If you took a poll among Arizona fans after last season asking them who they believed would not be on the roster once September rolled around one of the first players they would likely have mentioned is Dylan Smith. The redshirt senior from Alabama, who started his career at UNC Asheville, is at the end of his time in college meaning he could have found a new home to finish out at especially with the influx of young talent the Wildcats welcome in this year at his position.

Smith had a big role for the team last year starting 26 games and finishing the season averaging over 24 minutes. However, UA has added more guards to the mix, including five-star freshmen Nico Mannion and Josh Green in addition to graduate transfer Max Hazzard, who could all take some of the minutes away from the versatile veteran wing.

Last year's team missed the NCAA Tournament and ended its year with an early exit from the Pac-12 Tournament in March.

The Wildcats hope the the new pieces can be part of the fix that gets the team back to The Big Dance, so rather than leave Smith has embraced the new faces around the program and has gone a step further by helping the young players get acclimated to their new surroundings.

"The one that stands out and comes to mind right away is Dylan Smith ever since the first day of practice," Mannion said during the team's local media day Tuesday afternoon when asked which player has helped him during his transition from high school to college. "Being a freshman everything you do is new. The first week, two weeks are just really, really rough trying to understand everything coach wants you to do, learning the new sets. All this stuff is being thrown at you.

"Dylan is also a guard so he kind of knows what it's like. He's been here for a couple years now and he's just been a great influence on me. He's helping me out on and off the floor."

As a 6-foot-6 guard, Green could find himself in direct competition for minutes with Smith but that has not hindered the progress they have made as teammates in the short time they have spent around one another so far.

"Dylan Smith he's been around here for a while now, so he's been a great mentor for all of us," Green said.

Smith was surprised he has made that type of impact on the team's young players since it is not something he necessarily puts effort into doing. Instead that leadership quality comes as part of what he does daily to simply be a good teammate.

"Really?" he said when told what Mannion and Green said about feeling like he is a mentor to both freshmen guards. "That's cool, man. I didn't know. I just kind of mess with them to make sure they're alright and making sure they're happy. That's a big thing, man. To be good at basketball you have to be happy with what you're doing. You have to have fun with it.

"If they need someone to talk to I'm always there, so they know. ... The whole leadership and mentorship thing, I wouldn't say it's not me but I like making sure everyone's good around me. I don't have to broadcast to be a leader. ... It's good that some of them look up to me that way. That's kind of surprising."

For a program that has already had to deal with plenty of adversity in recent years there will continue to be challenges the team faces season, so staying close could prove to be an important X-factor as Arizona makes its way through the season. Right now Smith is doing his part to bring the team together whether he knows it or not.