewski ever get in foul trouble. We also don’t know how much incoming freshman Parker Jackson-Cartwright will contribute, coming in at 5-9, he faces many challenges on offense, but his ball skills will be among the best in the Pac-12.

Arizona is set to repeat as Pac-12 champs according to the coaches poll, as there are no other Pac-12 teams preseason ranked. However, Arizona has three opponents on their schedule that appear on the rankings. Gonzaga checks in at #13, whom the Wildcats will host on December 6th, just a week before they host #23 Michigan on December 13th. The Wildcats will head to the Maui Invitational for Thanksgiving break and should all go as expected, they will play #17 SDSU in the championship round.

The road to Indianapolis starts now. So buckle up, folks. It’s going to be a good year in McKale.