It may be early with a small sample — just three games into the 2024-25 season — and anything can happen between now and March, but we might be watching what could be the makings of a stellar freshman class.
It might even be fair to say that the Class of 2024 of Mailien Rolf from Germany, Lauryn Swann and Katarina Kneževic from Serbia have been overlooked.
Swann has been called a late bloomer as she was injured at the time when most girls high school basketball players are starting to get ranked. She overcame all the obstacles and was ranked No. 81 in the class by ESPN HoopGurlz later in the cycle.
The Wildcats may also have been at a slight disadvantage given that the players from overseas aren’t evaluated by those who rank. However, the coaches know.
When Arizona coach Adia Barnes put together this class, she saw something in each one of them that made them not only stand out but made them a good fit for Arizona.
That’s exactly what we’re seeing glimpses of right now. Each one is learning at a fast pace, they are 100% bought into the Arizona system, work hard and it shows on the court.
Their teammates know that this trio will pour their hearts out on the court, just like they do.
Expect more of the same as Arizona (3-0) hosts UNLV (2-0) on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at McKale Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Joan Bonvicini and Cindy Brunson on the call. Derrick Palmer has the call on 1400-AM.
“I’m just excited about this whole class,” Barnes said.
When Barnes thinks of her freshmen, at times she likes to include to sophomore Wildcats who didn’t play at all last season — Montaya Dew, who had a torn ACL and was out the entire year (technically she is part of the Class of 2023) — or didn’t see much playing time — South Carolina transfer Sahnya Jah.
However, Rolf, Knezevic and Swann are true freshmen.
Before we take that leap ahead, it will take time for these players to develop.
Rolf, the 5-10 guard, may have deep experience in international play, however all three players are stepping up to this level of what Barnes called, “big girl basketball now, and it’s completely different. Everybody’s faster, everybody reads the game more,” together.
Rolf has gotten the most playing time, averaging 21.3 minutes, but Swann at 17 and Knezevic at 12.6 aren’t too far behind.
While Barnes admitted that “I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s hard to know with freshmen,” she is happy with how they are showing improvement game by game. And it doesn’t hurt with the nonconference schedule, plus the deep roster the Wildcats have this season that Barnes has “the luxury of giving them experience and time.”
Each one brings something that the Wildcats needed this season, which makes it easy to see that as long as they continue to work hard, they will earn their minutes this season.
When Barnes was recruiting Rolf, she saw the rebounding chops, “however, I didn’t expect her to be as good defensively as she was. I know she fights and plays hard, but she’s tenacious, she fights, she plays strong, she’s not afraid, she’s relentless. She’s always playing 110% and she’s learning so much.”
Isis Beh added that Rolf brings the intangibles that are important to this program.
“She’s probably one of our most consistent players,” Beh said. “This is what Adia says all the time — you’ll never know if she’s in a bad mood or good mood. She just comes in (like a) professional. She does her job, does what she needs to, goes hard every day, and so you always know what you’re going to get from her every day.”
Kneževic, a 6-foot forward, is defensive-minded and also gives the post group an extra strong body. She’s been working on her shot and against UCSD knocked down a pair of 3’s from the corner.
One area both Europeans need to work on is handling the ball and not doing those one-handed passes.
“I think a lot of stuff you can do in Europe, it’s harder to do here, because we’re a little bit more athletic,” Barnes said. “…Katarina gives us a lot of size. Once again, the turnovers and jumping in the air making passes. It doesn’t always have to be a dime. It could just be the easy pass. Showing them film, but they both want to be good. They both work. They both put the time, and they’re both great teammates.”
Swann, the 5-7 shooter, has shown what Barnes said is a “glimpse of greatness,” as one of the Wildcats’ best shooters.
“She just has to learn the pace of the game and defensively she can be a really good defensive player,” Barnes said. “If you watch she’ll have spurts of it, but it’s just sustaining that, being in shape to do that, and she’s getting there. But if you just watch her and practice, she’s a lights out phenomenal shooter, and she creates space and can score. … she has potential to be really special.”
Rim shots
With a short turnaround in games — playing Sunday at UC San Diego and hosting UNLV on Tuesday — UA didn’t have a regular day in between games on Monday. Typically, Barnes would have her players watch film and have a walk-through — putting in a few new sets and things to hone in on from the UNLV scout. However, Barnes said that because they are “young, we are not mentally ready to just have a walk through. We won’t be successful like that.”
“If I had a more veteran team, or, you know, a couple years ago, we would have done just a walk through (Monday), because we kind of know our system and we know our rotations, and we don’t have to do as much prep,” Barnes said, “Now, with where we’re at and what we’re doing, we’re going to do some fundamentals. We aren’t taking care of the ball well, just those kind of things, our timing on things. So it’s going to be a practice but it’s going to be short.”
