2019–20 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team explained

Conference Link:Pac-12 Conference men's basketball
Mode:Basketball
Year:2019–20
Prev Year:2018–19
Next Year:2020–21
Team:Arizona Wildcats
Conference:Pac-12 Conference
Short Conf:Pac-12
Record:21–11
Conf Record:10–8
Hc Year:11th
Asst Coach2:Danny Peters
Asst Coach3:Justin Gainey
Champion:Wooden Legacy champions

The 2019–20 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by 11th-year head coach Sean Miller and played their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 21–11, 10–8 in Pac-12 play to finish in tie for fifth place. They received the No. 5 seed in the 2019 Pac-12 tournament, where they defeated Washington in the first round and were set to take on USC in the quarterfinals before the remainder of the Pac-12 Tournament was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2018–19 season 17–15, 8–10 in Pac-12 play to finish in three-way tie for 6th place. They received the 9-seed in the 2019 Pac-12 tournament, where they lost to 8-seed USC in the first round, 65–78.

Offseason

Departures
NamePositionYearHometownReason
Ryan LutherFGraduate StudentGibsonia, PACompleted athletic eligibility
Justin ColemanGGraduate StudentBirmingham, ALCompleted athletic eligibility
Alex BarcelloGJuniorElected to transfer to BYU.[1]
Emmanuel AkotFSophomoreWinnipeg, MBQuit team in January. Later elected to transfer to Boise State.[2] [3]
Brandon RandolphGSophomoreEntered 2019 NBA draft.[4]
Reference:
Incoming transfers
NamePositionYearHometownPrevious schoolRemaining eligibilityNotes
Stone Gettings F Graduate Student 1 Graduated from Cornell in December 2018, redshirted the remainder of the season at Arizona. Will play for the entire 2019–20 season.[5]
Max Hazzard G Graduate Student 1 Graduate from UC Irvine. Max is eligible to play immediately as a graduate.[6]
Jemarl Baker G Redshirt Sophomore 2 Transfer from Kentucky.[7] Jemarl has been granted a waiver by the NCAA and will be eligible to play for the Arizona Wildcats in 2019-20 instead sitting out a year.[8]
F Sophomore 3 Transfer from Nevada. He will redshirt the 2019–20 season under NCAA transfer rules and have three years of eligibility at the start of the 2020–21 season.[9]
Reference:

2019 recruiting class

Nico Mannion, originally from Siena, Italy, was originally a part of the 2020 recruiting class, but reclassified to the 2019 class in July 2018. He verbally committed to Arizona on September 14, 2018, over Marquette. Mannion is a consensus five-star prospect out of Pinnacle HS in Phoenix, Arizona.

Christian Koloko, originally from Douala, Cameroon, was the second commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on September 23, 2018, over California, Creighton, and Vanderbilt. He is a consensus four-star prospect out of Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California.

Josh Green, originally from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia was the third commitment in the Arizona's 2019 recruiting class. He verbally committed to Arizona on October 4, 2018, over Kansas, North Carolina, Villanova, USC and UNLV. Green is a consensus five-star prospect out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

Zeke Nnaji, originally from Lakeville, MN was the fifth commitment in the Arizona's 2019 recruiting class. He verbally committed to Arizona on November 23, 2018, over UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas and Purdue. Nnaji is a consensus four-star prospect out of Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

2020 recruiting class

Dalen Terry, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, was the first commit of the 2020 recruiting class. He verbally committed to Arizona on July 23, 2019, over rival Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Memphis, USC and Utah. Terry a consensus four-star prospect out of Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bennedict Mathurin, originally from Montreal, Canada was the second commitment of the 2020 recruiting class. He verbally committed to Arizona on January 15, 2020, over Baylor & Washington State. Mathurin was a consensus four-star prospect out of the NBA Academy Latin America.

Kerr Kriisa, originally from Tartu, Estonia, was the third commitment of the 2020 recruiting class. He verbally committed to Arizona on April 18, 2020, over BYU, Oregon & Syracuse. Kriisa a consensus four-star prospect out of BC Prienai in Prienai, Lithuania.

Daniel Batcho, originally from Chatenay-Malabry, France, was the fourth commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on April 23, 2020, over Arizona State, Creighton, Miami & Virginia Tech. He is a consensus four-star prospect out of Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball in Paris, France.

Tibet Gorener, originally from Şişli, Turkey, was the fifth commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on April 28, 2020, over Nebraska, Creighton, UC Santa Barbara & UConn. He is consensus four-star out of Orange Lutheran HS in Orange, California.

Ąžuolas Tubelis, originally from Lithuania, was the sixth commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on May 27, 2020. He is currently a four-star prospect out of Rytas Vilnius in Lithuania.

Tautvilas Tubelis, originally from Lithuania, was the seventh commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on May 27, 2020. He is currently an unranked prospect out of Rytas Vilnius in Lithuania.

Coaching changes

In June 2019, Northern Arizona head coach Jack Murphy resigned to take the position of associate head coach on Miller's staff.[10]

Personnel

Roster

Coaching staff

Name Position Year at Arizona Alma Mater (year)
Sean MillerHead coach 11th Pittsburgh (1992)
Associate head coach 1st Arizona (2005)
Danny Peters Assistant coach 2nd Ohio State (2010)
Justin Gainey Assistant coach 2nd NC State (2000)
Ryan Reynolds Director of Basketball Operations 11th Xavier (2007)
Austin Carroll Assistant director of Basketball Operations 4th American (2014)

Depth chart

Preseason

Red and Blue game

The annual Red-Blue game was held at McKale Center on September 27, 2019.Sophomore Devonaire Doutrive won the slam dunk contest,[18] and the Blue team, led by Devonaire Doutrive, defeated the Red team, 46–32.[19]

Preseason rankings

The Arizona Wildcats were selected fourth in the 2019–20 Pac-12 media poll.[20] The Wildcats were ranked 21 in the AP Top 25 and ranked 17 in the Coaches polls.

Preseason awards watchlists

Preseason All Pac-12 teams

The Wildcats had 2 players at 2 positions selected to the preseason all Pac-12 teams.

First team

Second team

Schedule and results

The Wildcats opponents were finalized in the summer and dates and times will be finalized in the fall. Arizona will host opponents Chico State (exhibition game), Gonzaga, Illinois, Long Beach State, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Omaha, San Jose State, and South Dakota State at McKale Center in Tucson, AZ. Arizona will participate in the 2019 Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, CA with six of the following potential opponents including (College of Charleston, Pepperdine, Penn, Providence, UCF, or Wake Forest). The Wildcats will also play in a neutral-site game against St. John's at the new Chase Center in San Francisco, CA in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Game. Arizona played only one true road game against Baylor at Ferrell Center in Waco, TX.

In the unbalanced 18-game Pac-12 schedule, Arizona did not play the two Rocky Mountain schools on the road (Colorado and Utah) or the two Northern California schools at home (California and Stanford).

|-!colspan=12 style=| Exhibition|-!colspan=12 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| Pac-12 regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| Pac-12 Tournament[21]

Rankings

See also: 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings. *AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

Player statistics

Individual player statistics (Final)
MinutesScoringTotal FGs3-point FGsFree-ThrowsRebounds
PlayerGPGSTotAvgPtsAvgFGFGAPct3FG3FAPctFTFTAPctOffDefTotAvgAPFTO StlBlk
style=white-space:nowrap Chase Jeter211635216.81436.8539257.6%000.0%376160.7%2665914.314501669
style=white-space:nowrap Christian Koloko 2602098.0522.0234946.9%010.0%61735.3%2338612.35273922
style=white-space:nowrap Dylan Smith303078326.12438.17921836.2%4913835.5%365170.6%1379922.64068462216
style=white-space:nowrap Ira Lee30240413.51053.5448253.7%000.0%173056.7%2968973.22953241511
style=white-space:nowrap Jemarl Baker Jr.30058319.41755.86116437.2%349639.7%192382.6%1160712.4695221215
style=white-space:nowrap Josh Green282885830.633211.911527142.4%349639.7%769976.8%35931284.67369414412
style=white-space:nowrap Kory Jones5081.600.0010.0%000.0%000.0%0000.000000
style=white-space:nowrap Matt Weyand6091.561.02450.0%2450.0%000.0%0000.002200
style=white-space:nowrap Max Hazzard28041314.81495.35011842.4%348938.2%151883.3%737441.6264318151
style=white-space:nowrap Nico Mannion303095531.842214.113735039.1%5015232.9%9812181.0%869772.61625376330
style=white-space:nowrap Stone Gettings 251551220.51676.76513050.0%153938.5%223268.8%2946754.0236228157
style=white-space:nowrap Zeke Nnaji 303091230.449216.417229757.9%51729.4%14318876.1%891672568.52470632128
Jordan Mains2021.000.0000.0%000.0%000.0%0110.002000
Total30230576.8807179045.1%21661635.1%47564873.3%324803112737.5462553347202112
Opponents30195165.0661168339.3%20263731.7%42759172.3%280731101133.734557243213592
Legend
  GP Games played  GS Games started Avg Average per game
  FG Field-goals made FGA Field-goal attempts  Off Offensive rebounds
 Def Defensive rebounds  A Assists  TOTurnovers
 Blk  Stl Steals High Team high

Awards & milestones

Weekly awards

Zeke Nnaji

Nico Mannion

Chase Jeter

Dylan Smith

Pac-12 Conference honors

Stone Gettings

Zeke Nnaji

Nico Mannion

See also

2019–20 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pascoe. Bruce. Alex Barcello says he's leaving Arizona Wildcats. Tucson.com. Tucson.com . 24 June 2019.
  2. Web site: Daniels . Evan . Source: Emmanuel Akot to transfer from Arizona . 247Sports.com . CBS Interactive inc. . 14 January 2019.
  3. Web site: Presnell . Kelly . Source: Akot finds a home. Tucson.com . Tucson.com . 7 February 2019.
  4. Web site: Arizona’s Brandon Randolph to remain in NBA Draft.
  5. Web site: Spears. Justin. Cornell transfer Stone Gettings to play for Arizona in 2019-20 . Tucson.com . 16 July 2018.
  6. Web site: Spears. Justin. Arizona Wildcats land UC Irvine guard Max Hazzard as graduate transfer. Tucson.com . Tucson.com . 23 April 2019.
  7. Web site: Pascoe. Bruce. Kentucky transfer Jemarl Baker commits to Arizona Wildcats. Tucson.com . Tucson.com . 14 May 2019.
  8. Web site: Pascoe. Bruce. NCAA: Arizona guard Jemarl Baker can play immediately this season. Tucson.com . Tucson.com . October 31, 2019.
  9. Web site: Daniels. Evan. Nevada transfer Jordan Brown commits to Arizona. 247sports.com . 247sports.com . 7 June 2019.
  10. Web site: Jack Murphy resigns, Shane Burcar tabbed as interim head coach at Northern Arizona. coachesdatabase.com. Coaches Database. June 3, 2019. November 5, 2019.
  11. Web site: Pascoe . Bruce . Arizona Wildcats guard Brandon Williams will miss 2019-20 season with knee issue . Tucson.com . 14 August 2019.
  12. Web site: Devonaire Doutrive’s status is unclear.
  13. Web site: Arizona basketball dismisses guard Devonaire Doutrive . azdesertswarm. November 22, 2019.
  14. Web site: Pascoe . Bruce . Stone Gettings, Nico Mannion banged up in Arizona Wildcats' win over Penn . Tucson.com.
  15. Web site: Presnell . Kelly . Arizona Wildcats' Stone Gettings returning to full health, will play vs ASU. Tucson.com.
  16. Web site: Arizona Adds Walk-On Jordan Mains To Roster.
  17. Web site: Pascoe . Bruce . Arizona Wildcats center Chase Jeter won't play vs. Utah . Tucson,com . Arizona Daily Star . 20 January 2020.
  18. Web site: Doutrive Wins Dunk Contest, Leads Blue to 46-32 Win. 27 September 2019. 27 September 2019.
  19. Web site: Box Score. 27 September 2019. 27 September 2019.
  20. Web site: Oregon edges Colorado as 2019-20 Pac-12 Men's Basketball favorite . Pac-12.com . 8 October 2019.
  21. Web site: Pascoe . Bruce . Arizona Wildcats add NMSU, South Dakota State and others to 2019-20 hoops schedule . Tucson.com . Arizona Daily Star . 23 March 2019.