The 2017-18 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team will represent the University of Arizona during the 2017-18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team is led by ninth-year head coach Sean Miller, and will play their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members in the Pac-12 Conference.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Previous season
Arizona has been ranked in 78-consecutive AP polls & 81-straight coaches polls. The 97-consecutive weeks in the AP poll is currently the second-longest streak in the nation behind Kansas at 161 weeks. They have been ranked every week in the 2016-2017 season, bringing those totals to 97 weeks for the AP & 100 weeks for the coaches poll. Arizona won its first 10 conference games, the best start since the '97-'98 season when they started 16-0. They finished the season with at record of 32-5, tied at 16-2 with Oregon in Pac-12 play for first place to win their fifteen Pac-12 regular season championship title. During the season, Arizona was invited and participated in the Armed Forces Classic in Honolulu. Arizona defeated Michigan State. Arizona also defeated Texas A&M in the Lone Star Shootout in Houston. Arizona also defeated Sacred Heart, Northern Colorado and Santa Clara but lost to Butler in the championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational in Paradise, NV. In the postseason as a 2-seed, Arizona defeated 7-seed Colorado in the quarterfinals, 3-seed UCLA in the semifinals and 1-seed Oregon (avenged from 85-58 loss on February 4 in Eugene, OR) in the championship game of the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament in Paradise, NV. Arizona won their sixth Pac-12 Tournament championship title since 2002. The Wildcats were invited and participated in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, will received as an automatic bid to the 5th straight in the row (32nd NCAA tournament appearances) as an 2-seed in the West regional, where they defeated 15-seed North Dakota 100-82 in the first round and 7-seed Saint Mary's 69-60 in the second round in Salt Lake City, UT but lost to 11-seed Xavier 71-73 in San Jose, CA in the Sweet Sixteen.
Offseason
Departures
Incoming transfers
Recruiting class
- Ayton was the nation's consensus No. 2 overall player
2017 recruiting class
Tempe, Arizona product Alex Barcello was the first commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on August 26 at a press conference at his high school. He chose Arizona over Butler, Indiana, Stanford and Virginia. He was a consensus four star prospect, and was ranked the consensus No. 93 overall player by the four main recruiting services.
DeAndre Ayton, a Bahamian attending school in Phoenix, was the second commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on September 6 live on ESPN. He chose Arizona for an upset over Kansas and Kentucky. He was a consensus five star prospect, and was ranked the consensus No. 2 overall player by the four main recruiting services.
Brandon Randolph, originally from Yonkers, New York, was the third commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on October 12. He chose Arizona over Syracuse, Oregon and Wake Forest. He was a consensus top fifty player, ranked No. 42 by the four main recruiting services.
Ira Lee, from Los Angeles, was the fourth commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on October 20. He chose Arizona over California and Oregon. He was a consensus top-25 player and ranked as a four-star player by the four main recruiting services Rivals, ESPN, Scout, and 24/7 Sports.
Emmanuel Akot from Winnipeg, CA, was the first commitment in the 2018 Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on March 9 at a press conference at his high school. He chose Arizona over Louisville, Oregon and Utah. He was a consensus five star prospect, and was ranked the consensus No. 21 overall player by the four main recruiting services. But he reclassified from 2018 class to 2017 class.
School Offers by Recruit
ESPN 100
- Alex Barcello: Arizona, Butler, Indiana, Stanford and Virginia
- Brandon Randolph: Arizona Syracuse, Oregon and Wake Forest
- Ira Lee: Arizona, California and Oregon
- DeAndre Ayton: Arizona, Kansas and Kentucky
- Emmanuel Akot: Arizona, Louisville, Oregon and Utah
2018 recruiting class
Shareef O'Neal, son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, from Santa Monica, CA was the first commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on April 19. He chose Arizona over Baylor, California, Georgetown, Kansas State, LSU, UCLA and USC. He was a consensus five star prospect, and was ranked the consensus No. 19 overall player by the four main recruiting services.
Brandon Williams, originally from Panorama City, CA was the second commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on June 6. He chose Arizona over Gonzaga, Kansas, UCLA and USC. He was a consensus top twenty player, ranked No. 20 by the four main recruiting services.
Personnel
Roster
- Roster is subject to change as/if players transfer or leave the program for other reasons.
Depth chart
Coaching staff
Preseason
Roster
On March 30, 2017, Lauri Markkanen announced that he was leaving the program to enter the 2017 NBA Draft, and would forgo his remaining eligibility. On April 5, 2017, Kobi Simmons, in a release to the fanbase, stated that he intended to enter the NBA draft and sign with an agent, thus ending his remaining eligibility with the program. On May 5, 2017, Chance Comanche, stated that he intended to sign with an agent, thus ending his remaining eligibility with the program. On May 22, 2017, Rawle Alkins, who entered the 2017 NBA draft without hiring an agent, announced that he would return to Arizona to play in 2017-18 season.
Summer Exhibition Tour
Practices began earlier than otherwise allowed by the NCAA in preparation for a three-game foreign tour to Spain in August. (NCAA rules allow teams to conduct 10 practices in preparation for a foreign tour.) NCAA rules allow for foreign tours once every four years and the Spain tour was Arizona's first since 2012. It was the eighth in program history.
Events
On June 8, Arizona released the non-conference schedule is highlighted by marquee match-ups at McKale Center and across the country. Arizona will also host Alabama, Cal State Bakersfield, Connecticut, Long Beach State, North Dakota State, Northern Arizona and UMBC in Tucson, AZ. Arizona will travel to Phoenix to play Texas A&M at Talking Stick Resort Arena in the annual Lone Star Shootout, to Nassau, Bahamas to play three of the following teams: (NC State, Northern Iowa, Purdue, SMU, Tennessee, Villanova or Western Kentucky) in the Battle 4 Atlantis at Imperial Arena, to Alburquerque to play against New Mexico, and finally face UNLV in Paradise, NV.
The 2018 Pac-12 Tournament will begin March 7 in Las Vegas and conclude on March 10. Selection Sunday occurs the following day.
In the unbalanced 18-game Pac-12 schedule, Arizona will not play the Washington teams (Washington/Washington State) at home and Los Angeles teams (UCLA/USC) on the road. Times and networks will be announced at a later date and the conference schedule will be announced in the fall.
Red and Blue game
The annual Red-Blue game will take place at McKale Center on October 20, 2017.
Accolades and rankings
Off-season rankings
Schedule and results
November
December
January
February
March
Pac-12 Tournament
Schedule
Game summaries
Ranking movement
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
Player statistics
Awards and Honors
Preseason Award Watchlists
Midseason Awards
Season Awards
Weekly Awards
All-American team
- Allonzo Trier
- NBC Sports Preseason First Team All-American (2017)
- DeAndre Ayton
- NBC Sports Preseason All-American Honorable Mention (2017)
All-Pac-12 team
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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