The 2020–21 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

during the

2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020, and concluded on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 18 and concluded on April 5. Season ...

. The team was led by 12th-year head coach

Sean Miller Sean Edward Miller (born November 17, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who currently serves as head coach at the Texas Longhorns men's basketball, University of Texas at Austin. He previously served as head coach at the Arizona Wil ...

, in his final season at the program, and played their home games at

McKale Center McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena in the southwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. As the home of the university's Wildcats basketball team of the Big 12 Conference, it is primari ...

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

as members of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

. The Wildcats finished the season 17–9, 11–9 in Pac–12 play to finish in fifth place. The school self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2020–21 season amid an ongoing NCAA investigation over an FBI bribery scandal involving a former assistant coach and agent between 2017 and 2018 hoping to avoid further punishment from the NCAA. The ban included both the Pac–12 Tournament and the NCAA tournament. On April 7, 2021, the school fired head coach Sean Miller due to allegations related to the corruption scandal.

Previous season

The

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

finished the 2019–20 season 20–11, 10–8 in Pac-12 play to finish in tie for 5th place. They received the 5-seed in the 2020 Pac-12 tournament, where they defeated

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in the first round and were set to take on

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

in the quarterfinals before the remainder of the Pac-12 Tournament was cancelled amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Offseason

2020 recruiting class

Dalen Terry, originally from Phoenix,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, was the first commit of the 2020 recruiting class. He verbally committed to Arizona on July 23, 2019 over rival

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Terry a consensus four-star prospect out of Hillcrest Prep in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. Bennedict Mathurin, originally from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

was the second commitment of the 2020 recruiting class. He verbally committed to Arizona on January 15, 2020 over Baylor &

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. Mathurin a consensus four-star prospect out of the NBA Academy Latin America.

Kerr Kriisa Kerr Kriisa (born 2 January 2001) is an Estonian college basketball player for the Cincinnati Bearcats. He previously played for the Arizona Wildcats, the West Virginia Mountaineers, and the Kentucky Wildcats. Listed at and , he plays the point ...

, originally from

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, was the third commitment of the 2020 recruiting class. He verbally committed to Arizona on April 18, 2020 over BYU,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. Kriisa a consensus four-star prospect out of

BC Prienai BC Prienai () was a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Prienai. They played domestically in the Lithuanian Basketball League every year since winning the promotion in 2009. During the 2008–09 season, then called Rūdupis, they be ...

Prienai Prienai () is a city in Lithuania situated on the Nemunas River, south of Kaunas. In 2023, the city had 8,894 inhabitants. The name of the city is a derivative from the surname ''Prienas''. Pociūnai Airport is associated with the city. Histor ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Daniel Batcho, originally from Chatenay-Malabry,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, was the fourth commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on April 23, 2020, over Arizona State, Creighton,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. He is a consensus four-star prospect out of

Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball (), shortly CFBB, is a French basketball club, based in Paris. The club's squads are filled with players from the training institute INSEP. The first team of the club currently plays in the Nationale Masculine 1, th ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Tibet Gorener, originally from

Şişli Şişli () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 10 km2, and its population is 276,528 (2022). Located on the European side of the city, it is bordered by Beşiktaş ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, was the fifth commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on April 28, 2020, over

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, Creighton,

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. He is consensus four-star out of Orange Lutheran HS in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District ...

Ąžuolas Tubelis Ąžuolas Tubelis (born 22 March 2002) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Rytas Vilnius of the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). He played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats men's basketball, A ...

, originally from

, was the sixth commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on May 27, 2020. He is currently a four-star prospect out of Rytas Vilnius in Lithuania. Tautvilas Tubelis, originally from

, was the seventh commitment in the Arizona class. He committed to Arizona on May 27, 2020. He is currently an unranked prospect out of Rytas Vilnius in Lithuania.

2021 recruiting class

Shane Nowell, originally from

Sammamish, WA Sammamish ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 67,455 at the 2020 census. Located on a plateau, the city is bordered by Lake Sammamish to the west and the Snoqualmie Valley to the east. Sammamish is situa ...

, was the third commit of the 2021 recruiting class. He verbally committed to Arizona on October 31, 2020 over rival

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Nowell was a consensus four-star prospect out of Eastside Catholic in Sammamish, WA.

2022 recruiting class

Coaching changes

On April 3, 2020, Assistant coach Justin Gainey accepted the Associate Head coach position at Marquette. On May 27, 2020, former Arizona great & NBA veteran

Jason Terry Jason Eugene Terry (born September 15, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 19 seasons in the NBA as a combo guar ...

was announced as an assistant coach on Miller's staff.

Personnel

Roster

*Freshman forward Daniel Batcho had surgery on his right knee in late October and is out indefinitely. A timeline for his return to the court for the 2020-21 season will be reevaluated in late January. *Freshman guard Kerr Kriisa has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA until Feb. 4. *Jan. 11, 2021 - Jemarl Baker Jr. out for remainder of the season.

Coaching staff

Depth chart

Schedule and results

The Wildcats opponents are still being finalized in the summer and dates and times will be finalized in the fall. Arizona will host opponents

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the ...

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

Cal State Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Ba ...

, Cal Baptist &

Tucson, AZ Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson metropolitan s ...

. Arizona was forced to cancel the 2020

NIT Season Tip-Off The NIT Season Tip-Off (National Invitation Tournament) is an annual college basketball tournament that takes place in November of each year, toward the beginning of the season. The first two rounds are held at campus sites, while the semifinals a ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

with

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

& St. John's because of the

, as well as the Wildcats two true road against

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The Pac-12 announced it would add two Pac-12 regular season games from the previous 18-game schedule, adding

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. The Pac-12 announced on August 11, 2020 that all fall sporting events would be canceled due to the

. , - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , -

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

Player statistics

Awards & milestones

Season highs

Players

*Points: Jermal Baker Jr. – 33 (Northern Arizona) *Rebounds: Jordan Brown, Ąžuolas Tubelis (twice) – 15 (Grambling, USC, Washington) *Assists: James Akinjo (twice), Terrell Brown Jr. – 9 (Oregon State, Stanford) *Steals: Akinjo – 5 (Oregon State) *Blocks: Terrell Brown Jr., Christian Koloko (twice) – 4 (Northern Arizona, Cal State Bakersfield, Washington State) *Minutes: Akinjo – 44 (Washington State)

Team

*Points: 98 (Oregon State) *Field Goals: 35 (Oregon State) *Field Goal Attempts: 75 (Washington State) *3 Point Field Goals Made: 13 (Northern Arizona) *3 Point Field Goals Attempts: 28 (twice) (Cal State Bakersfield, Washington) *Free Throws Made: 32 (ASU) *Free Throws Attempts: 43 (ASU) *Rebounds: 58 (Washington) *Assists: 21(three) (Cal State Bakersfield, Northern Arizona, Oregon State) *Steals: 10 (ASU) *Blocked Shots: 10 (Northern Arizona) *Turnovers: 18 (Stanford) *Fouls: 29 (Washington State)

Weekly awards

* Jermal Baker Jr. (Dec. 14) * Bennedict Mathurin (Jan. 4) * Ąžuolas Tubelis (Feb. 22) * Ąžuolas Tubelis (Mar. 1)

Pac-12 Conference honors

James Akinjo *All—Pac-12 First Team Jordan Brown *Pac-12 6th Man of the Year Bennedict Mathurin *All―Pac-12 Freshman First Team Ąžuolas Tubelis *All―Pac-12 Freshman First Team *All―Pac-12 Honorable Mention

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team 2020-21 2020–21 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball season 2020 in sports in Arizona 2021 in sports in Arizona