A freshman-heavy rotation helped lead Arizona to the 2025-26 Big XII regular season championship and a likely number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. Tommy Lloyd relying on freshmen goes against what he has done during his first four seasons as a head coach.
Senior Jaden Bradley leads Arizona, playing 30.1 minutes per game. After Bradley, freshmen Brayden Burries averaging 29,5 MPG, Ivan Kharchekov at 27.4 and Koa Peat 26.9 round out the top four in playing time per game for Arizona and Lloyd during the 2025-26 season.
Burries leads Arizona, averaging 15.5 points per game and Peat is third, posting 13.3. Junior center Motiejus Krivas is the other starter for Arizona with Bradley, Burries, Kharchenkov and Pear. Freshman Dwayne Aristode, averaging 15.1 MPG for Arizona, is the final player in the eight-man Arizona rotation.
Lloyd has primarily used an eight-man rotation throughout his Arizona tenure. Guards Adama Bal and Shane Norwell were the only freshmen on the 2021-22 Arizona roster in the first season with Lloyd as head coach. Bal averaged 4.5 MPG in 23 games and Norwell, 3.5 MPG in 19 contests.
How synced up is Jaden Bradley (@JBsmoovve) with freshman Brayden Burries in Arizona’s backcourt?
— Vince Wolfram (@vincewolfram15) February 20, 2026
And do @ArizonaMBB's freshmen, Koa Peat, Burries, and Ivan Kharchenkov, even act like freshmen off the court? pic.twitter.com/11Hny7XKfC
Lloyd adds more freshmen on the roster
Arizona added freshmen guard Kylan Boswell and forwards Dylan Anderson, Filip Borovicanin and Henri Veesaar to the 2022-23 roster. Boswell was the only significant contributor, averaging 4.6 PPG, 1.6 RPG and 1.6 APG in 15.2 MPG, playing in all 35 games as the primary backup point guard to Kerr Kriisa.
Guards K.J. Lewis and Conrad Martinez, forward Paulius Murauskas and Krivas were the only freshmen on the 2023-24 Arizona roster. Krivas averaged 5.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG and Lewis, 6.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.9 APG and 1.1 SPG playing in all 36 games as freshmen in 2023-24.
Murauskas averaged 2.7 PPG and 1.2 RPG, playing 5.0 MPG in 23 games off the bench as a freshman in 2023-24. Addison Arnold, Carter Bryant, Jackson Cook, Sven Djompo, Will Kuykendall and Emmanuel Stephen were freshmen on the 2024-25 Arizona roster.
Bryant was by far the biggest freshman contributor in 2024-25, averaging 6.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.0 APG, playing in all 37 games with five starts and 19.3 MPG. The other five freshmen played minimal minutes for Arizona in 2024-25. Multiple transfers and graduation losses setup opportunites for Arizona freshmen in 2025-26.
Aristode, Burries, Kharchenkov and Peat have been significant contributors for Arizona in one of the best seasons in Arizona history. With one game left in the regular season, the Big XII and NCAA Tournaments remaining, Arizona is seven wins away from tying the program record.