Arizona basketball season preview 2024-25: Biggest games, key players to watch, predictions and more

Arizona enters the 2024-25 college basketball season as a new member of the Big 12. The Wildcats are no longer a Pac-12 team, and they venture to a new journey in the much more competitive Big 12, which features perennial powers Kansas, Houston, Baylor and Iowa State.

Coach Tommy Lloyd brings an experienced backcourt to the Big 12 and hopes that his patched-up frontcourt will hold up and emerge as one of the top teams in the 2024-25 season.

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Arizona's biggest games in the 2024-25 season

Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils are part of Arizona's non-conference schedule this coming season (Image Source: IMAGN)

Arizona will have a heavy non-conference schedule with Wisconsin, Duke and UCLA testing the Wildcats' strength in the 2024-25 men's basketball season.

The team will also take part in the Battle 4 Atlantis mini-tournament that features Davidson, Gonzaga, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma, Providence and West Virginia. Arizona played in the 2017 edition and was winless in three games.

The Wildcats are set to have a difficult 20-game regular season slate in the Big 12, with Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Iowa State and Texas Tech battling them in a home and away format.

	Arizona's 2024-25 Big 12 regular season schedule
Home and Away	Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Iowa State, Texas Tech
Home only	UCF, Colorado, Houston, TCU, Utah
Away only	Cincinnati, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia

They will then meet UCF, Colorado, Houston, TCU and Utah at home and visit Cincinnati, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

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Key Arizona players to watch out for in the 2024-25 season

Jaden Bradley hopes to provide backcourt help for Arizona (Image Source: IMAGN)

Arizona lost vital pieces in its 2023-24 season with seven-footer Oumar Ballo and guard Kylan Boswell transferring to Indiana and Illinois, respectively. Pelle Larsson, a 6-foot-6 guard out of Sweden, declared himself for the NBA draft.

The Tommy Lloyd-coached squad will still have last season's top scorer, Caleb Love, and Jaden Bradley leading the team for the coming season. Love averaged 18.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in his first year with Arizona, while Bradley put up 7.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per contest in 36 games last year.

The departures of Larsson and Ballo have allowed the Wildcats to pick up Tobe Awaka, Anthony Dell'Orso and Trey Townsend from the transfer portal. Awaka was an excellent rebounding forward in Tennessee, tallying 4.2 boards a game to go along with 4.2 points in 69 games with the Volunteers.

Dell'Orso had a breakout sophomore season with Campbell, averaging 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. Townsend also had a banner year in Oakland, putting up 17.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 3.1 apg and 1.3 spg in 36 games.

Arizona had two freshmen on its roster: forward Carter Bryant and Emmanuel Stephen. Bryant is a 6-foot-8 power forward out of Centennial High School and is one of the most sought-after forwards in the class. He is rated as the 27th-best player nationally and the fifth-best power forward.

Stephen, on the other hand, is a 7-foot slot man who is ranked seventh in Arizona and No. 19 in the center spot, according to 247Sports.

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Arizona's predictions for the 2024-25 season

Arizona hopes to bring its Pac-12 winning tradition to the Big 12, but the school will have stiff challenges coming from Houston, Iowa State, Baylor and Kansas. The Wildcats can contend for the top spot in the regular season, with Caleb Love, Jaden Bradley, Trey Townsend and Anthony Dell'Orso leading the charge.

Carter Bryant is a highly-rated prospect at the four spot, and he hopes that his energy and skills will help Arizona win the Big 12. A 27-win season for the Wildcats would be great, especially in a tough and wild conference. Arizona would make the NCAA Tournament and are capable of figuring in the Elite Eight if it plays consistently this season.