Kerr Kriisa is excitable, emotional and entertaining. Arizona needs him more than ever.

Kerr Kriisa insists he chose his major because he simply had to pick something, being a junior who was halfway on his road to graduation at Arizona.

But, c’mon.

Social Behavior and Human Understanding?

Could there be a more fitting major for the Wildcats’ point guard/leader/instigator/lightning rod from Estonia? The guy who can hit a 3-pointer to shut up an opposing crowd, or toy with them verbally just to tweak them off? The guy who might blow a kiss to McKale Center fans, or mock somebody’s school hand signal, as he did last season when the Wildcats outlasted TCU in a second-round NCAA Tournament game?

The guy whose headband has become so much a signature that the McKale Center crowd erupted in delight when a young girl handed him one at midcourt so he could wear it in the Red-Blue Game a month ago?

He’s social. And human.

That’s for sure.

“I’m a pretty social person, but I wouldn’t say that I chose the major because of that,” Kriisa said.

Maybe the major chose him. Lithuanian teammate Azuolas Tubelis saw Kriisa’s personality developing for years, having played with and against his Baltic brother in national junior team events and in the Lithuanian developmental club league that both played in.

Tubelis says Kriisa is a “crazy guy” now and, well, kind of was before, too.

“Not the headband, but he always had this energy on the court, so it was really hard to play against him,” Tubelis said. “His team on the court was always energetic, and every time he makes a play, he celebrates. So that’s like a positive thing. It’s really good to have that kind of player on the team because it brings a lot.”

This season, the Wildcats likely will need Kriisa’s energy and leadership more than ever. Arizona lost three starters — Bennedict Mathurin, Dalen Terry and Christian Koloko — to the NBA Draft, leaving only Kriisa and Tubelis as returning starters.

And Tubelis, the big man known as “’Zu,” is nearly the opposite of Kriisa in outward temperament.

Friendly, and quiet. Little outward emotion. No nonsense, all the way around.

“We’re trying to get ’Zu to smile a bit more but he is who he is,” Kriisa says, smiling.

After playing for the Estonian national team in World Cup qualifiers and EuroBasket games late last summer, Kriisa said it hit him how much the Wildcats will need him to lead. Grad transfers Courtney Ramey and Cedric Henderson are older in age but, but no Wildcats have more experience in the program than Tubelis and Kriisa.

“It feels different, just that you’re kind of one of the oldest guys, for sure,” Kriisa said. “I was sitting in the locker room and I was like, ‘Damn. I used to be like Filip (Borovicanin, the UA freshman wing from Serbia) or the younger kids.’ I just feel like I’m getting old.”

But that’s not a bad thing. Kriisa found that out by learning from Estonian teammate Sten Sokk, a 33-year-old point guard who worked with Kriisa on and off the court.

“He always complained how old he was and the younger guys made fun of him,” Kriisa said. “But he was like, ‘No, I’m old.’ … He was a mentor for us.”

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Kriisa is not old. At 21, he might be on the older side for college basketball, but not old. Just old enough to mentor, to lead and to have some fun.

Exactly the kind of player that UA coach Tommy Lloyd embraces.

There’s never been any doubt about that. After taking over for fired coach Sean Miller before last season, Lloyd allowed Kriisa to wear a headband for the first time in his UA career and then, even while occasionally critiquing a Kriisa shot or play, has firmly supported all those other things Kriisa brings the Wildcats.

“I love him. I love him,” Lloyd says. “He’s easy to coach. He’s a fiery personality and he brings it every day. He listens when you coach him. I love it. I think it’s a good thing if your players want to win. He wants to win, and he’s not afraid.”

Sometimes, though, that lack of fear can put Kriisa in a bunch of trouble. Like with NBA all-star Luka Doncic, who found himself facing the chattering Estonian in a FIBA World Cup qualifying game last August ... then led Slovenia to a 104-83 win.

“Estonia was leading late in the first quarter, 23-18, until Kerr Kriisa started talking trash to Doncic,” Basketball News reported. “Soon after, Doncic led Slovenia on a 17-0 run, giving them a 35-23 lead.”

Among other things, Kriisa reportedly waved his finger at Doncic when the Slovenian star tried to argue a foul call and according to Basketnews.com, Kriisa said afterward that “it was pretty easy to get into his head.”

When asked about that interaction with Doncic earlier this month, Kriisa shrugged and smiled a bit.

“He probably thought I’m nobody, which for a lot of people I am, but I don’t really care,” Kriisa said. “But that’s just classic media, too. If it would have been anybody else that I would have said something (to), nobody would have given a damn. So let’s stay here with two feet on the ground and let’s not make a huge deal out of it.”

Truth is, Kriisa does say and do a lot of different things to a lot of different people. That’s the only way he knows how to play.

“Whatever jersey I put on, it means that I’m 120% for it,” Kriisa said. “At the time (last summer), I was playing for Estonia, so it means that 120% for my country of Estonia. Now I’m back here. I bleed blue and white and red. I’m a die-hard fan, and I love the place where I’m at. So I’m just showing it out.”

He’s also trying to survive. Kriisa put on 10 pounds of muscle over the summer to total 190 pounds. But he’s still only 6 feet 3 inches, not a guy who would stand out at the supermarket unless, maybe, he was wearing his headband.

“I mean, if I would walk on the street, you wouldn’t tell me I’m a basketball player,” Kriisa said “I’m a regular person. My wingspan, whatever, is (that of a) regular person. My height is pretty regular. Everything’s regular. So I gotta prove it every time I step on a court.”

Plus, Kriisa said he’s having fun. If he didn’t, he said basketball would feel too much like work, “and I wouldn’t want to do that for a long time.”

So call him out, talk back, or just shut up and try to outplay him, whether you’re a Pac-12 point guard or an NBA all-star. Kriisa is there for it.

“It’s normal that you’re not loved by everybody and you’re hated by a lot of people,” Kriisa said. “And the higher level you get to, the bigger the everything gets.”

That means, if Kriisa helps lift the Wildcats to a second straight Pac-12 title and a deep NCAA Tournament run this season — pointing, laughing and chattering along the way — all of college basketball will be paying attention. Like it or not.