Wildcats add three nonconference opponents, are 'team to beat' for former UConn commit James Akinjo
Star beat writer Bruce Pascoe updates the state of the Arizona basketball team, including schedule additions, recruiting targets and way-too-early rankings.
Wildcats closer to filling schedule, await Maui Invitational assignment
Updated
The UA will host a mid-or-low-major opponent assigned by the Maui Invitational, similar to when the Cats hosted UMBC last season.
Arizona still isn’t sure who will be playing in them, but the Wildcats have filled all but four games for next season’s schedule.
The Wildcats, who still have seven open roster spots, have added one-time home games against Cal Poly (Nov. 11), Montana (Dec. 19) and UC Davis (Dec. 22) to a 2018-19 schedule that already included a home game against Baylor on Dec. 15, road games at UConn (Dec. 2) and Alabama (Dec. 9), plus an appearance in the Maui Invitational from Nov. 19-21.
Ryan Reynolds, who handles scheduling as UA’s director of basketball operations, said the final four games will likely be all at home, and probably as one-time games, since the Wildcats are already traveling three times in November and December.
One of the four final home games will be a mid-or-low-major opponent assigned by the Maui Invitational, so that UA can have four games in total as part of that event. Multi-team events such as the Maui Invitational can include up to four games that count as three games toward the NCAA scheduling maximum.
Similarly, UA hosted UMBC early last season as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis, which holds a three-day bracket in the Bahamas. UMBC, which went on to become the first-ever No. 16 seed to win an NCAA Tournament game when it beat Virginia, played Arizona closely before the Wildcats broke loose late for a 103-76 win.
Reynolds said UA would probably also host two exhibition games, including one on Nov. 4 against Division II Chaminade.
The Pac-12 weekend pairings won’t be released until later this spring, and the dates for Pac-12 games won’t be announced until late summer. The Pac-12 schedule “skips” will be the opposite of last season: UA won’t make the trip to Washington and WSU and won’t host UCLA or USC.
UA may lead for Akinjo
Updated
James Akinjo
Rivals analyst Corey Evans wrote that Arizona “looks to be the team to beat” for former UConn commit James Akinjo.
“The Wildcats only have six scholarship players returning to next year’s squad, and the idea of 25-plus minutes per game as a freshman could be very enticing to Akinjo,” Evans wrote.
Evans said has also reached out to Old Dominion grad transfer Trey Porter, a forward who averaged 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds last season.
Akinjo, a four-star out of Salesian High School in Richmond, California, is the 17th-ranked point guard in the Class of 2018 by 247Sports.
Cats shut out of way-too-early polls
Updated
Not only did the Wildcats fall out of the final USA Today coaches Top 25 poll this week, but they aren’t expected to get back in before next season, either.
None of the early Top 25 projections released this week by USA Today, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, CBS and FanRag included Arizona. All of them included Pac-12 rival Oregon.
“With Arizona set for a precipitous drop-off, the Pac-12 may run through Eugene in 2018–19,” Sports Illustrated wrote.
Oregon was rated 15 by FanRag, 11 by USA Today, 14 by Sports Illustrated and 19 by CBS. USA Today did not rank any other Pac-12 teams, while Sports Illustrated had UCLA at 19 and CBS had the Bruins at 20. FanRag had Washington at No. 20.
Catalina Foothills star to join Stanford
Updated
Catalina Foothills' Sam Beskind (24) will join Stanford in 2018-19.
After one of the most productive seasons in Tucson high school basketball history, Catalina Foothills High School guard Sam Beskind has found a new home. He will join Stanford as a walk-on next season.
“It has always been my goal to play Division 1 basketball and get the best education possible,” Beskind said on Twitter. “With that being said, I am incredibly honored and excited to say that I will be continuing my education and basketball career at Stanford University!! Go Cardinal.”
Beskind averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds for Catalina Foothills last season. He scored a total of 1,383 points in his career.
Rim shots
Updated- Maine grad transfer guard Aaron Calixte has cut Arizona from a list that, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, now has five schools: Oklahoma, Grand Canyon, DePaul, Florida State and Missouri.
- UCLA’s Kris Wilkes announced he is declaring for the NBA but keeping open the option to return to the Bruins. UCLA guard Jaylen Hands is doing the same.
