The 2016–17 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by eighth-year head coach Sean Miller, and played their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members in the Pac-12 Conference. Coming into the '16-'17 season Arizona has been ranked in 78-consecutive AP polls & 81-straight coaches polls. The 97-consecutive weeks in the AP poll is currently the second-longest streak in the nation behind Kansas at 161 weeks. They have been ranked every week in the 2016-2017 season, bringing those totals to 97 weeks for the AP & 100 weeks for the coaches poll. Arizona won its first 10 conference games, the best start since the '97-'98 season when they started 16-0. They finished the season with at record of 31–4, tied at 16–2 with Oregon in Pac-12 play for first place to win their 3rd Pac-12 regular season championship title for the 15th time. The Wildcats entered the Pac-12 Tournament as a 2-seed, the Wildcats defeated 7-seed Colorado in the quarterfinals, 3-seed UCLA in the semifinals and 1-seed Oregon in the championship game, Wildcats won their 2nd Pac-12 Tournament championship title for the 6th time since 2002. Arizona received as an automatic bid to the 5th straight NCAA Tournament as a 2-seed in the West regional, The Arizona Wildcats defeated the 15-seed North Dakota 100–82 in the first round, 7-seed Saint Mary's 69–60 in the second round and losing to Xavier 71–73 in the Sweet Sixteen.
Previous season
The Wildcats finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 25–9, 12–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie with California for third place. The Wildcats entered the Pac-12 Tournament as a 4 seed where they beat Colorado in the quarterfinals, but fell in the semifinals to Oregon in overtime. Arizona received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the program's 33rd overall appearance, as a No. 6 seed in the South Region. They lost in the First Round to Wichita State.
Off-season
Incoming transfers
2016 Recruiting class
Arizona's recruiting class has been ranked among the top 5 in the nation. However, due to eligibility concerns, five-star recruit Terrance Ferguson chose to play internationally and not attend Arizona.
Personnel
Roster
Aug 24, 2016 – Talbott Denny will miss the 2016–17 season after tearing his left ACL.
Nov 1, 2016 – Allonzo Trier suspended indefinitely for an test positive for PED. On Jan. 20, it was announced Trier would make his return for the UCLA game after 19 game absence.
Nov 1, 2016 – Sean Miller announced in a statement that Chance Comanche suspended indefinitely due to academic reasons. Suspension was lifted by season opener.
Nov 3, 2016 – Ray Smith tore his ACL in his right knee in the team's first exhibition game on November 1. Two days later, Smith announced on Twitter that he will end his basketball career.
Nov 30, 2016 – Parker Jackson-Cartwright suffered a high ankle sprain during game against Texas Southern. Made return for conference opener on December 30.
