Nearly six weeks after he was named Arizona’s new head coach, Tommy Lloyd finally has a little room to breathe.
The Wildcats still have up to three players and two staffers left to add, but Lloyd now appears certain to retain four starters while inherited signee Shane Nowell is staying on board to join new arrivals Oumar Ballo and Adama Bal.
Brent Merritt, Nowell’s coach at Eastside Catholic High School in the Seattle area, confirmed Monday that Nowell is staying with the Wildcats after committing to former UA coach Sean Miller and signing a letter-of-intent in November. Nowell joins a perimeter that will now include returning starters Kerr Kriisa and Bennedict Mathurin along with sophomore Dalen Terry, Utah transfer Pelle Larsson and Bal, the 6-foot-6 combo guard from Paris.
Among the possibilities to join that group are Georgia transfer Justin Kier, who may pick Thursday between UA, Oklahoma, Marquette, Utah, Penn State on Thursday, according to Stockrisers.
A graduate transfer who earlier played at George Mason, Kier started all 25 games he played in last season while averaging 9.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 36.6% from 3-point range.
In the frontcourt, UA also may add help around returning starters Azuolas Tubelis and Christian Koloko plus Ballo, the 7-footer from Mali who transferred from Gonzaga.
“We’re continuing to fill out the roster, but I like the core of our team,” Lloyd said. “I like the position we’re in.”
Of course, Lloyd is also busy with the 2022 class. He has a commitment from Phoenix-area stretch forward Dylan Anderson, while 247Sports.com's Wildcat Authority said UA reached out Sunday to three-star class of 2022 power forward Braedon Moore.
Tubelis twins to compete for Lithuania
Azuolas and Tautvilas Tubelis were both named to the preliminary roster of Lithuania’s U19 World Cup team last week, giving the Wildcats potentially five players in the prestigious FIBA event in July.
Along with the Tubelis brothers, who returned to their home country last month, the Wildcats could also be represented by wing Mathurin (Canada), Ballo (Mali) and possibly Terry, who has been invited to try out for USA Basketball’s U19 team next month.
Lithuania announced it has invited 16 players overall to its U19 tryouts, including well-regarded point guard Augustas Marciulionus and power forward Paulius Murauskas.
The son of Lithuanian basketball legend Sarunas Marciulionis, Augustas Marciulionus played for the same Rytas Vilnius club that Azuolas Tubelis did in 2019-20 while Murauskas played on the same Zalgiris club as Kriisa in 2019-20.
Arizona adds UTRGV game
Arizona has reached an agreement with Texas-Rio Grande Valley for a Nov. 11 game at McKale Center, all but completing its 2021-22 nonconference schedule.
The Vaqueros, who were 9-10 overall and 2-5 in the WAC last season, will fill Arizona’s final spot for a one-time guarantee game on the schedule.
The Wildcats earlier reached an agreement for a two-year series with Tennessee, starting next season on Dec. 22 at Knoxville, although the series is still not under formal contract.
The Pac-12 still has yet to announce UA’s conference games next season, but the first two will be scheduled around the conference’s football championship weekend (between Dec. 1-5) and the remaining 18 will be played in the traditional format starting around New Year’s.
Assistant coach job posted
Arizona posted two job openings last week, one for its final assistant coach opening and the other for a basketball operations assistant.
The assistant coach posting lists a minimum requirement of “one year of coaching or playing experience at the college level or higher,” while the preferred qualification listed is a master’s degree “in exercise and sports science, physiology, kinesiology, nutrition and fitness, physical education, business, marketing, sales, sports management, or related field.”
The timing could suggest Lloyd is considering candidates from the NBA, including Suns player development coach Riccardo Fois, a former Gonzaga staffer from Italy who also has FIBA coaching experience. Fois played at Pepperdine and received an MBA there.
Lloyd already hired former Gonzaga staffer and GCU assistant coach TJ Benson to handle a variety of roles as UA’s basketball operations director (formally titled as UA’s special assistant to the head coach and recruiting coordinator), while the assistant operations job also lists wide-ranging responsibilities involving travel, practice, academics and video scouting.
