Wildcats picked to finish first in Pac-12 by hoops media

The Arizona Wildcats may have lost four starters from last year’s team, but that does not mean they enter this season with lower expectations.

According to the Pac-12’s hoops media, in fact, the team is not expected to take much of a step back.

In the preseason poll, released Thursday at Pac-12 men’s basketball media day, Sean Miller’s team was picked to win the conference for the third consecutive season. The Wildcats received 18 of a possible 36 first-place votes.

It’s the fourth consecutive season Arizona has been predicted to finish atop the conference and 15th time since 1989.

The Wildcats are coming off a 34-win season that saw them reach the NCAA Tournament’s Elite 8 for the second consecutive year. They will look significantly different this season, however, as Stanley Johnson, Brandon Ashley, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and T.J. McConnell all left for the NBA.

While there are certainly big holes and shoes to fill, Arizona may have the right players to do it. Key players returning from last year’s team are seniors Kaleb Tarczewski and Gabe York along with sophomores Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Dusan Ristic as well as junior Elliot Pitts.

The Wildcats are also welcoming one of the top recruiting classes in the country, one that’s led by five-star shooting guard Allonzo Trier and four-star wings Ray Smith and Justin Simon.

Along with the freshmen, the Wildcats will have forwards Mark Tollefsen and Ryan Anderson as well as guard Kadeem Allen. Tollefsen comes to Arizona from San Francisco, where he was a second-team All-WCC selection after averaging 14 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Anderson is a transfer from Boston College who had to sit out last season, but averaged 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game as a junior for the Golden Eagles. Allen, the 2014 Junior College Player of the Year, redshirted last season.

The Wildcats open their exhibition season Nov. 8 against Chico State, while their first game that counts will be on Nov. 13, in Tucson, against Pacific.

Pac-12 Preseason Basketball Media Poll

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