Arizona breakout star steals the show as 5-star freshman struggles in Red-Blue Showcase
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The Arizona Wildcats put on a show in front of the home crowd on Saturday afternoon at the annual Red-Blue Showcase event.
After honoring the 1997 team that brought a national championship to Tucson, Arizona delighted the crowd with a three point shootout, a dunk contest, and a scrimmage to give fans an up close look at Tommy Lloyd's team - who is hoping to get back to the Final Four after making it for the first time in 25 years this past season.
With former players from thirty years ago, former players from last year in Jaden Bradley, Brayden Burries, and Tobe Awaka, and potentially future players in Adan Diggs, Darius Wabbington, and Kamsi Awaka all in attendance, it was a fun past, present, and future look at Arizona hoops to kickoff what should be a fantastic 2026-27 season.
Here is a look at three key takeaways from the scrimmage portion of the event, which was won by the Red team, 42-32.
1. Ivan Kharchenkov looks ready for a breakout season
Arizona lost a ton of offense from last year's team with Bradley, Burries, and Peat out the door, and while the team has plenty of talented newcomers - the Wildcats will heavily rely on returners Ivan Kharchenkov and Mo Krivas to step up.
Kharchenkov looks more than ready to take over as this team's go-to scorer, after dropping 26.3 points per game in Lithuania this summer on the foreign tour and leading all scorers with 13 points in the 20 minute scrimmage on Saturday.
Kharchenkov also led all players with four assists, showing improved playmaking, and he has a real chance to be the biggest breakout star in the entire country - and an All-American - in 2026-27.
2. Caleb Holt's adjustment may take some time
Part of the reason Kharchenkov feels so critical for coach Lloyd and the Wildcats this season is the relatively disappointing performance of 5-star freshman Caleb Holt - who didn't look great in Lithuania and shot 3-12 overall and 0-5 from three on Saturday.
The sample is still obviously too small to make sweeping judgements, but the 6'4 guard settles for a lot of long twos and hasn't looked particularly comfortable in the offense as of yet. It may take him a little time to get acclimated in the early part of the season, but there is still way too much upside here to be alarmed.
3. JJ Mandaquit could be Arizona's biggest X-factor
Arizona is expected to deploy a pair of sophomore transfers at point guard this season in Derek Dixon (North Carolina) and JJ Mandaquit (Washington). While Dixon is the presumed starter thanks to his outside shooting ability, Mandaquit is a steady, pass-first facilitator who has experience playing for Lloyd from the FIBA U19 World Cup last summer.
Mandaquit looked right at home on Saturday, dropping six points on 2-3 shooting, hitting his lone three point attempt, and racking up two assists and two steals. The 6'1 guard will need to improve on last year's 28.2% three point shooting to really challenge Dixon for minutes, but it would not be at all a surprise if he is a breakout contributor for the Wildcats this year.
Arizona next takes the floor on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the McKale Center in an exhibition game against the Dons of San Francisco. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 PM MST and the game will be on ESPN+.
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