With the Arizona Basketball program virtually preparing towards the 2021-22 season and beyond, the Wildcats could have a strong group next year.
This Arizona Basketball season has been a bit of an odd one, to say the least. Aside from the obvious of Covid impacting the season, there is also the self-imposed postseason ban by the program as well that has made 2020-21, unlike many others.
In addition to that, the team lacks a true “superstar or superstars”, meaning obvious one-and-done’s. And there is also the fact that the Wildcats are just an okay, but not a great team this year, which goes against the high expectations have of the team each year.
Arizona Wildcats
However, if this year has proven anything, it is that this team is being built foundationally for the future. All things considered, this group has played fairly, and it at least should give fans optimism for the future.
As of now, freshman Ben Mathurin seems to be the only potential player with immediate NBA potential, and even then, Mathurin loses key exposure by not playing in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
There’s a good likelihood that Arizona could return virtually most of the current roster, if not everyone for 2021-22.
Arizona could have a special group in 2021-22, since they would be returning a healthy Jemarl Baker and Daniel Batcho, adding talented freshmen in Shane Dezonie, Shane Nowell, and K.J. Simpson, all while potentially having most, if not everyone else return.
That fact alone should be encouraging to fans. This team has shown fight, they have talent, they can shoot, but more importantly, they still have a lot of potential and development to go through.
It would be refreshing to see Arizona not go through a mass exodus of players and return a large core of their roster for once.
I am still under the opinion that Sean Miller needs to stray away from the one-and-done players and build his roster with guys that will be here for multiple years. We will see what happens with this program moving forward. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!