The Arizona Wildcats are less than a week away from getting the 2024-25 season underway. 

As the team prepares for its first game of the season, on November 4th, against Canisius University, some of the roster is receiving recognition. 

On Monday, Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf of ESPN announced its Men’s Basketball preseason Top 100, and two Wildcats made the list. Both Caleb Love and Motiejus Krivas appeared for the program, one that ranks tenth in the AP preseason poll. 

Love came in at number six on the list, trailing the other five members that joined him on his latest award of being named Preseason AP All-American.

“Last season, Love made 54% of his shots in transition, according to Synergy Sports. Despite a slow start from deep, he eventually connected on 37% of those shots in Pac-12 action,” writes the two ESPN writers. “Love, who averaged 18.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.4 APG for the Wildcats, is the catalyst for Tommy Lloyd in their first year in the Big 12.”

Love, who will return for his second season with the Wildcats, could indeed be a huge factor in the Wildcats’ immediate contention in the new conference. 

The 2023 Pac-12 player of the year returned for his final year of eligibility, looking to improve his NBA Draft stock. There is no better way of doing so than by helping his team make a deep run into March. 

“He’s kind of this last generation of player that’s going to get better with this extra year, and so I just encourage him to take advantage of it,” said Arizona’s head coach, Tommy Lloyd.

In the final tune-up game Monday, as the Wildcats took on Point Loma in an exhibition game, Love scored nine points and picked up three assists across 24 minutes on the court. He went 4-9 from the field, including 1-5 from behind the three-point line. 

Krivas, the likely new starting center for the Wildcats appeared at 74 on the preseason Top 100. 

“Tommy Lloyd will enter Arizona’s first Big 12 season with enough talent to win the league’s title. Oumar Ballo’s transfer to Indiana will open up more opportunities for Krivas, a 7-2 center who averaged 5.4 points in just over 12 minutes per game last season and is viewed as a legit NBA prospect. Lloyd has helped some of the top big men in the country mature into elite players. Krivas should be next, ” writes Borzello and Medcalf. 

Last season, as Ballo’s backup, picking up at least four rebounds per game in just 12 minutes per game off the bench shows the potential for him to be an immediate impact for the Wildcats as the top big man on the roster. 

Although an ankle injury has kept Krivas out most of the preseason, he is projected to be a great contributor to the team this upcoming season.

The opening tipoff at the McKale Memorial Arena against Canisius is scheduled for 10 pm ET on Monday night.