Still just 18, Arizona's Adama Bal expected to have bigger role as a sophomore

Just 17 years old as an Arizona freshman a year ago, French wing Adama Bal played a predictably limited role.

He stayed on the bench most of the season and made a splash toward the end, especially after guard Kerr Kriisa became limited by a high ankle sprain in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Bal ran into the same problem over the summer. At 18, he was enlisted to play for France in the FIBA U20 European Championships. There, he played alongside and against players up to three years older than he was; FIBA rules state that players must be 20 or younger only on Jan. 1 to play in U20 events in the same year.

Not surprisingly, considering the age gap and France’s deep well of young talent, Bal was asked to come off the bench in the U20s. But this time he made an even bigger impact than he did at UA last season.

Bal averaged 19.6 minutes over seven games in the U20 European Championships, and started a consolation-bracket game against Croatia.

“It was a coaches’ choice but it didn’t really bother me that much because I got to play a lot of minutes and it was a really good team,” Bal said Tuesday.

France wound up finishing fifth thanks in no small part because of Bal’s efforts. In the consolation bracket game against Croatia on July 23, he had 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting and hit both 3s he took in France’s 83-71 win.

A day later, Bal helped France beat Turkey 84-65 to finish in fifth place, scoring 15 points while hitting 3 of 5 3-pointers. Turkey’s roster included both former UA wing Tibet Gorener, who had 22 points, and incoming UCLA freshman Adem Bona, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Bal averaged 9.6 points and 1.1 rebounds over the seven games while shooting 43.8% overall and 37.9% from 3-point range.

“That was a great experience,” Bal said. “You get to play against the best European players and a lot were older than me. It really helped my confidence.”

Even though he’s 18 until December, Bal is expected to play at least the same sort of major reserve role for the Wildcats now.

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Arizona lost Bennedict Mathurin, Dalen Terry and Justin Kier from the backcourt, while Bal and projected starter Pelle Larsson are expected to play bigger roles this season alongside Texas grad transfer Courtney Ramey and incoming freshman Kylan Boswell.

“I’m expecting him to really help the team,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said of Bal. “Adama is somebody that I really like and I’ve continued to ask him to make changes and grow certain areas of his game that aren’t easy changes to make and he seems to embrace them.

“We’re kind of working through those processes right now. But I feel by the time November comes, I think he’s going to be a mainstay and will have an opportunity to impact every single game.”

Converted carnivore

Growing up in Estonia, freshman center Henri Veesaar said he didn’t have much of a taste for beef.

That changed after he spent the past three years in Spain playing for Real Madrid’s developmental club. Maybe that’s sort of unavoidable in a city where taller bar patrons might have to duck to avoid a hanging ham or where a display of hooves sometimes greets restaurant diners.

“The level that they grill at and make meat is amazing,” Veesaar said. “It’s so high quality.”

Marketing-minded GA added

After working as an undergraduate marketing aide in Gonzaga’s athletic department, Ben Lathwell has been named an Arizona graduate assistant in charge of blasting out the program’s videos and graphics over social media.

Lathwell effectively replaces Nick Colosimo, who left as UA’s branding director for a similar role at Duke. Lathwell will pursue a graduate degree in marketing within the Eller College of Management.