After the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's preseason watch lists snubbed Jaden Bradley a year ago, drawing criticism from Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, the Wildcats' veteran point guard went on to become the Big 12 Player of the Year and an NBA Draft pick.
The Wildcats won't get that sort of extra motivation this season.
The Naismith position-by-position watch lists, which are being released daily this week, already included guard Caleb Holt (Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award) and Ivan Kharchenkov (Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award), while center Motiejus Krivas appears a likely choice to make the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list on Friday.
Arizona point guards Derek Dixon and JJ Mandaquit weren't listed on the Bob Cousy Award watch list for top point guards that was announced Monday, but both enter UA as sophomores not quite as accomplished as Bradley was entering last season.
People are also reading…
Arizona still doesn't have a power forward to offer for the Karl Malone Award watch list, which will be announced Thursday, since Clemson transfer RJ Godfrey remains ineligible while the injunction he received via a five-for-five lawsuit in Georgia remains under a stay. The Wildcats have been playing Kharchenkov and freshman Maksim Brnovic at power forward as a result.
Holt was named to the West award watch list on Tuesday, as Brayden Burries was last season, while Kharchenkov was named to the small forward watch list Wednesday after proving a consistent force last season who has already become a bigger go-to threat in exhibition games this fall.
Arizona forward Ivan Kharchenkov blows a kiss to the fans after draining an uncontested three against Eastern Washington during the first half in their exhibition game on Oct. 23, 2026.
At shooting guard, Holt will have a chance to prove himself directly against five other West watch list players: Braylon Mullins of UConn, Jeremiah Wilkinson of Arkansas, Collin Chandler of BYU, Finley Bizjack of West Virginia and Killyan Toure of Iowa State. It is also possible Holt could face Providence's Miles Byrd in the Maui Invitational.
Kharchenkov is scheduled to play against six other Julius Erving Award watch list players, starting with UCLA's Nikola Kusturica in the Wildcats' season opener on Monday in Las Vegas. He's also scheduled to face Billy Richmond of Arkansas, Colben Landrew of UConn, Tounde Yessoufou of St. John's, Bruce Branch of BYU and Tyran Stokes of Kansas.
Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe
Bruce Pascoe
Reporter
