Arizona Wildcats 2009-2010 Preview: In Pursuit Of 26

Much of the success of this season hinges on the three freshman recruits. Hill and Natyazhko are top-100 four star recruits with a ton of upside. The talent is there. If they can learn Miller's system and accept Wise as their leader, this can be a very good team.

Key Bench Players

Kevin Parrom, Fr, 6'6", Forward

Brendon Lavender, So, 6'3", Guard

Alex Jacobson, So, 6'11", Center

Kevin Parrom will be the sixth man, likely coming in for Jamelle. Like the other freshman, the talent is there. We will see what he does with it. Alex Jacobson will be an important big off the bench. He needs to be more physical and make the most of his minutes. Look for Brendon Lavender to have an impact off the bench as an energetic defender. Though he didn't show it a lot last year, he has the ability to shoot the long ball.

Key Game on the Schedule

Dec. 6 @ Oklahoma.

Other than the Maui invitational, this will be the first game away from Tucson, and it comes against a solid basketball program. Arizona relied heavily on its non-conference wins last year. This would be a huge win and a good way to start the season for the Wildcats.

Projection

With the departure of Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, Alfred Aboya, and Jrue Holiday from UCLA, Jeff Pendergraph and James Harden from ASU, Tim Floyd, Taj Gibson, and De Mar De Rozan from USC, and Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon from Washington, the PAC-10 feels pretty wide open. This seems like a good year to be rebuilding. Arizona, of course, also lost some serious talent in Budinger and Hill, but they have a recruiting class to match any other in the Pac 10.

With Sean Miller's proven system, Nic Wise back at the helm, and three promising young recruits, I look for Arizona to be a top-three contender in the PAC 10.

A 26th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament is looking more and more probable every day.

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