When Kerr Kriisa left the Arizona Wildcats in the spring of 2023, there was no reason to believe he would ever be back at McKale Center.
Especially three years after he finished his junior season.
But in the transfer/NIL/COVID era of college basketball, almost anything seems possible, so it will be that Kriisa will likely appear at McKale Center next season … while playing for Cincinnati, his fourth college in six seasons.
Because the outspoken Estonian guard left UA for West Virginia in 2023 and Arizona agreed to join the Big 12 later that year, it actually appeared he might be returning to McKale with the Mountaineers this season. But Kriisa left for Kentucky before Arizona formally moved into the Big 12 last fall, and West Virginia wasn’t scheduled to appear at McKale Center anyway this season.
But Cincinnati will be next season. The Bearcats only played Arizona in Cincinnati in 2024-25, so will be assigned to play at McKale in 2025-26.
Brian Thornton, the Big 12’s VP for men’s basketball, said during the conference tournament last month that the league wanted to make sure no teams missed hosting another two years in a row “so we have competitive balance.”
Kerr Kriisa played for both Sean Miller and Tommy Lloyd with the Wildcats before transferring to West Virginia, Kentucky and Cincinnati.
Meanwhile, Kriisa will be on hand because he has a sixth year of college eligibility remaining, thanks to the extra year he received for playing during the COVID season of 2020-21 and because he broke his foot in December after playing in nine games this season, leaving him eligible for a medical redshirt.
“I’m pretty sure it’s my last year of eligibility (for real this time),” Kriisa posted to Instagram. “Excited to be a Bearcat!!”
Kriisa’s post prodded former UA teammate Pelle Larsson to note “cats cats cats,” since Kriisa is actually a three-time “Cat” considering his stops at UA, Kentucky and now Cincinnati. Meanwhile, UA equipment manager Brian Brigger, a native of Cincinnati, expressed joking concern.
“I don’t know about this!” Brigger posted. “He better respect my city haha.”
Even though he’ll be a 25-year-old super senior midway through next season, Kriisa has actually only played the equivalent of three seasons because of suspensions in 2020-21 and 2023-24 and the foot injury this season.
Kriisa arrived at Arizona from Estonia in 2020 and sat out most of the 2020-21 season with the Wildcats because of an NCAA suspension over a contract he had signed with a Lithuanian club.
Then-UA coach Sean Miller played Kriisa in eight games toward the end of that season, starting him for five, and Kriisa became a full-time starter for Tommy Lloyd’s first two Arizona teams, in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Kriisa was suspended again for the first nine games in 2023-24, this time for taking impermissible benefits while at Arizona, then averaged 11.0 points and 4.7 assists the rest of that season for West Virginia.
This season, Kriisa averaged 4.4 points and 3.8 assists while coming off the bench in eight of nine games for Kentucky before his injury.
Lewis joins Hoyas
Former Arizona guard KJ Lewis could become a replacement for his high school coach’s son at Georgetown next season, after committing to the Hoyas out of the transfer portal.
Arizona guard KJ Lewis (5) gives his teammates a thumbs up as he heads out to defend late in the second half against Oregon in Seattle on March 23.
The Hoyas are losing guard Micah Peavy, whose father, David, coached Lewis at Duncanville (Texas) High School as a senior in 2022-23.
After playing mostly off the bench for the Wildcats last season, Lewis entered the transfer portal less than two days after the Wildcats’ season ended in a Sweet 16 loss to Duke on March 27.
Lewis already tested the NBA Draft last spring, after he averaged 6.1 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 46.6% and becoming one of the Wildcats’ top defenders as a freshman.
He was invited last spring to the G League Elite Camp, a second-tier pre-draft camp held before the NBA Combine, but turned down the invitation and returned to Arizona for his sophomore season in 2024-25.
Lewis finished with the third-most playing time among the Wildcats this season, 25.8 average minutes, while averaging 10.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists as a sophomore.
UA listed at 33-1 to win ‘26 title
Arizona is listed as 33-1 shot to win the 2026 NCAA title, according to futures odds posted by Betonline.ag.
Duke is favored at 10-1, followed by Houston at 12-1 while Louisville and Purdue are both listed at 14-1 and BYU is 16-1.
