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NCAA basketball essentials: Arizona Wildcats, Northern Arizona Lumberjacks season previews

Evan Desai, Arizona Republic
·4 min read

The 2023-24 college basketball season is approaching, and it's time to get up to speed with what's happening on the hardwood around the state.

With four Division I universities in Arizona, there's plenty to catch up on before all eight men's and women's squads lace 'em up. Keep reading for a breakdown of what the essentials to know about the University of Arizona's women's team as well as Northern Arizona University's men's and women's teams are.

University of Arizona Wildcats women's basketball

Returning starters: The Wildcats return just one starter from last season's NCAA Tournament squad, and that is Esmery Martinez. Martinez will be a fifth-year player, and she transferred to Arizona last season after making two All-Big 12 teams at West Virginia. In her first year with the Cats; she averaged 10.5 points per game, grabbed 8.6 rebounds per game, and picked up 1.6 steals per game.

Notable additions: The Wildcats picked up three five-star recruits in the 2023 recruiting class (per the 2023 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100): No. 8 overall recruit Montaya Dew (Forward), No. 14 Breya Cunningham (Forward) and No. 21 Jada Williams (Guard). Dew in particular boasts a 97 grade on ESPN's rankings (nobody in the country had higher than a 98), and Cunningham and Williams received 96 grades. In addition, the Wildcats picked up another espnW 100 recruit in four-star guard Skylar Jones, who ranks 96th in the country with a grade of 91.

Arizona forward Esmery Martinez (12) goes to the basket past West Virginia guard Kyah Watson (32) and forward Isis Beh (right) in the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament on March 17, 2023, in College Park, Maryland.
Arizona forward Esmery Martinez (12) goes to the basket past West Virginia guard Kyah Watson (32) and forward Isis Beh (right) in the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament on March 17, 2023, in College Park, Maryland.

How they're looking: Unranked Arizona is coming off of another solid season where they advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after finishing ranked No. 24 in the AP Top 25 poll. This is now three straight seasons where the team has finished ranked while also advancing to at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and that includes a national championship appearance. This pedigree as well as the program adding four blue chip top 100 recruits should drive them to the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight season with enough talent to potentially push for upsets in the first two rounds.

Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks men's basketball

Returning starters: The Lumberjacks return multiple starters this season after appearing in the Big Sky Conference tournament in the 2022-23 season. Junior guard Liam Lloyd is back after a tournament run where he shot 41.2% from the field, and forward Carson Towt is back after being named to the 2023 All-Big Sky Tournament team. The redshirt junior shot 53.2% from the field last season while posting 10.1 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game.

How they're looking: NAU hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 2000, and hasn't had a winning season since head coach Shane Burcar's first season with the team in 2020. That being said, there is momentum to build off of after the Lumberjacks won five of their last seven games this past season, with three of those being Big Sky conference tournament games. All it takes for NAU to get to the NCAA Tournament is to get to the conference tournament championship again, and force one last final upset this time to win their league.

Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks women's basketball

Returning starters: The Lumberjacks return three starters from their most successful starting lineup of last season — a lineup that went 7-3. Those three starters who return are junior guards/forwards Nyah Moran and Olivia Moran, and senior guard/forward Emily Rodabaugh. Olivia Moran shot 44.1% from the field and 39.2% from deep, while Nyah Moran was a member of the 2023 All-Big Sky Tournament team as both she and Rodabaugh dropped over 10 points per game.

How they're looking: These Lumberjacks also took a trip to their conference tournament championship game last season, after they won six of their last seven regular-season games. While they have not made the NCAA Tournament since 2006, they have improved every year after head coach Loree Payne's first season in Flagstaff, and have notched four straight winning seasons together.

Going 21-14 last year, they have a chance to keep riding this momentum in hopes of an NCAA Tournament birth with the three aforementioned starters coming back along with another forward in sophomore Sophie Glancey — who started 16 games herself last year.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: College basketball essentials: Arizona Wildcats, NAU Lumberjacks