It has been an offseason of roster turnover for Arizona as the Wildcats come off one of their most disappointing seasons under head coach Sean Miller. The Wildcats have welcomed their incoming freshman class to campus, but someone who will now be leaving UA to look for a new home is junior guard Alex Barcello who announced his decision to move on from the program Monday.
The Chandler, Arizona native played two seasons at UA after signing with the Wildcats as part of the 2017 class.
"I want to say Thank You to the University of Arizona and the fans for these past two amazing years but I have decided it’s in my best interest to move in a direction that’s best for myself and my family," Barcello posted in a message on Twitter.
Barcello played in 30 of 32 games during his sophomore season for the Wildcats and averaged 3.3 points in the 2018-19 season. He averaged 9.6 minutes of action during his two seasons with the 'Cats.
The former four-star prospect was someone Miller and the coaching staff made a priority in the 2017 recruiting class after he put together a stellar junior season at Corona del Sol High School in Tempe.
Barcello established himself as a high-scoring guard with an ability to handle the ball and run the point guard spot. However, he was never able to earn a starting job with the Wildcats as he worked a lot off the ball during his career, and he had to remain behind Parker Jackson-Cartwright at point guard his freshman season before Miller brought in graduate transfer Justin Coleman at the position last season.
UA has had plenty of roster movement this offseason and Barcello is just the latest player to leave the program. Brandon Randolph decided to forgo his remaining eligibility in favor of a professional career while sophomore wing Devonaire Doutrive decided to transfer this spring. Incoming freshman Terry Armstrong most recently made the decision to turn pro instead of attend college leaving UA right at the 13-man scholarship limit for the upcoming season.
This offseason the Wildcats have added transfers Jordan Brown, Jermarl Baker and graduate transfer Max Hazzard plus already had Cornell graduate transfer Stone Gettings come on board at the midway point of last season.
Now Barcello will look for a new home and he certainly had plenty of options coming out of high school when he was ranked as the No. 118 prospect in the class. Auburn, Baylor, Butler, Grand Canyon, Oregon, Stanford, USC and Virginia were all schools that offered him as a high school prospect.
UA now will only have four returning scholarship players from last season's team: Chase Jeter, Ira Lee, Brandon Williams and Dylan Smith.
