Grading the 2020-21 Arizona Basketball season

Feb 25, 2021; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard James Akinjo (13) reacts after being fouled by Washington State Cougars guard Noah Williams (24) during the second half at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Rebecca Sasnett-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2021; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard James Akinjo (13) reacts after being fouled by Washington State Cougars guard Noah Williams (24) during the second half at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Rebecca Sasnett-USA TODAY Sports

It was a year marred by inconsistencies, and after the 2020-21 Arizona Basketball season came to an unceremonious end, it is time to grade our Wildcats.

Coming into the 2020-21 Arizona Basketball season, we knew it was going to be an interesting and trying year for the Wildcats.

Losing three players to the NBA Draft, breaking in seven new players (one of which didn’t play at all due to injury, and another missed a majority of the season due to eligibility issues).

Arizona Wildcats
Arizona Wildcats

Arizona Wildcats

In addition to that, the Wildcats broke in a brand new assistant, lost one of their key players mid-season, and lest not we forget, the lack of a postseason ban, which we didn’t learn about until after the season had started.

Any team and coach presented with those difficult set of challenges would find the circumstances to be crushing and demotivating. However, Sean Miller and the Wildcats responded accordingly.

Battling and finishing the year with a 17-9 (11-9) record, a challenging and tumultuous season capped off by a difficult loss to Oregon on Monday evening.

Overall, it was a fairly successful year all things considered, and given the difficult set of circumstances, I would give Sean Miller and Arizona Basketball a B-.

Not an A and certainly no worse than a B. After all, Arizona didn’t win 20 games, they lost to the better teams in the conference, and they struggled on defense at times. But all things considered, he fairly well overall.

Now, I understand some fans are currently reading this, begrudgingly willing to give Miller any credit. After all, a 17-9 season is uncharacteristic for the lofty expectations of Arizona Basketball set by fans.

However, in case you need a reminder of the masterful coaching job Miller did this year, please re-read the challenges he and the program faced this year and just how they responded. To me, that by definition is masterful.

The best part is that most of this team returns next season, and it could be a great foundation for a program looking for stability. If all goes well, this is a group that could see a return to normalcy and even make a deep tournament run.

Schedule

Schedule