While trying to meet just about everyone at McKale Center over his first full week on the job, new Arizona menβs basketball coach Tommy Lloyd landed two commitments, pulled one starter out of the transfer portal and another one off the fence while retaining two assistant coaches.
Heβs been busy.
βItβs been an awesome first week,β Lloyd said. βBut Iβm not a big, like, look-back guy. Iβm like, βWhatβs coming next?ββ
A lot, still.
The Wildcats have 11 players currently lined up for next season, plus a commitment from Gilbert Perry High School stretch-four Dylan Anderson for 2022-23. But they still need at least two more players for next season, with a particular need in the backcourt.
Here are five likely items on Lloydβs latest to-do list:
1. Keep securing the roster
By not firing former coach Sean Miller until five weeks after the season ended β and two days after Lloyd finished up his postseason work with Gonzaga β Arizona might have kept the bulk of its players from deeply exploring the transfer portal.
Terrell Brown (Washington), Jemarl Baker (Fresno State), James Akinjo (Baylor) and Daniel Batcho (undecided) all firmly entered the portal, while guard Kerr Kriisa didnβt enter it until the day after Lloyd was hired β and then withdrew a week later after getting to know the new coach and his uptempo style of play.
βRun it back,β Kriisa posted to Twitter on Wednesday evening.
Kriisaβs decision instantly gave Lloyd some ballhandling, shooting and the kind of defensive toughness that endeared him to Miller while playing the final month of the season.
Combined with Bennedict Mathurinβs announcement Friday evening that he will return for his sophomore season, Lloyd could inherit four of five returning starters β Kriisa, Bennedict Mathurin, Azuolas Tubelis and Christian Koloko β plus key reserves Dalen Terry and Jordan Brown to field a possible top-25 team right away.
If, that is, Lloyd he can convince them to fit into his new system. It was a good sign for Lloyd that all of those six players attended his initial workouts last week.
βThe kids have been busy with school but itβs been fun to get out on the court with them,β Lloyd said. βI really like what Iβm seeing and β¦ I have positive vibes and feeling with everybody thatβs on the roster.
βNow, does that guarantee anything? No. Not in this day and age. But I do feel good.β
2. Consider the signees
Arizona already granted a release to one of its three fall signees β guard K.J. Simpson of Northridge, California β while the future of the other two remains in doubt. In-person recruiting is prohibited until June, meaning Lloyd has to evaluate signees Shane Dezonie and Shane Nowell virtually, while they have to do the same with a coach they did not sign to play for.
Jason Smith, who coaches Dezonie at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, said Dezonie has been in communication with Lloyd and that he didnβt think Dezonie would be asking for a release.
Brent Merritt, who coaches Nowell at Eastside Catholic High School in suburban Seattle, said he wasnβt sure if Nowell would want to remain. But Merritt said it βwould be a huge helpβ if UA assistant coach Jason Terry returned, since Terry was a key factor in Nowellβs recruitment. The UA has announced that Terry will be back.
Bennedict Mathurin announced Friday night that he will return for his sophomore year, citing unfinished business.
3. Hire a third assistant
While Lloyd retained Terry and associate head coach Jack Murphy from Millerβs staff, he said he would be hiring a new assistant to take over the spot that Danny Peters held the past three seasons.
Doing so will allow Lloyd to mix in a coach he knows well with the strong UA ties of Murphy and Terry.
βThereβs definitely gonna be a new person in that spot,β Lloyd said. βI have some ideas, and then just kind of letting some things play out a little bit.β
Lloyd was given a $1.05 million salary budget for his three full-time assistants, meaning he will have up to $615,000 to offer the new hire β assuming Murphy ($335,000) and Terry ($280,000) remain under the same contracts theyβre under through April 2022.
Peters is also under contract through April 2022, so UA will owe him the prorated portion of a $275,000 annual salary until then, minus the amount of any salary Peters makes in basketball next season.
4. Chase TyTy, then keep spinning the globe (and the transfer portal)
Even with Kriisa and Mathurin committed to returning next season, plus the addition of Gonzaga transfer center Oumar Ballo, the Wildcats still have at least two openings for 2021-22. Kriisa is the only proven ballhandler.
James Akinjoβs transfer to Baylor might actually help the Wildcats land four-star point guard TyTy Washington of Phoenix Compass Prep. Washington has also been considering Baylor, as well as Kansas, Kentucky, LSU and Oregon.
Washington told ESPNβs Paul Biancardi last week that playing near home would be convenient for his family. He said heβs been FaceTiming with Lloyd twice a day β and is being badgered by Dalen Terry.
βMe and Dalen have been good friends since like second grade, and we played on the same AAU team in seventh and eighth grade,β Washington said, βso heβs been trying to recruit me to go there and all that.β
Lloyd also has room to add at least one other player this spring, even if he lands Washington or a guard out of the transfer portal.
Once in-person recruiting is allowed again in June, all four coaches are expected to hit the ground running to chase anybody else they might still need for next season, plus younger players.
For Lloyd and Murphy, that will also include turf around the world. Both have strong international recruiting connections, and Lloyd may still be boarding a transatlantic flight or two despite the time constraints of being a head coach.
βWeβre gonna rely on every pool of recruits,β Lloyd said. βObviously, Jack and I both have track records over there and so weβll continue to talk to people that we both know over there. But Iβm not gonna stop recruiting because Iβm a head coach. I plan on being really active in recruiting and as Jasonβs growing as a coach, kind of helping him learn this recruiting game.
βAt Arizona itβs going to be all hands on deck with recruiting, and Iβm definitely going to be leading the charge and helping the newer guys.β
5. Reorganize the rest of the staff
Miller essentially oversaw three on-campus basketball staffers: Ryan Reynolds, the UAβs assistant athletic director for basketball operations; David Miller, the director of on-campus recruiting and development; and Anthony Richards, the director of student-athlete development. (Strength coach Chris Rounds and athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie work with menβs basketball, but technically belong to different departments.)
In the past week, UA has posted job openings for director of menβs basketball operations, director of player development and director of advanced scouting. Since a head coach can only offer three assistants jobs on the floor, those working in basketball operations, analytics and player development are often coaches-in-waiting.
βThere definitely is a reorganization going on down here,β Lloyd said.
Lloyd has a salary budget of $285,000 total for non-coaching staffers such as operations, on-campus recruiting and analytics (it does not include administrative assistants, managers and graduate assistants). He could end up with three to five total staffers in those areas.
Itβs possible the current non-coaching UA basketball staffers might be shuffled around if they donβt seek other jobs, and Lloyd said Reynolds has been an βamazing assetβ during the transition so far.
A transition that, undoubtedly, will continue to go on for a while.
βI feel good where weβre at after one week,β Lloyd said. βI look forward to kind of writing my next steps down and kind of start attacking those here in the coming weeks.β
