UC Irvine's Max Hazzard could bring veteran presence, shooting touch to Wildcats next season

When he first started rooting for the Arizona Wildcats as a high school basketball player six years ago, Max Hazzard had an agenda.

“I would watch the games with my parents pretty closely, rooting for blowouts so I could watch my brother play,” said Hazzard, referring to former UA walk-on Jacob Hazzard.

Jacob Hazzard appeared in 43 games over four seasons with the Wildcats. He played in 30 games during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, a perk of coming off the bench for a pair of powerhouse teams.

Max Hazzard is now a UC Irvine senior considering a graduate transfer. If he chooses the Wildcats over returning to Irvine or transferring to Gonzaga, Cal, Minnesota, Pitt or TCU, he’ll likely be on the court regularly. Even with Arizona returning Brandon Williams and possibly Dylan Smith, while bringing in five-star high school guards Nico Mannion and Josh Green, Hazzard could bring shooting and a veteran touch to Arizona’s backcourt.

Listed at 6 feet, 170 pounds, Hazzard was a second-team All-Big West Conference pick last season. He was named MVP of the Big West Tournament, where he had 23 points to lead the Anteaters to a 92-74 win over Cal State Fullerton in the final.

Hazzard then led UCI to its first-ever NCAA Tournament win, scoring 19 points in a win over Kansas State in the first round.

For the season, Hazzard led the Anteaters in scoring with an average of 12.5 points per game. He was also a prolific 3-point shooter, hitting 38.8 percent of the 6.5 3-pointers he fired up per game.

“I know I have the opportunity to play somewhere and bring experience to a team no matter where I go,” Max Hazzard said. “I’m confident I can go on the court and help a team get to the NCAA Tournament, help change the culture.”

Arizona “is a high-major program, a high-major basketball team and a high-major coach,” Hazzard added. “That’s always been something I’ve wanted.”

The UA didn’t seriously pursue Max Hazzard out of high school, even though he had a brother who played for the Wildcats and a high school backcourt-mate, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, who did the same.

“I thought I was relatively unrecruited out of high school,” Max Hazzard said. “I had a good amount of schools recruit me, but it was hard to tell who was serious.”

UC Irvine coach Russell Turner was, and Hazzard said Turner has proven to be an “amazing coach.” Hazzard redshirted partly due to injury as a freshman in 2015-16, then played three seasons for the Anteaters and, with a degree in sociology coming this spring, has the option to play right away elsewhere next season.

“I knew when I redshirted as a freshman I would have the opportunity to be a grad transfer, and now I find myself here,” Hazzard said. “It’s been a blessing.”

Four-star forward Zeke Nnaji signed his national letter of intent with Arizona on Thursday, saying he felt great after wrapping up a commitment he gave the Wildcats in November.

“Feels like a big weight lifted off my chest,” he told Minneapolis’ KSTP-TV. “I know I’ve already been committed for a little bit but just to finally be officially  a part of the school and the team is great.”

During a signing ceremony with other Hopkins High School athletes Thursday, Nnaji said he chose Arizona because the  coaches “really made me feel at home.”

Arizona “just checked off the most boxes. And I can study finance there, which I’m looking to major in,” Nnaji said.

The Wildcats’ entire five-man recruiting class has signed letters of intent. The UA could add another player or two this spring.

Mannion and  Green, along with four-star forward Terry Armstrong and three-star center Christian Koloko, signed LOIs during the November signing period. Nnaji committed two days after it ended, so he had to wait until the spring signing period opened Wednesday.

Nnaji said he will play in the Iverson Classic next week in Pennsylvania and with USA Basketball in June, though invitations for the U19 team camp have not yet been finalized.

The Wildcats will have at least one open scholarship for next season if wing Brandon Randolph opts to remain in professional basketball after testing the draft process.

UA center Chase Jeter has not formally declared whether he will return for his senior season. On Wednesday, however, he posted on Instagram a picture of himself wearing a UA uniform along with the words “the marathon continues.”

Several other grad transfers that the Wildcats have expressed interest in have narrowed down their lists:

• Utah Valley guard Jake Toolson is down to Stanford, Utah State, Arizona State, Duke and Virginia. He could also return to UVU, according to his club team, the Arizona-based Powerhouse Hoops.
• Little Rock guard Rayjon Tucker declared for the NBA draft but told 247Sports.com that he’s considering a grad transfer to West Virginia, Auburn, North Carolina, Memphis, South Carolina, Iowa State, Kansas or Arkansas.
• Valpo big man Derrik Smits told 247 he’s now looking at Arizona State, N.C. State and Butler.

Arizona won’t make the Utah-Colorado road trip and won’t host Stanford and Cal at McKale Center next season because of the Pac-12’s unbalanced schedule.

Pac-12 coaches last year floated the idea of expanding to 20 games, possibly as early as 2019-20, but will stick with the usual 18 games for now.

The coaches discussed scheduling at this month’s Final Four, but did not vote on an expanded schedule, according to a league spokesman.