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The Wildcats secured a visit next week with transferring Oregon point guard Jackson Shelstad, according to reports from both 247 and On3. That should give them a crack at replacing Jaden Bradley with a quick, veteran point guard who proved himself directly against the Wildcats as a freshman and sophomore before missing most of his junior year this season with a hand injury.

Shelstad is also scheduled to visit Louisville this weekend, but On3鈥檚 Pete Nakos predicted the Wildcats would ultimately land him.

In the semifinals of the 2023-24 Pac-12 Tournament, the 6-1 Shelstad scored 21 points against the Wildcats while hitting 7 of 16 field goals (3 of 7 3-pointers)聽and blocking three shots in the Ducks鈥� 67-59 win over Arizona.

A year later, in an NCAA Tournament second-round game at Seattle, Shelstad poured in 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting (3 of 6 3s) with two assists and a steal, although Arizona won that game 87-83 to reach the Sweet 16.

Named a third-team all-Big Ten pick last season, Shelstad was off to a promising start this season before a hand injury shut him down after 12 games. He broke his hand a month before the season began and missed Oregon鈥檚 season opener, but averaged 15.6 points and 4.9 assists with a 2.7-1 assist-turnover ratio over the next 12 games.

Then Shelstad reinjured his hand against Omaha on Dec. 28, and Oregon coach Dana Altman said he also suffered ligament damage, according to Ducks Wire, shelving him for the rest of the season. The Ducks lost 10 of their next 11 games without Shelstad and stumbled to by far their worst record in Altman鈥檚 16 seasons, just 10-20.

Shelstad announced his decision to leave Oregon on March 24.

"These last three years have been truly special," he posted, thanking coaches teammates and others. "After a lot of thought, I've made the difficult decision to enter the transfer portal and pursue other opportunities next year."

Although Shelstad isn鈥檛 eligible for a medical redshirt year under current NCAA rules, Altman said upon his December injury that 鈥渄efinitely we鈥檒l try to get him another year.鈥�

Current NCAA rules state players are eligible for a medical redshirt only if they suffer a season-ending injury, don鈥檛 play past the halfway point of a season and not in more than 30% of a team鈥檚 games. But 12 games represented 37.5% of Oregon鈥檚 games this season, meaning Shelstad would have only one more year of college eligibility barring a successful appeal or rule change.

Many of Arizona鈥檚 other offseason needs will be determined by decisions among its current players. While seniors Bradley, Anthony Dell'Orso and Tobe Awaka are out of eligibility under current rules聽鈥� and freshmen Brayden Burries and Koa Peat have been widely expected to leave for the NBA Draft聽鈥� several others have college eligibility remaining to play at Arizona or elsewhere.

Early predictions

With so much uncertainty ahead in the spring roster transition season, Arizona predictably fell all over the map in the usual postseason spate of 鈥渨ay too early鈥� Top 25 rankings for next season that surfaced earlier this week.

Arizona ranged from No. 3 in The Athletic鈥檚 ranking all the way to No. 18 in Sporting News, while ESPN and Fox had them at No. 5, and On3 put them at No. 8.

鈥淥ne never knows who might stick around following a season as successful as the Wildcats,鈥�" wrote Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy, 鈥渂ut there is plenty reason for center Mo Krivas and wing Ivan Kharchenkov to continue their careers in Tucson. And if they鈥檙e in place, Arizona could be top-10 good.鈥�

The decisions of those two players appeared to be central to most predictions, while of the other UA players with eligibility remaining, freshman forward Dwayne Aristode appears to be another wildcard.

Aristode said after UA鈥檚 semifinal loss to Michigan only that he 鈥渉adn鈥檛 been thinking鈥� about his future, though Fox analyst Casey Jacobsen wrote that Aristode is expected to break out next season and that incoming five-star guard Caleb Holt is 鈥渓egit.鈥�

The Athletic's CJ Moore said he based his pick on an assumption that both Kharchenkov and Krivas would return, and that the key was whether UA coach Tommy Lloyd 鈥渃ould land a stud point guard and some reinforcements on the bench.鈥�

鈥淟loyd is one of the best international recruiters in the game, so odds are he鈥檚 able to find his guy between the transfer portal or international portal,鈥� Moore wrote. 鈥淐aleb Holt is one of the best high school prospects in this class and a perfect Brayden Burries replacement. Similar to Koa Peat, he has the built-in advantage of having played under Lloyd for USA Basketball.

鈥淎lso, do not be surprised if (UA freshman forward) Sidi Gueye becomes a solid contributor after barely playing as a freshman. This is the Gonzaga way. Lloyd has a history of developing big men who wait their turn and excel once given the opportunity.

Wildcats No. 3 in final Associated Press Top 25

Arizona finished at No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 postseason poll, behind national champion Michigan and runner-up UConn.

Picked 13th in the preseason poll, Arizona (36-3) rose to No. 1 for nine iterations of the poll in midseason, then entered the NCAA Tournament at No. 2 behind only Duke. The Blue Devils (35-3) finished at No. 4 after losing to UConn in the Elite Eight.

In the computer metrics, the Wildcats finished No. 2 in Kenpom behind Michigan, and聽third in NCAA NET ratings behind Michigan and No. 2 Duke.

Michigan (37-3) beat Arizona 91-73 in the national semifinals on Saturday before also beating UConn 69-63 on Monday to win the NCAA title.

Arizona wound up 7-1 against teams ranked in the final Top 10, and 10-3 against all teams in the postseason AP Top 25.

Among the Wildcats' other opponents this season, Purdue (30-9) finished at No. 6 in the AP poll, Houston (30-7) was ranked No. 8, Florida (27-8) was No. 9, Arkansas (28-9) No. 13, Alabama (25-10) No. 16, Kansas (24-11) No. 20 and Texas Tech (23-11) No. 21.