Already with two of college basketball’s best post players, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd added one of his favorite bigs to the roster Wednesday.
That is, former Gonzaga standout center Przemek Karnowski joined the Wildcats as a graduate assistant coach.
Having helped the Zags reach the 2017 Final Four in Phoenix, Karnowski is still just 29 but Lloyd said the Polish 7-footer has been facing a series of injury issues that are forcing him to stay away from the game, at least temporarily.
So Karnowski showed up in Tucson on Tuesday night, enrolled in spring semester classes at UA, and showed up for practice Wednesday. He will effectively replace the GA spot vacated by Ryan Anderson, who left last spring to rejoin former UA coach Sean Miller at Xavier as the Musketeers’ director of recruiting.
“There’s a ton of value having a big-man GA. There’s just not a lot of them out there,” Lloyd said of Karnowski after the Wildcats practiced Wednesday. “And obviously he and I have a special relationship, a long history, and unfortunately his body’s not letting him play the game anymore. He’s a heck of a player and he’s young, so he and I talked over the summer and fortunately it’s worked out now so I’m excited about it.”
Karnowski, who played just five games as a junior in 2015-16 because of a back issue that included a bacterial infection, has mostly played in Spanish and Polish leagues since leaving the Zags following the 2016-17 Final Four season. But Lloyd said his injuries flared up again this season, prompting him to consider joining the Wildcats.
While Karnowski wasn’t available for comment, Lloyd said he has been contemplating a move into coaching.
“I’m not saying he won’t play, that he’s done forever,” Lloyd said. “But his body has given him a lot of problems. In college, he had major back surgery and basically he had a he had a disc replaced, and there’s just been a lot — an Achilles injury and knee injuries.
“So he’s finishing up his degree and seeing if this coaching thing works out or (if he’ll be) going into the real world.”
Not only was Karnowski already looking like a coach Wednesday but also a player. As a GA, Karnowski is allowed to participate in on-court coaching and, while practices are normally closed to media, he could be seen banging around on the court with — and instructing — UA bigs Dylan Anderson and Henri Veesaar once media were allowed in toward the end of practice for interviews.
“Shimmy was one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around,” Lloyd said. “He always thought the game like a coach and he’s just a very unique player.”
Lloyd then noted exactly what he meant by unique. Karnowski has, after all, about 300 pounds on his 7-foot frame.
“The beautiful thing about Shimmy is you don’t need a blue (blocking) pad. He just uses his body. So it’ll be great for all of our guys.”
UA sets Ring of Honor dates
Arizona has announced dates for four men’s basketball Ring of Honor inductions, starting with former center Ernie McCray on Saturday during the Wildcats’ game with UCLA.
McCray and former UA forward Al Fleming were already honored, on Feb. 27, 2021, but fans were not allowed at McKale Center that season. So McCray is being invited into McKale Center this weekend while Fleming’s family is scheduled to be on hand for his ceremony on Feb. 2, during UA’s game with Oregon at McKale Center. Fleming passed away in 2003.
Later in February, former UA guard Josh Green (Feb. 16 vs Utah) and former UA forward Zeke Nnaji (Feb. 18 vs. Colorado) will be inducted. Both are expected to be on hand because it is NBA All-Star weekend.
Even though Green and Nnaji played for the Wildcats only during the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season, Nnaji qualified for the Ring of Honor because he was named the Pac-12’s Freshman of the Year that season and Green qualified because he won an Olympic medal (bronze) with Australia.
Funny business
Courtney Ramey hit the 500-rebound mark Saturday at Oregon, making him the second Wildcat on the roster with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds along with Azuolas Tubelis.
Ramey has 1,425 points and 501 rebounds between his four seasons at Texas and his half-season at Arizona, while Tubelis has 1,184 points and 570 rebounds over two and a half seasons at Arizona.
Then there’s reserve forward Cedric Henderson, who has 1,322 points and 477 rebounds over his three seasons at Campbell and half-season with the Wildcats.
But when UA broadcaster Brian Jeffries brought those numbers to Lloyd’s attention during their radio show Monday, that only ratcheted up expectations.
“Now that I know they both have had 500 rebounds, I’m going to be on them to rebound more,” Lloyd said.
When Jeffries told Lloyd that Henderson was merely close to that mark but would get there before the end of the season, Lloyd went on anyway.
“Well, let’s get 15 of them this weekend,” Lloyd said.
As it turned out, Lloyd wasn’t entirely kidding. During an interview Wednesday, Henderson cracked a smile when asked if Lloyd brought up that subject of rebounding.
“Yeah, he did,” Henderson said. “He was like, you’re great crashing offensively. Now let’s see if you can get some defensive rebounds. It’s all all jokes but it’s also serious at the same time.”
On their radar
Maybe because USC lost to Florida Gulf Coast in its season opener, the Trojans haven’t generated a lot of attention so far this season.
But now at 5-2 in Pac-12 play, including a two-point loss at UCLA, the Trojans have caught plenty of attention from the Wildcats, thanks in part to leading scorers Boogie Ellis (15.7 average points per game) and Drew Peterson (13.6), and rim protector Joshua Morgan (2.7 average blocks per game)
“It seems like (being under the radar is) the case a little bit here and there, but they’re a good team,” Lloyd said. They’ve got two really good perimeter players.
“(The 6-9) Drew Peterson is really unique college player and Boogie is a bucket-getter. Morgan’s really coming on inside for them. And those other guys might be role players but they’re talented. They’ve got length and athleticism and talent and they’re aggressive. They’re a handful.”
