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Arizona head coach Sean Miller discusses upcoming Bahamas trip (VIDEO)

Sean Miller

Arizona head coach Sean Miller watches his team during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Bryant in Tucson, Ariz., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. Arizona won 100-60. (AP Photo/Wily Low)

AP

Seven Pac-12 teams will take off-season trips outside of the country in the next couple of weeks, with three possible contenders among that group.

UCLA is headed to China, Colorado to Europe (the Netherlands, Belgium and France) and Arizona will embark on a trip to the Bahamas.

Head coach Sean Miller offered his thoughts on the team as they approach the trip, touching on how the practices have gone and how well the newcomers have incorporated themselves into the program among many topics.

While they all aren’t young Arizona has eight newcomers heading into the 2012-13 season, so the off-season trip to the Bahamas couldn’t come at a better time.

Xavier transfer Mark Lyons is the odds-on favorite to be the team’s starting point guard, and the trip will give him game reps with his new teammates.

Then there are the newcomers in the paint, with Brandon Ashley, Grant Jerrett and Kaleb Tarczewski all having the talent needed to be stars either as freshmen or down the line.

How well they adjust to the college game, and how much sophomore Angelo Chol has progressed since last season, will be a key factor when it comes to figuring out Arizona’s ceiling.

Senior forward Solomon Hill is a Pac-12 Player of the Year candidate, Nick Johnson has a great amount of talent and the health of Jordin Mayes and Kevin Parrom isn’t the issue that it was last season.

Could this trip to the Bahamas be the springboard that Arizona needs to return to the top of the conference? Time will tell.

Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.