Wildcats Add Ivan Kharchenkov: What You Need to Know
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Forward Ivan Kharchenkov has had quite the journey from Germany all the way to Tucson, where he is now on the Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team, vying for a spot on a stacked roster.
He is a part of a freshman class that has recently been ranked No. 2 on the composite rankings, according to 24/7 Sports.
Kharchenkov brings about seven years' worth of experience from the Euro League, where he played for Bayern Munich since he was at the age of 12.
Kharchnkov hails from Moscow, Russia. He and his family moved to Germany before he was one year old. It was there that he soon found out about basketball.
The 6-foot-7, 217-pound forward only played seven minutes in 23 games for Bayern Munich. He will now be playing for Arizona while attending college at the same time, something he was not asked to do in Europe.
Before that, he averaged 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists on the way to winning gold in the U18 FIBA basketball tournament for Germany, also earning all-tournament honors.
Kharchenkov took to the podium to answer questions from the media this past week, with the season fast approaching. Here is a collection of his most interesting answers.
So you've already played international ball. What do you feel like from that, that you're going to bring to this team this year?
"I think I'm going to bring a lot of experience and playing with older guys, more experienced guys, just the calmness and experience. I think that'll be my biggest advantage of over other place."
Now that everybody is here on campus, all the freshmen, everybody are here, what stands out to you about the group and just how the chemistry is going thus far?
"I think right now it's going really good. I think we just got to keep going, keep working, and then I think time will show, and yeah, the results also will come."
What was your thought process on, like, when did playing college enter as an option? Because you were, it seemed like you were maybe, because you could have stayed at Bayurn for quite a while, right?
"So it was a exactly I stayed in Byron last year, and then I didn't get as too much playing time as I would love to and then I talked to my agent. I said, Look, I need to get more playing time if I really want to get to the league. And he said, Yeah, let's look at some options. And one of the options was college. And we decided there was the best option was to go to Arizona. And we I also had a teammate, Elias Harris. He was playing at Gonzaga for Tommy. He told me good things about him."
is there still that adjustment for a player like you internationally compared to a high school player, where that's a big leap for them, that college jump, right?
"I think it's not as a big of a jump for high school players to college as for me to college, because basically what I'm doing, or what was doing, is playing against ex college players like Carson Edwards on my team, Shabazz Napier, Elias Harris. So I think for me, it wasn't too big of a jump. Of course, the coaching and playing style is different, but I think, and I think the style here with Tommy's system is really similar, so I think I can adjust really good."
Why did they decide to move, or how did you end up in Germany?
I don't remember, of course, I was one, but I don't know, my parents decided to go to Germany, maybe just to because I was born. Maybe they thought it would be a better environment for me in Germany to grow up as a person, or whatever. So yeah, we moved and yeah, my pops got a coaching job in a small town in Landsberg, not too far away from Munich. My mom got a job.
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Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.