Arizona basketball coach Tommy Lloyd discusses his selective recruiting philosophy

By bringing in top-rated guard Shaedon Sharpe for an official visit this weekend, Arizona has already hosted all the Class of 2022 recruits it has offered scholarships to before the fall stretch run begins.

That’s in part because the Wildcats are believed to have only offered four players in the 2022 class: Sharpe; Jaden Bradley of Rochester, New York; Collin Chandler of Farmington, Utah; and Gilbert forward Dylan Anderson, who committed in April. Bradley, Chandler and Anderson all visited in June.

That’s it. In an era when Arizona and many other high-major teams turn over roughly half their rosters every spring, the Wildcats have offered … four players.

Of course, first-year coach Tommy Lloyd was known for strong international recruiting ties as a longtime Gonzaga assistant, and there’s always a chance he is chasing other 2022 targets across Europe below the recruiting radar.

Plus hundreds of more transfers pop up every spring, should Lloyd want to pursue more players for 2022-23 at that point. And Lloyd has made it clear that he’s bracing for the possibility that future NCAA sanctions could reduce the amount of scholarships he has to offer in the first place.

But in general, Lloyd says he’s following a selective recruiting strategy in which he only offers players he is dead serious about. Gone are the days when Arizona would offer two, three or even four scholarships for every available spot — something that can require different levels of “priority” within those offers.

Here’s what you need to know about Arizona’s new recruiting approach, in Lloyd’s own words:

While Lloyd cannot discuss individual targets or his reported offers, he explained his recruiting philosophy in a recent interview with the Star.

“At the end of the day, to me an offer is a really valuable thing, and there’s significance to it. And just because you don’t offer a kid doesn’t mean you don’t think he’s a good player or whatnot. A lot of this comes down to timing and opportunity and the structure of our roster.

“I’ve told people over and over, my No. 1 priority has been to the returning guys in this program, to make sure that their situation and their opportunities here will have a great chance to be fulfilled. I take that responsibility seriously. So I pour as much as I can into the returning players and I’m excited that they came back. I’m honored that they decided to stay here.

“When it comes to recruiting, my deal is that Arizona’s an elite program and I think offers need to have an exclusivity to them. There’s got to be a real value in them and people know when they get offered from Arizona, that we’ve put a ton of thought into it and we really envision that person being really successful in this program.

“It’s just an approach that that I’ve decided to take at this point. As we navigate and move the program forward, that plan may stay the same or we may we may change it a little bit. But I feel really good about it at this point.”

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However, Lloyd said with a chuckle, this philosophy might be “frustrating” for media looking for a constant drip of recruiting news to feed readership.

“Recruiting is a really important part of college basketball. But I think fans tend to overvalue it a little bit and at the end of the day, I want them to be really excited about the players that are here. That’s where I want their energy to go more towards, as opposed to their energy and distraction going to players that may or may not come here.

“Recruiting is a tough business. I’ve done it for 20 years. I know the ins and outs of it. And to me it’s something that I’ve always felt more comfortable handling between us and the families and their circle of friends, as opposed to doing it publicly.”

In addition to offering a handful of prospects from U.S. schools, Lloyd indicated he may be after others across the pond.

“I mean, common sense, look at my track record. Eventually I’d like to have this roster where we have, 50-50 U.S.-international guys or 60-40 – 60% U.S. guys and 40% international. Eventually we’d like to get there and we’re always gonna scour the globe for guys that we think are the best fit — that means character-wise and talent-wise to help Arizona basketball.

Outside of the prep schools — including Glendale Dream City, where Sharpe now plays — Arizona doesn’t have same number of recruitable players in its backyard that UCLA, Washington or even Cal has. That’s why Lloyd’s ability to recruit internationally appeared to be one of the reasons why UA hired him, and why he chose the job.

“It’s changing. Arizona high school basketball is really on the upkick. But definitely that approach is something that we talked about, when we were talking about this job, kind of my overall recruiting philosophies and how it could fit here.

“I think it’s a great fit. You look at how NBA teams are constructing their rosters now and it’s really talented American players and really talented international players. Literally every team has a significant international player or two or three on their roster. It’s a world game now, so why not take advantage of that?”

Lloyd has been open about the possibility that future NCAA sanctions might cut the number of scholarships he can offer down from the maximum of 13. He’s especially careful not to offer too many players.

“Obviously that’s part of the equation that I’m going to consider when I’m making decisions. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’m trying to be prepared as best I can because, at the end of the day, I inherited an incredible program.

“We’re navigating through some NCAA issues but I want to make sure that at the end of this process, when we try to know what’s going to happen and work through some of the NCAA sanctions that may be coming, that the program’s in position to move forward and be as strong as it’s ever been.”