The NCAA transfer portal officially opened on Monday, when hundreds of players from the 300-plus Division I teams who had completed their seasons started looking for a new place to play. Arizona’s season ended on Thursday night, and it didn’t take long for the first departure from the roster.
Sophomore guard KJ Lewis is entering the portal, per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, beginning the offseason cycle of roster turnover for the Wildcats.
The 6-foot-4 Lewis played 73 games for the UA over two seasons, starting the first six games in 2024-25 before moving back to the bench. He averaged 10.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals as a sophomore, all increases from his freshman year, and twice he scored 21 points including in the 113-100 win over ASU on March 4.
But Lewis’ shooting numbers took a major dip, making only 42.9 percent of his field goal attempts (from 46.6 percent in 2023-24) and just 18.8 percent from 3 compared to 34.1 percent as a freshman. He was 3 for 9 in the Sweet 16 loss to Duke, scoring six points after averaging 13.4 in the previous five contests.
A 4-star prospect from Texas who grew up in the Tucson area, Lewis picked Arizona over Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Memphis, Texas Tech and UCLA
Lewis is the latest player Tommy Lloyd and his staff have recruited out of high school to Arizona to leave the program after two or fewer seasons. Last year the Wildcats lost prep recruits Kylan Boswell, Filip Borovicanin, Paulius Murauskas and Dylan Anderson to the portal, in addition to Oumar Ballo, with Adama Bal departing the year before after two seasons.
Arizona is also losing guard Caleb Love and forward Trey Townsend to graduation, leaving it currently with eight scholarship players from the 2024-25 team. The Wildcats are allowed to have up to 15 on scholarship next season when a roster cap goes into effect.