11 | ARIZONA
TRANSFER OF POWER
While sitting out last season after transferring from Boston College, Ryan Anderson overhauled his jump shot and cut his body fat to 5.8% from 18.5%. "My reputation was that I'm soft," says the 6'9", 235-pound forward, who averaged 14.3 points in 2013--14. "I had a year to focus on [changing] that." Anderson will look a lot different, much like the Wildcats, who lost four players to the NBA over the past two seasons and have six new faces this year. Because no one on the roster projects as a first-round pick in 2016, Anderson shapes up as a go-to scorer on a balanced team. He'll showcase a more conventional jumper—he essentially shot with one hand at BC—to bolster his crafty mid-range game, and his added strength will help Arizona in the low post.
Four seniors will start, including Anderson, but all are inexperienced in their roles. Kaleb Tarczewski (9.3 points, 5.2 rebounds per game), a muscular 7-foot, 250-pound center, goes from defensive stopper to scoring threat. San Francisco graduate transfer Mark Tollefsen (14.0 points at USF), a 6'9" stretch forward, will see if his 38.0% three-point shooting translates from the WCC. Gabe York (9.2 points) goes from supersub to starting sniper. As coach Sean Miller puts it, "Everyone has a new seat on the bus."
PROJECTED TEAM STATS
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY 114.4 (17th)
DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY 94.1 (23rd)
PAC-12 RECORD 13--5 (1st)
X-FACTOR
Coach Sean Miller sees sophomore Parker Jackson-Cartwright—who averaged just 9.6 minutes last season—as a "consummate pass-first" point guard with even more athleticism than departed star T.J. McConnell.
STAT SHEET
With 2015--16 projections for the top six scorers
Coach Sean Miller (7th season)
[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
PPG | RPG | APG | OFF. RATING | USAGE | ||
SG | Gabe York* 6'3" Sr. | 12.3 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 120.7 | 18.8% |
PF | Ryan Anderson* 6'9" Sr. | 11.9 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 108.3 | 24.4% |
C | Kaleb Tarczewski* 7'0" Sr. | 11.6 | 6.8 | 0.6 | 117.1 | 19.6% |
PG | P. Jackson-Cartwright* 5'11" Soph. | 9.8 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 112.7 | 20.9% |
SG | Allonzo Trier 6'6" Fr. | 8.5 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 107.0 | 22.0% |
SF | Mark Tollefsen 6'9" Sr. | 8.1 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 108.9 | 19.3% |
*Starter
TOURNAMENT TRACKER
[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]
TITLE GAME
FINAL FOUR
ELITE EIGHT
SWEET 16
ROUND OF 32
ROUND OF 64
'11--12
'12--13
'13--14
'14--15
'15--16
PHOTO
EMILY GAUCI/ARIZONA ATHLETICS (ANDERSON)
PHOTO
ROBERT BECK FOR SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (JACKSON-CARTWRIGHT)
CHART