Arizona Basketball: Five things to take away from a Wildcats season that ended early

No.5 Expectations

For those that followed Arizona Wildcat Basketball prior to the start of the season knew the expectations for this year’s team wasn’t as high as in the past. That was due to the fact they only had one five-star recruit joining the squad and a couple transfers. Basically the entire starting lineup from last season was gone and Coach Sean Miller would be starting from a clean slate.

There was a lot of unknowns as well. How will Chase Jeter perform as the go to big man for this team? How will Justin Coleman and Brandon Williams work together in the backcourt? What will Coach Miller’s starting rotation be? Who will step up this season?

Early on in non-conference play some of those questions were answered. They had one of their best games of the year with a win against Iowa State in the Maui Invitational:

This team at times somewhat exceeded expectations during the season, but then at times they played where expected. The combination of freshman, returners and transfers this season required a lot of juggling by Coach Miller. He tried to find the right combination to give his team the best chance to win, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to have a successful and longer season.