Arizona’s frontcourt plans may already be in flux.
RJ Godfrey, who had committed to the Wildcats after being awarded a fifth year of eligibility in a Georgia lawsuit, is now ineligible after the Georgia Court of Appeals granted the NCAA’s stay request. The appeal is still ongoing, but for the moment, Godfrey and the other plaintiffs are no longer eligible to practice or compete in college athletics while the case plays out.
That latest turn matches what has happened in the federal Colorado case, along with similar lawsuits in Ohio and Tennessee, as the NCAA’s fight with the class of 2022 keeps bouncing through the courts. The Georgia Court of Appeals issued a stay of the injunction granted to five-for-five plaintiffs in the Godfrey case, joining the courts of appeal in Ohio and Tennessee (plus the Tenth Circuit in Wisne). pic.twitter.com/IleR205kGH
For Arizona, the timing is rough. Godfrey had been projected to start at power forward, giving Tommy Lloyd a rugged 6-foot-7 presence next to Mo Krivas, Ivan Kharchenkov, Caleb Holt, and Derek Dixon. Now the Wildcats have to sort out a replacement plan.
One possibility is moving Kharchenkov up to the four and sliding 4-star freshman Cameron Holmes into the starting five at the three. Holmes, ranked No. 36 in the 2026 class by 247Sports, brings size at 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan and profiles as a useful two-way role player. He’s also the brother of DaRon Holmes, who was an All-American at Dayton before heading to the NBA.
Holmes doesn’t figure to be asked to carry too much as a freshman, which makes him a natural fit alongside Krivas, Kharchenkov, and Holt, all of whom need their share of touches. The tradeoff is in the backcourt, where Arizona would become thinner and would need more from Bryce James and JJ Mandaquit.
Another route would be to keep Kharchenkov on the wing and start one of the international forwards, most likely Maksim Brnovic or Ugnius Jarusevicius, next to Krivas.
Brnovic is 6-foot-10 and spent last season with BC Zalgiris in Lithuania, where he averaged 8.1 points and 3.2 rebounds. He also logged plenty of minutes for Lloyd on the team’s foreign tour, which makes him look like the leading candidate if Arizona sticks with Ivan at small forward.
Jarusevicius brings a different resume. The 6-foot-10 forward is on his fourth college program after stops at Cal-State Bakersfield, Central Michigan, and Nebraska.
His Nebraska season ended after one game, when he put up seven points and two blocks in 11 minutes before a back injury sidelined him for the rest of the year. Before that, he was strong at Central Michigan, averaging 16.2 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting a MAC-best 53.7% from the field.
Any of Holmes, Brnovic, Jarusevicius, and Idaho State transfer Evan Otten could end up with a bigger role if Godfrey is out for part or all of the 2026-27 season.
The legal battle isn’t finished yet. Godfrey and the rest of the plaintiffs will seek a reversal from the Georgia Court of Appeals, while also defending against the NCAA’s appeal. So while he’s out for now, the situation could still change before the season starts - or even after it begins.
Arizona’s annual Red-Blue Showcase is set for Sep. 26, and the Wildcats open the season Nov. 2 against UCLA at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 7:00 PM PT.
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His recruitment now has the feel of a true five-team fight, with Arizona among the schools still in the mix alongside UConn, Florida, Michigan and Michigan State. The next move will matter, too, with Awaka set for an official visit to UConn this weekend as the race for one of the better defensive bigs in the class keeps tightening. [Read more 🡒]