Sean Miller built Arizona’s smaller, sleeker roster with another group of Wildcats in mind

Miller, Arizona vying to replicate Villanova's formula

After his team lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller had plenty of time to watch the rest of the tourney unfold. The approach of one squad in particular caught his attention.

Another group of Wildcats, the ones from Villanova, cruised to the national championship. They were a high-scoring, perimeter-oriented bunch, led by multidimensional guards and wings.

“When you get to the NCAA Tournament, having more shot-makers, more ball-handlers, more players that at the end of the clock can get their own shot, that’s something that wins out,” Miller said this week. “It’s something that Villanova thrived with in the last several NCAA Tournaments. Building a roster toward that is something we want to move toward.”

The construction of Arizona’s 2018-19 roster suggests these Wildcats are heading in that direction. Of the 11 recruited scholarship players on the roster, only one, 6-foot-10-inch Duke transfer Chase Jeter, is listed as a center — and he’s a forward/center. Three players are listed as forwards. The rest are guards, including 6-7 sophomore Emmanuel Akot, who could see time at power forward.

Miller acknowledged that Arizona’s front-court depth isn’t quite what it has been in recent years, but that’s at least partially by design. Miller said the decision to build a more guard-oriented team actually began last fall “if you looked at who we were recruiting, (what) that class was heading toward being.”

Building the 2018-19 Wildcats

The 2018 class at one time consisted of two point guards, Jahvon Quinerly and Brandon Williams, and a 6-9 stretch-4 in Shareef O’Neal.

Williams is the only one of those three who’s coming to Tucson. The rest of the five-man class features two guards and two forwards. Of that group, only 6-9 Pitt transfer Ryan Luther qualifies as a “big.”

Arizona had a unique advantage last season in that it could deploy a pair of 7-footers. Deandre Ayton and Dusan Ristic helped the Wildcats to a plus-7.4 rebounding margin — best in the Pac-12 and 11th best in the nation.

But playing two bigs also limited Arizona’s ability to spread the floor and created difficult defensive matchups for Ayton, who often had to guard or switch onto smaller, quicker players. The sport itself, at all levels, is trending toward space over size.

“That’s what you do as a coach. You take inventory of how the game’s changing,” Miller said. “What are the things you can do better that you can control? Then you try to take advantage and make those changes.”

Villanova is already there. Jay Wright’s ranked team fourth in the nation with 11.4 made 3-pointers per game. Arizona tied for eighth in the Pac-12 with 6.8. The UA hasn’t ranked higher than that in the league since 2013.

In that NCAA Tournament loss to Buffalo, Arizona made only 2 of 18 3-point attempts. The Bulls made 15 of 30.

For the season, Ayton and Ristic accounted for 45.3 percent of the scoring among Arizona’s primary starters. Villanova’s starting forwards, Omari Spellman and Eric Paschall, accounted for 31.5 percent — and that figure would have been even lower if 6-5 sixth man Donte DiVincenzo, Villanova’s third-leading scorer, were factored into the equation.

Ayton and Ristic combined to make 18 3-pointers. Spellman and Paschall combined for 101.

Don’t expect Miller to suddenly morph into Mike D’Antoni or Steve Kerr. The challenge, Miller said, is to tweak the offense without losing the identity of the program.

“It’s that balancing act of recognizing what you do well, not panicking, and recognizing some things that you can do better that you can implement,” Miller said. “That’s what we try to do here every day.”

Defense always will be a priority under Miller. And even though it isn’t sexy, rebounding has been “the thing we’ve done best over the nine years that I’ve been here,” he said. “It wins a lot of games.”

Getting to know them

Miller gave walk-on Jake Desjardins a scholarship last week, meaning the UA has just one roster spot available. The coach isn’t sure whether the Wildcats will fill it. But even if they do, it would be with a transfer who wouldn’t be eligible this season, Miller said.

So Miller knows who his players will be in 2018-19. Now it’s a matter of really getting to know them.

Coaches can work with players for up to four hours per week over the summer. Miller considers that period critical in building relationships, and it’s especially important for Arizona because the bulk of its recruiting class was pieced together in the spring. Only Williams had what could be labeled a long-term relationship with Miller and the university.

“A lot of the recruitments that we had this spring happened quickly,” Miller said. “So this summer, for both the players and us, it’s a chance for us to become familiar with each other — for them to learn who we are, learn the terminology, the way we do things.

“By the time we get toward the end of August, it’ll feel like we’ve been together for a long time.”

As is always the case, UA fans are intrigued by the newcomers. But Miller expects the returning players to “impact what we do the most — leadership, culture and certainly production.”

Miller said it was “hard to judge” last year’s freshmen — other than Ayton — because the 2017-18 team was “so top heavy.” Akot, Alex Barcello, Ira Lee and Brandon Randolph combined for eight starts. None averaged more than 11.6 minutes per game. 

Their roles will change radically this season with Arizona having lost its entire starting lineup.

“I really believe, in each case, that they have an opportunity to take a big step forward,” Miller said of the returnees, who also include redshirt junior guard Dylan Smith. “That’s happened here way more than we talk about.

“Oftentimes … it’s those that have already been here that add to their game, that become better from their freshman to their sophomore year. We have quite a few candidates to be able to do that.

“It was tough to crack that group (last season). That doesn’t mean that those guys can’t come on, become all-conference players, leave Arizona and become professionals. Each of them has talent.”

Counting on Jeter

One player on the roster bridges the two groups.

Jeter has been part of the program for about a year. But the next time he dons a UA uniform in a game will be the first.

Jeter had to sit out last season after transferring from Duke. Miller envisions him as a centerpiece of the 2018-19 Wildcats.

“We’re counting on big things from him, both on the court and as a leader,” Miller said. “You can make the case that he might be as important as anybody on this upcoming team.”

Jeter was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. He appeared in 48 games with the Blue Devils, mostly as a reserve, averaging 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds.

Miller believes a season’s worth of practices against Ayton and Ristic will make Jeter a better player.

“He’s worked hard to add to his body,” Miller said. “He’s hungry to have a big role, which he’s gonna have, and he’s hungry to play again.

“I love the way he defends. His team-centered attitude will be one of the cornerstones to our success this year.”