After two full weeks on the job, Tommy Lloyd is still going full speed. He has three coach-in-waiting job openings still posted on the UA website plus a third fulltime assistant coach position to fill.
The new UA head coach also still has at least three roster openings, with Tibet Gorener having entered the transfer portal and more movement still possible.
Meanwhile, former Gonzaga walk-on player Rem Bakamus appeared to say goodbye to Baylor, where he was a graduate assistant for three seasons. With a close tie to Lloyd, he's long been speculated as a potential fit to join Arizona in some capacity.
Lloyd has one fulltime assistant coaching job open, plus roles in basketball operations, player development and advanced scouting -- all of which are often filled by aspiring coaches.
(FWIW, Lloyd wasΒ quoted in The AthleticΒ last monthΒ talking about the success of Gonzaga's former basketball operations directors, a role currently held byΒ Jorge Sanz, a formerΒ assistant at Florida Atlantic.)
Gonzaga backup guard Aaron Cook entered the transfer portal. He averaged 4.2 points and 1.7 assists for the Zags last season, playing an average of 13.4 minutes a game while shooting 35.0% from 3-point range.
Cook broke his hand six games into the 2019-20 season while playing for Southern Illinois and redshirted, but his 4.0 assist average in 2018-19 was second-best in the Missouri Valley Conference.
On Arizona's current 2021-22 roster, there are three more allowable scholarships as of now. But signees Shane Nowell and Shane Dezonie still appear tentative and the Wildcats could leave a longterm scholarship spot or two open since they may face potential NCAA scholarship limitations in the future.
Here's how it looks now with 10 players lined up at the moment:
Name/Year/Height/Weight/Hometown
POSTS
Azoulas Tubelis/So./6-10/240/Vilnius, Lithuania
Christian Koloko/Jr./7-0/220/Douala, Cameroon
Jordan Brown/Jr./6-11/240/Roseville, California
Oumar Ballo/So./7-0/260/Koulikoro, Mali
WINGS
Bennedict Mathurin/So./6-6/195/Montreal
Shane Nowell/Fr./6-5/190/Bellevue, Washington
Dalen Terry/So./6-7/190/Phoenix
Tautvilas Tubelis/So./607/210/Vilnius, Lithuania
Shane Dezonie/Fr./6-4/190/Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania
POINT/COMBO GUARDS
Kerr Kriisa/So./6-2/165/Tartu, Estonia
The Section 7 recruiting event will return to the Phoenix area in June after being canceled last summer because of the pandemic.
Featuring 150 high school teams from around the region -- many of which have Division I prospects -- it is expected to be one of the big early draws for coaches who will be able to resume off-campus recruiting in June.
The NCAA's recruiting calendar is essentially the second year of a new look inspired by the Rice commission recommendations, which drastically cut back on club/shoe ball events, since all of 2020 was wiped out by the pandemic.
On the 2021 summer calendar, coaches will be able to evaluate "scholastic" competitions (regular high schools) over the final two weekends of June, as well as July 8-11 for shoe/club events (Peach Jam, etc.), and during the July 20-25 NCAA basketball academies.
Considering that Verbal Commits counted 1473 players in the transfer portal as of Tuesday afternoon, it's not a surprise that Damon Stoudamire would like a different sort of recruiting event.
