No. 11 Arizona Wildcats: Projected Rotation & Season Outlook
After a few years of disappointment due to coming up short in some big games, everything seemed to come together last season for Arizona and coach Tommy Lloyd. They won the Big 12 regular season, Big 12 Championship and made it to the Final Four with an impressive 36-3 record. Ultimately the Wildcats came up short in the National Semifinals against Michigan, but that's hardly much to hold your head about given how unreal that Wolverine roster was.
Next season will have its challenges for coach Lloyd. Arizona will lose two talented freshmen in Brayden Burries (16.1 PPG) and Koa Peat (14.1 PPG), along with its senior leader in Jaden Bradley (13.3 PPG). They good news is that the Wildcats bring back two reliable frontcourt pieces in Motiejus Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov. Krivas really still has untapped potential going into his senior season with the Wildcats and could very well be in the Big 12 Player of the Year discussion when it's all said and done.
While I mentioned that Arizona lost two elite freshmen last season, they will add two more to the fold in Caleb Holt and Cameron Holmes. Holt is has everything you are looking for out of a guard. He has elite athleticism to get to the rim, but also the finesse to be able to make players on the perimeter for himself and his teammates. Holt is also perhaps the best perimeter defender in the class, which means a lot to Tommy Lloyd. Holmes could also be a potential Day 1 starter at small forward. He has a solid 6-6 frame and that can space the floor and get the rim with ease.
The real question is who will take over the starting point guard role. There will be good competition for that spot between Derek Dixon and JJ Mandaquit, both who were brought in via the transfer portal after one year at their respective schools. Dixon is probably the higher upside play. He started the final 16 games last season for North Carolina and averaged 8.5 points, 3.5 assists and shot over 40 percent from three-point range during that stretch. Mandaquit is your more traditional point guard with a little less scoring ability. Nevertheless, both should play a healthy chunk of minutes next season.
The ultimate ceiling for Arizona next season could be determined by how some of the players who redshirted last season like Ugnius Jarusevicius, Mabil Mawut and Bryce James are able to contribute. Endurance Aiyamenkhue is also an interesting piece as a 6-11 center who has been playing professionally in Germany. The Wildcats also added Clemson transfer RJ Godfrey whom they hope will be eligible in time for the season. Godfrey likely would assume the starting power forward role and push Kharchenkov back to his natural small forward spot.
Check out how injuries are affecting the status of other players & teams on RotoWire's college basketball injury report.
2026-27 Arizona Basketball Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Derek Dixon (6.5 PPG at North Carolina)
SG: Caleb Holt (No. 3 on SC Next 100)
SF: Ivan Kharchenkov (10.4 PPG)
PF: RJ Godfrey (12.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG at Clemson)
C: Motiejus Krivas (10.4 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.9 BPG)
Key Reserves: Cameron Holmes (No. 53 in SC Next 100), JJ Mandaquit (5.2 PPG at Washington), Ugnius Jarusevicius (Redshirt), Endurance Aiyamenkhue (International Freshman), Bryce James (Redshirt), Evan Otten (4.7 PPG at Idaho State), Mabil Mawut (Redshirt)
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