The core of Tommy Lloydβs inherited Arizona roster remains mostly intact, but another piece dropped off Monday.
Turkish freshman Tibet Gorener entered the transfer portal, according to Verbal Commits, the sixth player from the Wildcatsβ 2020-21 roster to have done so. However, guard Kerr Kriisa committed to returning a week after he entered the portal, and the Wildcats still have four returning starters from their last game.
Gorener, a 6-foot-8 freshman from Istanbul who played two years of high school ball in Orange County, was a long-term project brought aboard a year ago during the Wildcatsβ overseas recruiting blitz. Arizona added five freshmen from Europe in spring 2020, though Gorener and French forward Daniel Batcho have since left.
Gorener, who was unavailable for comment Monday, played only eight minutes as a freshman last season. He averaged 1.1 points while hitting 3 of 9 3-pointers he took, but then-UA coach Sean Miller indicated he held promise for the future. Gorener went 2 for 3 from 3-point range against NAU on Dec. 5 at McKale Center and 1 of 3 on Jan. 14 at Oregon State.
βAs he gets bigger and stronger down the road, heβs going to be a very good player for us,β Miller said after the NAU game.
While Gorenerβs height made him a difficult player to guard from 3-point range, he was listed at only 200 pounds. Gorener said before the season that he wanted to get up to 220 or 225 pounds, while rounding out the rest of his game.
βMy main goal right now is getting my weight up in the weight room, getting more physical and ... getting better on defense, rebounding the ball better,β Gorener said during a preseason media day interview on Nov. 6. βI can build on my game off my shot. So I feel like I have a good chance to improve this year, and physically and basketball-wise.β
Gorenerβs departure leaves Arizona with 10 players lined up for next season. As of now, the roster includes returning starters Kriisa, Benn Mathurin, Azuolas Tubelis and Christian Koloko plus key reserves Jordan Brown and Dalen Terry. The Wildcats also have wing Tautvilas Tubelis plus Gonzaga transfer Oumar Ballo and two fall signees, Shane Dezonie and Shane Nowell, on their tentative roster.
TyTy takes a look
Five-star guard TyTy Washington watched the Arizona football spring game Saturday, potentially helping the Wildcatsβ chances in landing a much-needed class of 2021 target.
A photo posted to a private Facebook group showed Washington sitting in the Arizona Stadium stands near Mathurin and Gorener while Washington has said heβs also a good friend of Dalen Terry.
While the NCAA has extended its COVID-19-prompted dead period until June 1, meaning recruits cannot have any in-person contact with coaches, dead period rules do not state recruits are prohibited from visiting a campus on their own.
Formerly of Laveen Cesar Chavez High School, Washington is a five-star pick both in 247βs composite rankings (26) and by ESPN (12th overall). Rivals and 247 have Washington a four-star, Rivals at No. 32 overall while 247 has him at No. 33.
Washington has also been considering Baylor, Kentucky, Kansas, LSU and Oregon though Baylor appears less likely now that former Wildcat James Akinjo is headed there.
Lloyd makes the rounds
While doing a handful of media interviews since he was hired on April 14, Lloyd said heβs enjoyed the many introductory duties and meetings heβs had so far.
βIβm welcoming that craziness because I want to meet a lot of people that are going to help me, and I want to help them,β Lloyd told SiriusXMβs Pac-12 radio on Friday. βI want to develop genuine relationships with them because I work best when Iβm friends with people. β¦
βI know sometimes the dynamic between the coaches and the support staff and the administration can be a little rocky. Coaches can be hard to deal with and I donβt want to be like that here. So Iβve really tried to go above and beyond, be myself and really get to know these people, because I know these people do us a great service and I want them to feel good about the work they do that helps me.β
SiriusXM Pac-12 radio host Roxy Bernstein, who also does television play-by-play for Pac-12 games, began the interview by telling Lloyd that a βbirdieβ even told him that on a recent night Lloyd had been buying food and drinks for everybody at Bob Dobbs, a bar/restaurant just east of campus.
βI can neither confirm or deny that rumor,β Lloyd said, chuckling. βBut we had a good time and itβs been great to know everybody here. This is obviously an exciting time for me and Iβve been treated first class. So anything I could do to give back to the great people in Arizona that have been helping me out, Iβll gladly do.β
