Arizona Basketball: 2022-23 season preview and outlook for Wildcats
By Joey Loose
Projected Starters
Guard – Kerr Kriisa (Junior)
One of last season’s breakout stars for the Wildcats, Kriisa returns for another season leading the point for the Wildcats. He averaged 9.7 points and 4.7 assists per game last season, while battling an ankle injury to play in the NCAA Tournament. He’s an important piece for Arizona, and when he’s on his game he’s one of the best pieces in the conferences; they’ll need him to keep improving his best.
Guard – Courtney Ramey (Senior)
After four seasons at Texas, Ramey will spend his final year of eligibility in Arizona’s backcourt, playing a major role for this team. He’s averaged right around 10 points a game for his career, with decent assist numbers in all but last season. His long-range shooting has been solid and he gives the Wildcats a second reliable scorer and ball handler leading this offense.
Guard – Pelle Larsson (Junior)
Last year’s Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year, Larsson is a guard from Sweden who many think could breakout even further this season. He had decent numbers as a freshman at Utah before those efforts as sixth man on last year’s Sweet Sixteen squad. Larsson is versatile and rates as a great defender; we’ll just have to see how those scoring numbers look after averaging just 7.2 points a game last year.
Forward – Azuolas Tubelis (Junior)
The other returning starter from last season, Tubelis blossomed into a major factor for the Wildcats, earning First Team All-Pac-12 honors. He averaged 13.9 points and 6.2 rebounds a game last season and has tremendous size at 6’11. The Wildcats are hoping for even more prowess from him this season.
Center – Oumar Ballo (Junior)
Ballo came over from Gonzaga along with Lloyd and was one of the Wildcat’s primary frontcourt reserves last season. A 7’0 center from Mali, he averaged 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds while playing reserve minutes, meaning he could be in for a big step forward as the new starting center. Ballo is a force down low who can protect the rim and score close to the basket.