Among the guidelines behind the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s positional “watch lists” is that players can play their way on to or off them at any time.
So after Jaden Bradley led Arizona to a school-record 22-0 start, it wasn’t a surprise to see what happened Monday: The UA senior guard was moved onto the 10-player midseason watch list for the Naismith's Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award by a voting panel of college basketball staffers and media.
That’s the same group that left him off its 20-player preseason watch list, prompting criticism from Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd and possibly providing extra motivation for Bradley’s efficient leadership and clutch performances so far this season.
“The Hall of Fame is awesome, but how in the world do they not have Jaden Bradley, one of the top 20 point guards in the country?” Lloyd said after Bradley had 27 points and five assists in Arizona’s season-opening win over Florida on Nov. 3. “You guys know, I don’t mess with these lists that much, but JB and I talk about it a little.”
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) collides with and Arizona State guard Bryce Ford (4) driving into the lane in the first half of their Big 12 game, Jan. 31, 2026, in Tempe.
If Bradley felt as heated as his coach, it was well below the surface. He said after the Florida game that “you definitely want to be in that conversation,” but also shrugged it off to some extent.
“It’s no biggie that I’m not on the list,” he added. “I just want to see my teammates win and be successful and achieve their dreams.”
So far, Bradley has helped them do just that while also putting himself on that list.
He’ll have plenty of chances to prove himself worthy of making the list of finalists in March. Three other point guards on the list are scheduled to face Arizona over the next month: Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson, Houston’s Kingston Flemings and Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey.
Bradley already had 13 points and seven assists against another watch list guard, Alabama’s Labaron Philon, on Dec. 13 in Birmingham. Philon had 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Bradley had 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists during a game in which the Wildcats turned a 41-39 halftime deficit into a 21-point win.
Others named to the Cousy midseason list included Arkansas’ Darius Acuff, Iowa’s Bennett Stirz, Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears, Purdue’s Braden Smith and Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner.
Because he’s on a balanced team where six players are averaging 9.5 points or more, Bradley’s stats may appear somewhat modest at first glance: He’s averaging 13.9 points, 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds.
But Bradley is shooting 50.5% from the field and 44.4% from 3-point range while analytics-based Evanmiya.com rates him the 32nd most efficient player in college basketball.
Bradley also has notably accelerated offensively when needed: Among other performances, he had clutch drives to the basket in close wins over UConn and UCLA early in the season, then dropped 23 points at UCF and helped the Wildcats escape BYU with a three-point win on Jan. 26 by scoring 26 points and hitting all four free throws he took in the final 95 seconds.
“It all comes down to how he reads and reacts to the game and what he feels where he can find his advantages,” Lloyd said last week. “Jaden’s obviously kind of an old school, true point guard.
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) manages to slip his lay-up past the Arizona State defense in the second half of their Big 12 game, Jan. 31, 2026, in Tempe.
“I know his No. 1 priority is always to the team. His next priority is setting his teammates up and taking care of them. And then I think thirdly, if he feels like he's got to be more aggressive looking for his scoring opportunities, he does.”
Small(er) ball
With Bradley, center Motiejus Krivas and forward/center Tobe Awaka all having picked up two fouls in the first half Saturday at ASU, Lloyd opted to experiment with his lineup in the final two minutes before halftime.
He went with a smaller group that included Brayden Burries, Dwayne Aristode and Anthony Dell’Orso on the perimeter, and Koa Peat and Ivan Kharchenkov inside.
“We have started to spend some time on other lineups based on game situations, and obviously, a lot of times these are dictated by fouls,” Lloyd said. “A lot of times at the end of the half, you're trying to protect players so you have extra fouls in the second half.”
It was somewhat reminiscent of how Lloyd sometimes deployed Pelle Larsson, a wing with similar skills as Kharchenkov, at the power forward spot during Lloyd's first three seasons at Arizona.
“I think Ivan’s starting to find his way in that lineup because he kind of brings a different element to that four position,” Lloyd said. “He obviously has more guard skills.
“So it's exciting stuff but we like our meat and potatoes. We're not going to shy away from that. The extras we're going to work on them because they're important.”
Support for Delly
While Dell’Orso drove in for a layup that gave UA a brief 38-35 lead while playing in that late first-half lineup, he was 0-for-2 from beyond the arc against both ASU and BYU last week.
That put Dell'Orso at 18.5% from 3-point range in Big 12 games, and he's made just two of his last 15 3s, both of which came at McKale Center against West Virginia on Jan. 24.
“We just gotta keep hanging with it and help Delly,” Lloyd said. “Delly will find his way out of this. Like I said, we're going to get the best of Delly when it's needed. I know Delly wants to do it now, and I'd love to have it now, but I'm committed to making sure he gets through this.”
Arizona guard Anthony Dell'Orso (3) drives past Arizona State guard Noah Meeusen during the first half Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Tempe.
It’s all desert, right?
In the intro to TNT’s broadcast of Saturday’s UA-ASU game in Tempe, scenic video of the Catalina Mountains was shown as a commentator noted “Here in the Valley, it’s been a season of frustration” for the Sun Devils.
Another mountainside view of Tucson was featured entering the second half, when TNT noted that there were temperatures of “70-plus degrees in the Valley.”
