2009-2010 Arizona Predictions
2008-09 Record: (21-14, 9-9 Pac-10)
Coach: Sean Miller (1st year)
Assistants: Archie Miller, Emanuel Richardson, James Whitford
Ret. Starters/Lost: 3/2

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Overview: There’s another new coach at Arizona, but this one is permanent. Sean Miller takes over after coaching five years at Xavier (102-47). Miller helped convince Nic Wise (5-10, 177), one of the top guards in the Pac-10, to stay for more year. That elevates the Wildcats to an elite Pac-10 team. Wise averaged 15.7ppg and 4.6rpg last year. However, the Wildcats still have some huge players to replace in Chase Buddinger (18ppg, 6.2rpg) and Jordan Hill (18.3ppg, 11rpg). Kyle Fogg (6.1ppg) is back at shooting guard after a solid freshman season as a defender. Arizona needs to replace Buddinger at the wing spot. Freshman Soloman Hill (6-6, 195), Kevin Parrom (6-6, 200) are capable young players. They could also go with freshman Lamont Jones (5-11, 190), another small guard who can score. Up front, freshman center Kyryl Natyazhko (6-10, 250) has a lot of tools, but big men tend to start out slow. The key will be Jamelle Horne (6-6, 209) who averaged 6.8ppg and 5.1rpg last season as a sophomore and has to take the next step this year. Freshman Derrick Williams (6-7, 210) is another talented forward, who was supposed to go to USC before Tim Floyd resigned.

Outlook: You can never count Arizona out and with Wise leading the way, this will be a very competitive team. They just need to get the most out of their young players.

This PAC 10 conference prediction is courtesy of the ATS Sports Blog. If you are looking for winning college basketball betting picks be sure to choose ATS Consultants this year, A featured sports handicapping service on Touthouse.com