ESPN Big XII analyst calls Ivan Karchenkov the country's most underrated defender

Arizona freshman forward Ivan Karchenkov is "the country's most underrated defender," according to the top ESPN Big XII analyst Fran Fraschilla. Fraschilla has been on Karchenkov since the German national officially signed with Arizona in July.

Fraschilla posted a video to X to illustrate his claim that Karchenkov is the most underrated defender in the country. Karchenkov is eighth in the Big XII, averaging 1.93 steals per game. In addition to being a good on-ball defender, Karchenkov is averaging 2.57 defensive rebounds per game.

Karchenkov has eight games with multiple steals during the 2025-26 season. The video posted to X by Fraschilla shows how well Karchenkov plays the passing lanes. Karchenkov has a 4.4 steal percentage, which is in the 99th percentile nationally per CBB Stats.

Karchenkov is in the 99th percentile in defensive regularized adjusted plus/minus, 98th in defensive win shares and 97th in defensive win shares per 40 minutes per CBB Stats. Explanations of those metrics are available on the CBB Stats website, with the link above.

"Arizona's Ivan Karchenkov is hiding in plain sight on the No. 1 team in the country. Watch the anticipation and awareness on the defensive end of the floor. The icing on the cake are his finishes on the other end of the floor. Great situational awareness."

ESPN Big XII analyst Fran Fraschilla

Karchenkov helps Arizona excel on the fastbreak

With Karchenkov excelling in the open court, Arizona is 20th nationally, averaging 17.21 fast-break points per game. Arizona has outscored all 14 of its 2025-26 opponents in fast break points. In the eight games in which Karchenkov has multiple steals, Arizona is averaging 18.625 fast-break points.

The only outlier was against San Diego State. Karchenkov had two steals against San Diego State and Arizona was held to nine fast break points. Arizona had 19 fast break points against Alabama when Karchenkov had a season high five steals.

Karchenkov reading the passing lanes

Most of the steals by Karchenkov in the videos posted by Fraschilla and Kevin Thomas of PHX occurred when he read the passing lanes rather than stripping the ball away from the opponent. Karchenov has more interceptions than forced fumbles (steals).

As Thomas states, the 6'7 frame Karchenkov has provides Arizona with defensive versatility. Karchenkov arguably can guard point guards through power forwards. Karchenkov is comparable to former Arizona forward and current Miami Heat player Pelle Larsson.