Elite Class of 2025 Forward Includes Arizona Basketball in His Top Schools List
With Arizona heading into the Big 12 Conference for the first time this season, there are a lot of expectations placed upon many of their programs to come in and immediately compete.
Because of the roster retention that the Wildcats had on the football field following their impressive 10-win campaign last year, they have received a Top 25 ranking in both the Coaches and AP Poll, making some fans and analysts think they should be potentially contending for a conference title at the end of the season.
While that thought process might be a bit different for the football program, those are the types of expectations that Arizona basketball has had since Tommy Lloyd took over three years ago.
With two Pac-12 regular season and tournament titles under his belt, the Wildcats are supposed to have the same level of dominance in the Big 12 based on the pedigree of the program and what they have accomplished during Lloyd's tenure.
To do that, though, Arizona has to start recruiting at a high level.
So far, they have failed to secure a Top 10 class. Their best ranking was at No. 16 in the 2024 cycle. Instead, they have relied on the transfer portal to have immediate success, but doing that each and every year makes it hard to establish a culture.
The Wildcats have to break through with a highly-touted class at some point.
They got some good news on Friday when one of the best players in the 2025 cycle, Nikolas Khamenia, included them in his top five schools list.
🤷♂️🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/vBWYW2uh2J
— Nikolas Khamenia (@NikolasKhamenia) August 16, 2024
The other schools on his list are Duke, Gonzaga, North Carolina, and UCLA.
Rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 27 overall player per 247Sports' Composite, he would be a great addition to the program as their first commit in the class of 2025.
"I liked my relationship with the coaches and my comfort with who they are and how they run their systems. I am close with those coaches. I do zooms, text them day-in and day-out, and they show up to my games. I chose the schools based on how hard they are recruiting me and where they see me in the future," Khamenia told Brandon Jenkins of On3.
The California native has yet to take an official visit to Arizona with his only one so far being a trip to Gonzaga, however, he has his official scheduled for later this month on August 31.
"I got to experience their staff quite a bit with my time playing on the USA Basketball U18 team. I felt comfortable with Tommy Lloyd and the staff members he had there. It was a unique chance for me to feel them out. They use versatile players like myself so I feel it would be easy for my game to translate over there," he said when asked about the Wildcats.
Khamenia said he's looking to announce his decision by mid-October, so in the next few months, Arizona will know where they stand regarding the talented forward.
BRAD WAKAI