Incoming student perspective: Will Arizona Basketball take a back seat to Football?

Some Initial Thoughts from an incoming student on the state of the Arizona Basketball Program.

As an incoming student at the University of Arizona and avid Arizona Basketball fan, I am shocked and disappointed by what is going on in the basketball program. Growing up in Scottsdale, Arizona the Wildcats became my team in both football and basketball.

My interest in going to the university in Tucson was only stoked by both UA and ASU. When the first shoe dropped in the FBI investigation, it should have come as no surprise to anyone that college basketball was this corrupt.

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

However, when Emmanuel “Book” Richardson, an assistant of head coach Sean Miller was indicted in September of 2017, Arizona Wildcat fans from all over were panicking about the program. Then the season started and there were no reports related to the FBI investigation, until February 23, 2018.

Sean Miller is reported to have been caught on a wiretap having conversations about arranging $100,000 to go to touted prospect and future NBA lottery pick Deandre Ayton. This situation is ongoing as many other schools have been reportedly involved in this scandal too. As a fan this is devastating.

I hoped that when I was attending Arizona that the team would be well on our way to Final Fours and National Championship over my four years at the school. Instead, Arizona is well on it’s way to possibly cleaning house and undergoing NCAA penalties. If NCAA penalties are incoming, then it could take at least three or four years for the program to recover.

Is Arizona a Football School Now?

There has been a shift in Arizona Athletics, to the point where it looks like Arizona is trending into being a football school with brand new coach Kevin Sumlin. With a new highly regarded coach, a Heisman Trophy candidate Khalil Tate, and young intriguing talent on defense Arizona is a team to watch next season.

I know a ton of incoming students that are more excited about football season and are already over basketball season. Arizona is in a wide open Pac-12 South, and with all the talent they have the buzz surrounding the football team is already high. The buzz surrounding the basketball team is non-existent right now, due to its uncertainty and lack of an incoming recruiting class.

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Next year Arizona may be a football school and not a basketball school, which is impossible to imagine. There are too many positives surrounding football and too much uncertainty surrounding basketball. We need to wait and see how this plays out for the rest of the season and into the offseason, but it doesn’t look good right now. Next year, Wildcat fans may well be dreaming of roses and not of a final four. But who knows, miracles do happen.