Arizona Wildcats Freshman Forward Named 'Impactful Newcomer'
The Arizona Wildcats are less than a week away from tipping off their first season as a member of the Big 12.
It is a tough road ahead for the program, in an even tougher conference than they were before, as they will be facing many other NCAA Tournament mainstays between the opening tip on November 4th and their last game of the regular season on March 8th.
As things stand right now, six of the Wildcats' opponents this year are ranked among the top 10 schools in the nation, and Arizona ranks exactly 10th.
It is the plethora of talent the Wildcats have rostered that has them ranked so high in the preseason rankings, and it will be that talent that helps carry them through their gauntlet of a schedule on their way to what they hope is yet another NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Tommy Lloyd.
Lloyd has done a spectacular job recruiting high school prospects and enticing college transfers to join Arizona throughout his tenure with the program, and one of his new recruits for this season, forward Carter Bryant, was ranked as the 46th most impactful newcomer in a recent article from ESPN.
"Bryant might not start immediately, given the presence of productive Oakland transfer Trey Townsend, but the early reviews of the 6-8 forward sound intriguing," writes Jeff Borzello, staff writer at ESPN, "he can really shoot it from the perimeter and his motor has been running."
Bryant, listed at 6'8" and 220 pounds, was a highly touted high school prospect out of Centennial High School in Corona, California.
Per 247 Sports, the forward ranked as the 28th recruit in the nation, the 5th best at his position, and the second best from the state of California.
Bryant received offers from many programs, including the Duke Blue Devils, the Louisville Cardinals, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs, but signed with the Wildcats on November 8th of last year, enrolling in the university on July 1st.
The freshman is built for the game, with his immense size and seven-foot wingspan, he shows the ability and IQ necessary to make an impact on the court early and often for the Wildcats, even if he does so while coming off the bench.
Bryant is but another in a long line of Lloyd recruits that is sure to make a name for himself throughout the college basketball landscape, and could do so sooner rather than later.
