Clutching a dry erase board and EXPO marker, Caleb Love reversed roles for an afternoon: He was a head coach.
Love, Arizonaβs incoming transfer combo guard from North Carolina, was an honorary coach last weekend at the Tucson Summer Pro League, a weekend summer league for middle school-aged local basketball players founded and organized by ex-Wildcat Corey Williams. The league has boys and girls divisions.
βAnytime you rub shoulders with an athlete thatβs playing at the level you want to get to, especially a guy playing for your hometown team, I think itβs inspirational,β Williams said. βI met key athletes along the way and the first thing you do is imagine being them, and that imagination drives kids when theyβre working out, when theyβre tired to wake up early and get shots up. ... It serves as motivation.β
Love coached against fellow transfer and former San Diego State forward Keshad Johnson. Loveβs team frittered away a 10-point lead and lost in overtime.
βSimilar situations that Iβve been in throughout my career,β Love said, βbut itβs just fun seeing these girls compete and have fun.β
Arizona, finally
Coaching youth hoopers in Tucson and spending the summer in the desert heat (yeah, but itβs a dry heat) isnβt how Love initially envisioned his offseason going when he entered the transfer portal in late March.
In fact, Love passed up on Arizona twice, with two different coaching regimes. The St. Louis native and five-star guard signed to play for North Carolina in 2020, a time when the Wildcatsβ postseason future hung in the balance amid a federal investigation that later evolved into a NCAA infractions case. Arizona took a self-imposed postseason ban during Loveβs first year in college, then fired head coach Sean Miller, replacing him with Tommy Lloyd.
Love said Arizonaβs postseason fate βkind of hindered me coming here the first time.β
βIt was hectic,β he said. βWhen I entered the portal this last go-around, it was even more hectic than last time.β
Over his three-year career at North Carolina, the 6-4 Love averaged 14.6 points on 31.7% shooting from 3-point range, 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game. In North Carolinaβs run to the national championship in 2022, Love scored 30 points in the Tar Heelsβ Sweet 16 victory over UCLA and 28 points against arch rival Duke in the Final Four β Mike Krzyzewskiβs last game as head coach of the Blue Devils. However, Love followed up his promising performance by shooting 5 for 24 in the β22 national championship.
After averaging a career-high 16.7 points in North Carolinaβs disappointing 2022-23 season that began with the Tar Heels as the top-ranked team in college basketball β and ended with UNC missing the NCAA Tournament β Love entered the transfer portal and committed to Michigan to play for Juwan Howard.
Love didnβt have enough transferrable credits to academically transfer to Michigan, putting him back on the market.
βCaleb made the decision to go somewhere else, and we were involved with him early,β Lloyd said. βNothing wrong happened the first time around, he just had a previous relationship with Michigan and they recruited him out of high school. He went there, and they were unable to work it out academically for whatever reason.
βWe got his stuff and heβs a solid student, and the University of Arizona had no problem putting together a plan for him. We were fortunate. Caleb is a proven player, and heβs been great. Heβs been a real joy to be around and a great teammate, fun to work with, and weβre going to operate on that plane. We havenβt seen anything different.β
Lloyd said the Wildcats βwere unaware and did not get far enough in the recruitment the first time around to get involved with the transcripts and stuff like that.β
βWe got him, and there was nothing shocking or surprising on our end,β he said. βIt was a transfer as usual for us.β
Loveβs rΓ«sumΓ« stands out, though.
βI donβt know how many guys can say they scored 30 in (a Sweet 16) game and then in a Final Four game, 28 points. You obviously have to be a good player to do that,β Lloyd said. βHeβs accomplished, heβs been there and done that, but heβs also been on the other side where things have gotten tough.
βWe look forward to integrating him into our program and making him a part of our culture and helping him have a great experience. Thatβs all weβre focused on.β
βHere for a reasonβ
When Love was in the transfer portal for a second time this offseason, βeverything lined upβ for him to join Arizona and reunite with assistant coach Steve Robinson, who recruited Love to UNC.
βWe kept in touch even when he left. Coach Robinson is a great coach and a great person,β Love said. βIβm leaning on him to take care of me and things like that. He gave me his word, and Iβm just looking forward to it and I canβt wait to see the whole squad together. ... I just felt like with Coach Lloyd and the staff and Arizona as a whole, they have culture. Itβs a family, and the system fits me best.β
Although Love is a newbie, heβs the most experienced player in Arizonaβs backcourt. Starting point guard Kylan Boswell and Alabama transfer Jaden Bradley are entering their second season in college. So is returner Filip Borovicanin. KJ Lewis and Conrad Martinez are incoming freshmen.
βIβm an experienced guard who played in the national championship game. Iβve been in college for three years, so I know how the game is played and I can help the freshmen coming in,β Love said. βI feel like I can be a leading guard and facilitate, show that I can be efficient and get after it on the defensive side.β
So how will Love fit in? Veteran wing Pelle Larsson is back for another season. With Bradley joining Boswell in the backcourt, Love could conceivably come off the bench. Or Arizona could roll out a βHouse of Guardsβ lineup with Boswell, Bradley and Love, plus Larsson β who is a former Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year and played effectively when he came off the bench in the second half of last season β as a de facto sixth starter.
βItβs all up to Coach Lloyd,β Love said. βWhatever fits the team best, thatβs what Iβm going to do.β
Lloyd said the 2023-24 Wildcats βdonβt have a lot guys with jagged edges.β
βI think we have a lot of pieces, and I think theyβll fit well together,β he said. βI feel really good when I look at our roster and how certain individuals complement each other.
βI think from top to bottom, weβre elite. I feel like thereβs no drop-off from one to 13. We can go that deep, and itβs going to be scary when we put it together.
βI didnβt plan any of this, but itβs Godβs plan. Iβm here for a reason, and I feel like this year is going to be a great year, for sure.β