for 2011–12's third season, arizona's 2011 recruiting class was ranked 7th, notably signing nick johnson and josiah turner. arizona secured three players in the top nine of the espnu 100, with all four newly signed players in the top 36. this cemented arizona as the no. 1 signing class nationally, surpassing kentucky who held the no. 1 spot 2010 and 2011. the wildcats missed the postseason for the second time, reached to the nit tournament before falling to bucknell to finish the season 23–12 overall, 12–6 in pac-12.