Report: Arizona men’s basketball to compete in 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis

The Arizona Wildcats will reportedly compete in the 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas, where a couple of potential matchups loom large.

The 2024 field will also include Gonzaga and West Virginia, according to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein. Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd could face his former school and Mark Few for the first time, presuming the two programs don’t first run into each other in the next NCAA Tournament.

Lloyd and the Wildcats could also face former Arizona point guard Kerr Kriisa, who has eligibility through the 2024-25 season at West Virginia. Arizona and West Virginia will also be in the same conference, the Big 12, beginning next season, so a meeting with Kriisa might occur regardless.

The tournament is played on Thanksgiving Week at Imperial Arena on Paradise Island.

The other teams competing in the Battle 4 Atlantis are Indiana, Louisville, Creighton, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Davidson.

Arizona beat both Indiana and Creighton in the 2022-23 season; the Wildcats topped Creighton in the Maui Invitational and took down Indiana a few weeks later in the Las Vegas Clash.

Arizona can only improve on its last appearance at the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2017.

The Wildcats entered the tournament as the No. 2 team in the nation led by Bahamas native Deandre Ayton. What was supposed to be a rousing homecoming for the star freshman turned into a major disappointment.

The Wildcats went 0-3, falling to North Carolina State, SMU and a 25-point blowout loss to Purdue.

Arizona will have the opportunity to avenge itself in about 15 months, with a couple possible scintillating matchups ahead.