Coaches vs. Cancer: Arizona's Youngsters Will Benefit from Early Season Exposure

The Arizona Wildcats lost their top two scorers from a 30-8 team last year. One of those players, No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Derrick Williams, was the Pac-10 Player of the Year and an All-American.

Trying to replace his toughness and production will be a huge task for this team.

Factor in the transfer of Lamont Jones and the team has to find a way to make up for about 30 points per game.

They have some of that returning in senior Kyle Fogg and junior Solomon Hill, but they combined for only half of those 30 points missing from last year.

That is where the Wildcats recruiting class comes in.

Four highly-touted freshmen will be counted on to make this year's Wildcats team the best in the Pac-12.

All four were ESPN Top 100 players a year ago and two of them, point guard Josiah Turner and shooting guard Nick Johnson, were 5-star recruits.

The other two, Angelo Chol and Sidiki Johnson, both 6'8", will be counted on to help replace Williams.

That will be a huge a task.

The team didn't get off to a great start this preseason, either. 

The Wildcats lost their opener to Division II Seattle-Pacific and played sloppy the rest of the way.

But that is to be expected when you're counting on four freshmen to make a major impact.

This team will only get better as the year goes on and it starts tonight in the 2K Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

They'll take on the Valparaiso Crusaders, a team very capable of pulling off the upset, at home in the McKale Center.

Look for coach Sean Miller to introduce his newest freshmen to the court early and often. The upperclassmen on the team know they'll be the driving force for them this year, and this early season exposure can only help their progress.

Don't expect them to be consistent tonight, but we should see them flash their talent of what could be a very dangerous team as the season rolls on.