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St. John’s is reportedly becoming the Wildcats’ latest partner for a two-year series of games at semi-neutral sites.

The Red Storm will face ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV on Dec. 5 next season at New York’s Madison Square Garden, according to CBS’ Jon Rothstein, while returning the game to Phoenix during the 2027-28 season.

The game would be the first time St. John's coach Rick Pitino has faced Arizona since his Louisville team crushed the Wildcats 103-64 in the 2009 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Arizona was led by an interim coaching staff in the wake of Lute Olson's preseason retirement that season, and received one of the last NCAA Tournament berths.

Arizona has only faced St. John's twice before, beating the Red Storm 81-72 at Madison Square Garden in the 2011-12 season and losing 70-67 at San Francisco during the 2019-20 season.

Under UA coach Tommy Lloyd, the Wildcats have aimed to play a game in Phoenix every season, facing Alabama there in 2023-24, UCLA in 2024-25 and San Diego State in 2025-26.

The Wildcats already have confirmed games for next season on Nov. 2 against UCLA at Las Vegas, on Nov. 18 against UConn at McKale Center, along with their scheduled participation in the Nov. 23-25 Maui Invitational. The Maui event is not yet bracketed, but includes BYU, Clemson, Colorado State, Mississippi, Providence, VCU and Washington.

Arizona is also contracted for a return game at Auburn, which visited McKale last December, but the game contract does not specify whether the game must be played next season or during a later season.

Because the Arizona-St. John’s contract is not yet finalized, UA did not confirm it. Rothstein said the Dec. 5 game would be part of the Basketball Hall of Fame series, in which UA played three games last season: Against Florida at Las Vegas, UCLA at Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome and San Diego State in Phoenix.

Arizona was scheduled to receive a guaranteed $200,000 each for the Florida, UCLA and San Diego State games, according to contracts obtained by the Star via a public-records request.

The promoter of those games, Position Sports, also agreed to pay UA 10% of net ticket sales revenue between $800,000 and $1.2 million for the Florida and SDSU games, plus 33.3% of ticket revenue between $1 million and $1.3 million for UCLA — meaning a maximum of up to $180,000 extra.

UA was also allowed to sell sponsorships for those three games up to $1 million, and receive a 20% commission for them — meaning up to another $200,000. 

Aristode headed to Oregon

Former Arizona forward Dwayne Aristode announced via Instagram that he'll play for Oregon next season.

Aristode entered the transfer portal on April 11 and reportedly drew heavy interest  initially, but his recruitment has become publicly quiet over the past two weeks.

Several of Aristode's former teammates cheered his post, including Brayden Burries, Koa Peat, Jaden Bradley, Mabil Mawut and Jackson Francois.

"Be great fam," Peat posted.

According to Ducks Wire's Logan Brown, Aristode  right away for Oregon, which has also added 6-10 Alabama transfer Taylor Bol Bowen and 6-7 San Diego State transfer Pharaoh Compton.

"Aristode's versatility makes him a great fit on both ends of the floor,"  Brown wrote.

The final player in the Wildcats' eight-player rotation as a freshman in 2025-26, Aristode flashed 3-and-D potential. He averaged 3.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game while leading the Wildcats in 3-point percentage at 46.2.

Aristode missed four games in late February with an unspecified illness, and his minutes slipped after he returned. While he had eight points in a 16-minute appearance against Iowa State on March 2 at McKale, he averaged just 8.7 minutes in the Big 12 Tournament and just 7.2 in the NCAA Tournament.