Arizona Basketball: Wildcats are Pac-12 contenders this season

Arizona Basketball has the talent in place to be a contender for the Pac-12 title this year.

Last season was one many would like to forget. Arizona Basketball finished tied for 8th in the Pac-12 conference and lost in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. Expectations heading into the season were low because they only had one top recruit in Brandon Williams joining the team. This upcoming season things will be much different.

The Wildcats will have one of the best recruiting classes in the country and in the conference (even without Terry Armstrong, who decommited), something they did not have last season. Also, they bring back players with Pac-12 playing experience. Those two things will tremendously help the Wildcats contend for a Pac-12 title.

The conference will be stacked this season with talent. Washington, UCLA, Oregon, Colorado, and USC are all teams that have a legitimate chance to contend. There are several teams that even have multiple five-star incoming freshmen joining their roster. One of those teams being USC, looking to redeem themselves from a disappointing 2018-19 season.

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Other factors make this upcoming season an interesting one to watch. Shareef O’Neal, son of Shaqille O’Neal, will be in uniform for the UCLA Bruins after sitting out a year to open-heart surgery. He will have a lot to prove this year and will make the Bruins a team not to sleep on.

On paper, this Wildcats team looks like a Pac-12 title team. How this team will handle expectations will be crucial to their overall success. Similar to the 2017-18 season when they were loaded with talent, including Deandre Ayton, they were expected to win the Pac-12 and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. They accomplished the first part, but lost in the first round of the tournament to Buffalo.

All the pieces to the puzzle are there in terms of the Wildcats being successful, it’s just a matter of executing the game plan. A key part in all of this is Sean Miller and how he is able to adapt and adjust as the season progresses. A big knock on Miller is that he doesn’t change things up, especially on defense or doesn’t properly use all of his players. This is the year that needs to happen!

The Arizona women’s team filled the void of that winning feeling but winning the WNIT in front of a sold-out McKale Center. The men’s team will look to get back to their winnings ways this season. Not just win though, but to dominate and take home the regular season Pac-12 title and the Pac-12 tournament title.

At Zona Zealots, we look forward to the 2019-20 season and a chance for Arizona Basketball to get back where they belong – at the top! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!