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College basketball’s free agency season is well underway, with more hundreds of players entering the NCAA transfer portal since it officially opened on April 7. More will enter before it closes on April 21, but for the most part the vast majority of Division I athletes who intend to transfer have made done so.
Arizona has seen two of its own go portaling, as freshmen Dwayne Aristode and Sidi Gueye have decided to transfer after one season, while it so far has secured two transfer in former Washington guard JJ Mandaquit and ex-North Carolina guard Derek Dixon. There are plenty of spots for the Wildcats to fill, and the portal is where these replacements figure to come from.
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Under Tommy Lloyd the UA signed 12 Division I transfers in his first five seasons, most notably Caleb Love, Jaden Bradley and Tobe Awaka. The Wildcats staff has mostly hit on these additions, and for the 2026-27 team is most likely targeting specific players like Mandaquit, which wasn’t on anyone’s radar before he committed on Monday, and Dixon.
We’ve got our own short list. Below are the four transfers Arizona should pursue in the portal:
SG John Blackwell, Wisconsin
The 6-foot-4 Blackwell has already been linked to the UA, reportedly one of the six schools he is interested in along with Alabama, Duke, Illinois, Louisville and UCLA, with the plan to take two visits. He’s also going through the NBA Draft process and would decide whether to stay in or come back to college before the draft combine on May 4.
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Arizona is probably not the favorite for Blackwell, but he would be a great get who is a proven scorer.
As a junior he averaged 19.1 points per game, 7th-best in the Big Ten, and he shot 38.9 percent from 3 with 96 makes. He notched five 30-point games in 2025-26, including against Final Four qualifier Illinois, and he scored 26 in a win over NCAA champion Michigan.
Blackwell averaged 15.5 points in two games against the UA, including 17 at McKale Center as a freshman off…
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Publish date : 2026-04-14 12:00:00
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