The 2026–27 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team will represent the University of Arizona during the 2026–27 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team will be led by Tommy Lloyd in his sixth season as head coach. The season will mark the Wildcats' 53rd season at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona, and their third season as members of the Big 12 Conference.
Previous season
The Wildcats finished the 2025–26 season with 36–3, 16–2 in Big 12 Conference play, finishing winning their first Big 12 regular season title and 30th regular season conference title in school history. They are also the first Arizona team to have 29 regular season wins and received the number 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament and defeated the number 2 seed Houston in the finals 79–74, winning their first Big 12 tournament title. The Wildcats were invited to their 36th NCAA tournament appearance, receiving the number 1 seed in the West Regional, where they defeated 16-seed Long Island and 9-seed Utah State in San Diego, California, Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen. They advanced to the fifth Final Four for the first time since 25 years in 2001 with a 79–64 victory over second-seeded Purdue at San Jose, California in the Elite Eight, but they lost to number 1 seed (Midwest) Michigan. The 36 wins was the most for any team in Arizona Wildcat basketball history.
Offseason
Departures Any players who have declared for the 2026 NBA draft—including seniors, who must opt into this year's draft—have the option to return if they make a timely withdrawal from the draft and end any pre-draft relationships with agents. Thus, separate lists will initially be maintained for confirmed and potential departures.
Arizona Wildcats departuresNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownReason Jaden Bradley 0 PG 6'3" 200 lb Sr. Rochester, NY Drafted 2nd round Anthony Dell'Orso 3 SG 6'6" 190 lb Sr. Melbourne, Australia Out of eligibility Jackson Francois 7 SG 6'5" 160 lb Sr. Las Vegas, NV Out of eligibility Tobe Awaka 30 PF 6'8" 250 lb Sr. Hyde Park, NY Out of eligibility Sven Djopmo 42 G 6'2" 190 lb Jr. Reims, France Elected to Transfer Koa Peat 10 F 6'7" 235 lb So. Chandler, AZ Declared for the 2026 NBA draft Brayden Burries 5 G 6'4" 185 lb So. San Bernardino, CA Declared for the 2026 NBA draft Dwayne Aristode 2 F 6'7" 210 lb So. Lelystad, Netherlands Transferred to Oregon Sidi Gueye 15 C 6'11" 205 lb So. Guédiawaye, Senegal Transferred to Santa ClaraReference:
Acquisitions Transfers Arizona Wildcats TransfersNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownReason RJ Godfrey 0 F 6'7" 225 Gr. Suwanee, Georgia Transferred from Clemson Derek Dixon 3 G 6'5" 200 So. Vienna, VA Transferred from North Carolina JJ Mandaquit 23 G 6'1" 175 So. Hilo, HI Transferred from Washington Ugnius Jarusevicius 21 F 6'11" 245 Gr. Alytus, Lithuania Transferred from Nebraska Evan Otten 30 F 6'11" 220 RS-Jr. Redmond, OR Transferred from Idaho State
Recruiting classes 2026 recruiting class
2026 overall class rankings ESPN 13 NR 1 1 3 On3 Recruits 19 4 1 2 3 247 Sports 29 6 1 1 3
Red and Blue game
Preseason The Big 12 preseason coaches & media poll will be released in October 2026. All awards will be voted on by the league's 16 head coaches, who can not vote for their own team or players.
Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll Big 12 CoachesPoints 1. Arizona 2.Arizona State 3.Baylor 4.BYU 5.Cincinnati 6.Colorado 7.Houston 8.Iowa State 9.Kansas 10.Kansas State 11.TCU 12.Texas Tech 13.Oklahoma State 14.UCF 15.Utah 16.West VirginiaReference: (#) first-place votes
Big 12 Preseason Media Poll Big 12 CoachesPoints 1. Arizona 2.Arizona State 3.Baylor 4.BYU 5.Cincinnati 6.Colorado 7.Houston 8.Iowa State 9.Kansas 10.Kansas State 11.TCU 12.Texas Tech 13.Oklahoma State 14.UCF 15.Utah 16.West VirginiaReference:
Award watch lists Listed in the order that they were released
Personnel
Roster Roster below is based on the 2026–27 roster with outgoing players removed and incoming players added. The roster will undergo multiple changes.
Source:
Note: Players' year is based on remaining eligibility.
Red and Blue game Arizona played its annual Red Blue game on September 26, 2026. The team split into two teams, Red and Blue and proceeded to play an inter-squad scrimmage. The night featured a basketball game with Arizona's Adaptive Athletics wheelchair basketball team, in–game entertainment featuring DJ Pauly D and DJ Mix Master Mike and a post–game performance by Diplo.
The three point contest featured players from both the Men's and Women's team: with Derek Dixon and Caleb Holt competing for the Men's team and Sumayah Sugapong and Priyanka Ponnam competing for the Women's. In the first round Sugapong defeated Ponnam 13–9, while Dixon defeated Holt 14–13. In the finals Sugapong defeated Dixon, 18–16, making her final moneyball shot from the corner. The dunk contest featured three freshman: Cameron Holmes, Maksim Brnović and Ugnius Jaruševičius. There was six judges giving scores 1–10, with the top two finishers advancing to the finals. Holmes and Brnović were the two players competing in the finals, with Holmes receiving 10's from all six judges, thus winning the 2026–27 Arizona dunk contest.
The Arizona Men's basketball team was then split into two squads to compete in an intersquad scrimmage. The Red team was coached by assistant coaches Brandon Chappell and Evan Nelson with the team having: Endurance Aiyamenkhue, Addison Arnold, Maksim Brnović, Montiejus Krivas, Bryce James, Ivan Kharchenkov, JJ Mandaquit and Mabil Mawut. Thee Blue team was coached by assistant coaches TJ Benson and Jack Murphy: RJ Godfrey, Cameron Holmes, Caleb Holt, Derek Dixon, Jackson Cook, Ugnius Jaruševičius, Joaquin Rigdon and Evan Otten. The Red team won the twenty minute scrimmage, 42–32, with Kharchenkov leading all scorers with 13 points and 4 assists. Krivas lead both teams in rebounds with 5.
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=| Lithuania Exhibition Tour (2–1)
!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""| Non-conference regular season
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Game summaries This section will be filled in as the season progresses.
Source:
Lithuania Exhibition Tour Lithuania B Team
Ukraine Senior National Team
Lithuania Senior National Team
Exhibition San Francisco
San Diego State
Eastern Washington
Regular season vs UCLA (Hall of Fame Series – Las Vegas)
Cal Poly
Northern Arizona
at Auburn
UConn
vs Colorado State (Maui Invitational – 1st round)
Providence/VCU (Maui Invitational – Semifinal/Consolation 2nd Round)
BYU/Clemson/Ole Miss/Washington (Maui Invitational – Championship/3rd/5th/7th Place Game)
New Orleans
vs St. John's (Hall of Fame Series – New York)
Tennessee Tech
vs Arkansas (Hall of Fame Series – Phoenix)
Northern Illinois
Incarnate Word
Big 12 season at Iowa State
UCF
at Kansas State
BYU
Arizona State
at Texas Tech
Utah
at West Virginia
at Cincinnati
Houston
TCU
at Arizona State
at Oklahoma State
Kansas
at BYU
Baylor
Colorado
at Houston
Postseason vs TBD (Big 12 Tournament)
Rankings
References