The University of Arizona men’s basketball team returns for a new season and is ready to host its annual Red-Blue showcase on Friday, Oct. 3, in McKale Center, presented by First Watch. The Wildcats will be presenting a first look of new and returning faces of the 2025-2026 roster.
After coming off its first year in the Big 12 conference and landing second place in the Big 12 Championships, excitement is felt through McKale as the season dawns closer to us. Fans can expect to be entertained by a 3-point shooting contest followed by a dunk contest, with the night ending off with a scrimmage between the red and blue teams.
Although it’ll be the first time fans get to see the new roster for the season, some familiar faces will be returning, these players include Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka, Anthony Dell’Orso, Jackson Francois, Addison Arnold and Jackson Cook.
With notable departures of former Wildcat guard Caleb Love and Carter Bryant, the team will have to find a way to fill these gaps in the roster. Love was 2024 Pac-12 Player of the Year and went undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft, where he signed a two-way contract with the Portland Trailblazers. 6-foot-8 Bryant spent one season with the Wildcats before declaring for the draft where he was selected No. 14 overall in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs.
Other departures include players like Henri Veesaar who entered the transfer portal, committing to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The transfers did not stop there as KJ Lewis committed to Georgetown University and Conrad Martinez signed with High Point University.
Though the team has seen players step away, many new faces will have a chance to make their impact on the floor. With commitments from athletes like Bryce James, three-time Gatorade Player of the Year, Koa Peat, five-star combo guard Brayden Burries and a five-star wing in Dwayne Aristode, the anticipation is felt all over campus for what these Wildcats will accomplish.
Along with those players, Arizona will also see new faces like Evan Nelson, a fifth year and Tucson native, who transferred from Harvard University after playing four years on the men’s basketball team. Sven Djopmo is a red-shirt sophomore joining the roster after playing for Espoir U21 Nanterre 92 in France, his hometown. Other members of the freshmen class are ready to make their mark as players like Ivan Kharchenkov, Sidi Gueye and Mabil Mawut who are set to take the floor and rise to the challenge of a packed schedule.
Head coach Tommy Lloyd enters his fifth season at the helm. Lloyd led the team last season to a 24-13 overall record and 14-6 conference record. The Wildcats also made it to the Big 12 Championship, where they ultimately fell to the University of Houston.
Arizona will play its first exhibition match on Saturday, Oct. 18, as the Wildcats face Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in McKale Center.
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