One thing we've heard over and over from fans about Sean Miller, especially in the past few years, is that maybe the Arizona coach would be better off without one-and-done players.
If so, then 2020-21 may begin a test of that theory.
While the Wildcats could still add a player to their 2020 recruiting class, they will not enter next season with an expected 2021 NBA Draft candidate.
(Of course they still could lose players early to the pros next spring, as guys sometimes now leave for the draft regardless of whether or not they will be drafted, and Arizona's European recruits will have the chance to return home and play professionally at any time.)
The Wildcats did try to pull in potential one-and-done players in 2020, as nearly every high-major program still does, however. And it is worth noting that Arizona's 2014 (Aaron Gordon) and 2015 (Stanley Johnson) Elite Eight teams each included one-and-dones, though they were not led by them.
ESPN released its final Top 100 for the class of 2020 on Thursday and, by all accounts, UA spent significant time pursuing six of the top 25 on that list (plus Jalen Green and Daishen Nix, who went pro anyway). The top 25 is often a pretty rough cut line for players who are considered one-and-dones.
Those players UA pursued included: Ziaire Williams (Stanford), Josh Christopher (ASU), Caleb Love (North Carolina), Nimari Burnett (Texas Tech), D.J. Steward (Duke) and Devin Askew (Kentucky).
The players Arizona wound up with in 2020 so far: Transfer guards James Akinjo (Georgetown) and Terrell Brown (Seattle U) plus five freshmen -- Phoenix guard Dalen Terry, Montreal wing Benn Mathurin, Estonian point guard Kerr Kriisa, Paris forward Daniel Batcho and Turkish wing Tibet Gorener.
Akinjo won't be able to play until December, barring NCAA waiver, while Brown will be immediately eligible once he finishes his undergraduate degree (which he is expected to next month).
Arizona announced the official addition of Gorener, meaning the Wildcats have received his letter-of-intent.
Welcome to #APlayersProgram, Tibet Gorener! 🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/zUFDpzbW6A
— Arizona Basketball (@APlayersProgram) April 30, 2020
All of Oregon's head coaches have agreed to take 10 percent pay cuts. Among Pac-12 schools, coaches at Washington State, Oregon State and Colorado have also agreed to take pay cuts or give back salary in donations.
The Oregon cuts are the most significant so far: All head coaches will take 10% pay cuts along with AD Rob Mullens, and all of them will also not be taking performance or academic bonuses in 2020-21.
At Colorado, football coach Karl Dorrell, men's basketball coach Tad Boyle and women's basketball coach JR Payne have agreed to 10% cuts while other CU coaches take 5% cuts.
At OSU, AD Scott Barnes, football coach Jonathan Smith and basketball coach Wayne Tinkle are giving back 7% of their salaries with other coaches giving "up to" 5% back.
At WSU, AD Pat Chun, football coach Nick Rolovich and men's basketball coach Kyle Smith are taking 5% cuts with all coaches giving up bonuses in 2020-21.
It's still unclear if Arizona coaches may also agree to a pay cut or donation at some point. The school told the Star in a statement last week that it was continuing to “work through the complex structures” of athletics contracts, which have no specific language allowing cuts for a pandemic or other force of nature.
Based on conversations he's had with NBA scouts, Jeff Goodman says it's time for Colorado's Tyler Bey to go but Tyrell Terry would be wise to return to Stanford and Chris Smith should definitely head back to UCLA.
Tucson's Bryce Cotton opted out of his Perth Wildcats contract, which was set to be cut in half because of COVID-19 concerns.
