Not only are the Arizona Wildcats without only one player in the preseason -- guard Pelle Larsson, who broke his foot last month -- but new coach Tommy Lloyd said all Wildcats players and staffers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
During UA's annual preseason media day Wednesday at McKale Center, Lloyd did not flinch when asked what his team's vaccination numbers were.
"One hundred," he said, then said that it was the case with both players and staff.
While Lloyd said it still isn't clear exactly when Larsson will return, the Wildcats' transfer guard from Sweden via Utah said he hopes to be playing in time for the season opener.
"I'm gonna take as much time as I need, obviously, to be safe, because I don't want any trouble later in the season," Larsson said. "But my goal is to play in the opener, hopefully."
Larsson, who said his foot felt pain last season at Utah and finally snapped during a training camp with the Swedish national team last month, said he has been shooting and doing rehab work while carefully adding more steps.
"It's depending on if I feel any pain, which I haven't throughout the whole process," Larsson said. "I'm not trying to rush it so it's step by step on the court and there's a lot of things I can do with the team off the court."
Larsson is expected to play a major role at both guard spots, while Lloyd made it clear that returning guard Kerr Kriisa will be primarily a point guard after playing eight games mostly off the ball with the presence of James Akinjo last season.
"I mean, Kerr is a point guard, and whoever created his narrative that he's not a point guard ... maybe he's not a point guard for certain people's flavors, but for me I love it," Lloyd said. "He's able to play fast, the ball gets in and out of his hands quickly, and on top of that he's a great shooter.
"And the way we're moving our bodies and moving the ball, I think he's going to be adept at making the reads we need to be made on ball screens. On top of that, I feel really good that we have some other guys that are good ball handlers and decision makers. Kerr might be the primary point, then after that it might be more of a little bit of a shared responsibility."
