By the time Tommy Lloyd returned last week from the French Riviera, where he attended the wedding of former Gonzaga star Domantas Sabonis, a few holes had poked through his new Arizona Wildcats roster.
One of his best new players, combo guard Pelle Larsson, broke his foot. After flirting with the NBA during its summer league, assistant coach Jason Terry took off to coach a G League team. The hiring of Suns player development coach Ricky Fois as a third assistant kept dragging on, leaving just one full-time assistant, Jack Murphy, on Lloyd’s staff. And there was still an opening for another scholarship player.
Meanwhile, school started Monday, meaning the Wildcats are only five weeks away from beginning full-length preseason workouts.
But, the way Lloyd explained it Monday, there are no worries. For one thing, Lloyd has already said he may keep the final scholarship spot open, partly so UA can accommodate a potential midseason transfer.
Here’s why Lloyd says he’s not worried about the other issues, either:
While UA is not specifying a return for Larsson’s foot injury, Lloyd said Larsson has already had surgery on it in Tucson. Larsson shut it down shortly after pain surfaced while trying out for Sweden’s national team earlier this month, so he could be already a week or two toward recovery.
A standard broken foot could cost a basketball player 8-12 weeks from the point of surgery, suggesting Larsson could return in mid- to late-October, in plenty of time for Arizona’s Nov. 9 season opener against NAU. Moreover, Larsson also spent much of the summer in Tucson, so he already knows Lloyd’s system.
“I don’t know exactly when it ‘happened happened,’ but I got a text and talked to him about it,” Lloyd said. “Then we kind of worked together and he got it taken care of with a surgery, which is what a lot of those guys do for those types of things. It’s a common type of foot injury. Nothing crazy, nothing alarming.
“It was a cumulative deal and it just finally had its breaking point. It’s one of those things where, as a coach, it’s never a good thing but the timing isn’t the worst, either. We’re expecting him to be back for at 100% for a majority of the season. … a lot of times, healing these types of injuries is kind of an individual thing, but I’m expecting him to play in most of our games and hopefully be at 100%. I don’t know if that means he plays in the (Nov. 1) exhibition game. That’s something that will get worked out.”
Lloyd said he has “100%” decided to hire Fois as a full-time assistant pending the formal hiring process, which appears to also involve his work visa. Fois, 34, is an Italian citizen, though he played for Pepperdine and has worked on the staffs at Pepperdine, Gonzaga and the Suns.
The hiring process could take at least another two or three weeks, though Fois is expected to be on hand when full practices begin in late September.
Ricky Fois
While Fois was set to fill the third assistant coach spot, Terry’s departure created another opening. Lloyd said he supported the move.
“Jason got an opportunity that kind of came out of nowhere and it’s something that he feels puts him on the path for what he wants to do for his career, which is potentially be an NBA head coach,” Lloyd said. “I’m 100% supportive of him doing that. He and I had conversations previously, while it was happening and after it happened, so I’m really excited for him. He’s a great guy. I was looking forward to working with him, but I’m happy that he’s pursuing the path that he really wants to attack.”
Lloyd also supported Terry’s decision to attend the NBA summer league — he reportedly was part of the Dallas Mavericks contingent — saying that Terry did so when some downtime arose at UA.
“He recruited with us all through July and did workouts — he did everything that everybody else did,” Lloyd said. “So I don’t think there was anything weird about it at all. I feel really good about it for him and opportunity.”
While Lloyd has two non-coaching assistants on staff with college coaching experience — TJ Benson and Jason Gardner — he is expected to consider hiring an older assistant with more high-major coaching experience to replace Terry.
“Everything’s on the table,” Lloyd said. “We will definitely have somebody in place by the time we get ripping and roaring here in a few weeks.”
