The portal has officially opened, and it’s not the only way for teams to improve their rosters for next season. As the recent commitment of Arynn Finley demonstrated, there are plenty of talented incoming freshmen floating around who decommitted from other programs.
Arizona head coach Becky Burke is on the lookout across the ranks. She and her staff have already shown that they can be effective high school recruiters at the Power 4 level. Now, it’s time to show the same for the transfer portal.
“You
guys are going to see what a recruiting class looks like under this regime,” Burke said. “You are going to see you what a transfer portal class looks like under this regime. And there’s just going to be a higher level of talent on the floor, more length, more athleticism, kids that can do a little bit more. But, again, doesn’t take anything away from how proud we were of this first group, and they were a really important piece of what we’re gonna be doing for years to come. But it was a struggle. You know, it’s not easy to lose basketball games. It’s not easy to come in when we did, and kind of have to battle things that we battled in our first year, but that’s why we think of that as year zero, and now this is year one. The right players that have been brought back, our first real recruiting class, the correct staff. I am sleeping much, much easier at night.”
Burke has said that the Wildcats have some specific needs for next season. First, they need an experienced point guard to replace Lani Cornfield. They have a lot of guards, but they tend to be combo or shooting guards. The Wildcats need a steady hand to guide the offense on what is set to be a very young group.
She also mentioned that they need a long, athletic wing, but noted that those players “are expensive.”
Everyone knows that the Wildcats need size. Callie Hinder and Priyanka ‘Pri’ Ponnam are the only bigs signed for next year and they will both be in their first season of college basketball.
Burke is dropping clues about who she’s pursuing. On Thursday, she posted two Instagram stories. One had her commenting about having a “big dog” on campus. The other showed the torso of a player doing her official visit photo shoot. On Friday morning, Burke followed that up with a McDonald’s gif on X, indicating that Arizona is recruiting a McDonald’s All-American.
There are two current McDonald’s All-Americans looking for homes after decommitting from the programs they pledged to last November. One would seem to fit Arizona’s needs more than the other. The portal has several former McDonald’s All-Americans in it, so there’s no guarantee that the (former) high school All-American is a 2026 player.
If it is a 2026 player, Oliviyah Edwards probably fits Burke’s needs more than the other available all-star. She decommitted from Tennessee earlier this week. Edwards is the No. 3 player in the 2026 class according to ESPN.
Edwards would provide the size Arizona is looking for if she’s the player considering Arizona. The 6-foot-3 forward is also from the Western U.S., making Tucson a bit closer to her Tacoma, Wash. home than Knoxville. Her nickname of “Big Oh” would also seem to fit with Burke’s comments about a “big dog.” However, the photo shoot video appears to be of a smaller player than the one who is known to dunk.
The other 2026 McDonald’s All-American who has been released from her commitment is former Clemson signee Trinity Jones. The shooting guard from Bolingbrook, Ill. would seem to provide skills Arizona already has in the class, but her No. 11 ranking is definitely enticing.
Arizona currently has seven known players on next year’s roster. Burke also mentioned an unannounced international commit at her final radio show. That would give the team eight players. All but two would be freshmen and only one would be an upperclassman. That makes experience a big need, especially considering the movement in the sport these days. Having a bunch of talented freshmen doesn’t mean a program will have a bunch of talented sophomores the next season.
