Adia Barnes' Wildcats aim to redeem last season's second round loss against North Carolina 63-45 in the NCAA tournament. Arizona will bring in new faces this year featuring freshmen recruits and transfers as the team gets ready for its first exhibition game of the season against West Texas A&M this Thursday night.

There is a lot of energy from the newer players during game week

Barnes noted that there has not only been an increase in energy as the team heads into its first game on Thursday but also an abundance of learning from the youth as well.

“The energy is really good,” Barnes said. “I think there is a lot of learning, a lot of people learning different things, a different system for freshman, the freshman learning curve is really steep but the returners, it’s just learning a new system.”