Unless Mark Pope adds another depth piece to the 2025-26 roster, the team is all but made, and it looks like one of the best in the nation. Coach Pope has done an excellent job in year two putting together a roster that is capable of winning a National Championship.
ESPN put out an article by writer Jeff Borzello that ranked the top 25 teams in college hoops and projected their starting lineups.In these rankings, Borzello had the Wildcats ranked as the tenth-best team in the nation, which seems a little low, but it isn’t too far off.
When it comes to the starting lineup Borzello listed the projected starting five as Jaland Lowe, Jasper Johnson, Otega Oweh, Mouhamed Dioubate, and Jayden Quaintance.This is a very realistic starting five for the Wildcats, but there are a few things that could lead to this not being the day one starters.
Either Kam Williams or Denzel Aberdeen could both very well start over Johnson, but if Johnson does begin the year as the starter, it just means that he is ahead of schedule.
The Croatian forward Andrija Jelavic could start over Dioubate, but Jelavic is a wild card as BBN doesn’t know much about him other than some film.
Lastly, Brandon Garrison could begin the year starting over Quaintance as the Arizona State transfer is healing from an ACL tear.These are good problems to have, as the Wildcats have a roster full of players who are all more than capable of starting for Coach Pope.
