So they can most accurately gauge playing time and NIL opportunities at prospective schools, today’s elite college basketball recruits often prefer to wait until the spring of their senior year to make a decision.
And whenever they pick a school, there isn’t even a National Letter of Intent to sign anymore. The NCAA, realizing the idea of binding athletes to a school won’t fly when revenue sharing begins as early as next season, abolished those a month ago.
But when the fall signing period opened Wednesday, the Arizona Wildcats still received paperwork from four-star Dutch forward Dwayne Aristode. As all athletes can do now, Aristode signed non-binding scholarship papers with UA that binds only the school and forbids other schools from recruiting him.
By modern standards, that’s a victory for Arizona. Even if it is only one guy.
“Recruiting in this day and age can be a little different than maybe it was in the past,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “I don’t think you’re judging men’s basketball programs on fall signings as much anymore. There’s different ways to compile our roster and we’re obviously going to recruit more guys. We’re excited about some of the possibilities, and Dwayne is a great place to start.”
Called “one of Europe’s most promising young prospects” by ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony, Aristode is a 6-8 forward with a 6-10 wingspan who is known for versatility on both ends of the court. Aristode’s coach at New Hampshire’s Brewster Academy, Jason Smith, said Aristode is an “elite perimeter defender” who can shoot 3s and guard multiple positions.
While Aristode’s size and ability suggest he could grow into an inside-outside role at UA, playing both forward spots, Lloyd declined to speculate about where he might wind up exactly.
“That’s one of the most exciting things about him, his versatility,” Lloyd said. “He’s got great size, and he’s got great skill. He can really shoot the ball. He’s a great athlete. He has a good feel for the game.
“Those are all great places to start, rather than pigeon-hole him on a certain position or a certain style of play. I think we just push him and give him a great foundation developmentally, and then we see what his strengths are and what our team needs.”
In other words, Aristode’s potential is fluid. Just like roster-building itself.
Since he was hired to take over the Wildcats in April 2021, Lloyd has relied heavily on spring acquisitions, using his staff’s international connections and scouting ability to help come out of the annual spring scramble with Top 25 rosters.
For his 2022 class, Lloyd added only Gilbert Perry center Dylan Anderson in the fall signing period, but added Compass Prep guard Kylan Boswell, Estonian big man Henri Veesaar and Serbian wing Filip Borovicanin in the spring – plus transfers Courtney Ramey (Texas) and Cedric Henderson (Campbell).
In 2023, Lloyd signed only Texas guard KJ Lewis in the fall, then added three international players in the spring — Motiejus Krivas, Paulius Murauskas, and Conrad Martinez — along with transfers Caleb Love (North Carolina), Keshad Johnson (San Diego State) and Jaden Bradley (Alabama).
For his roster this season, Lloyd actually signed three players last fall — forward Carter Bryant, center Emmanuel Stephen and guard Jamari Phillips. While Phillips flipped to Oregon in the spring, Lloyd filled out his roster with three more transfers: Tobe Awaka (Tennessee), Trey Townsend (Oakland) and Anthony Dell’Orso (Campbell).
Arizona’s 2025 class will likely be built in a similar mode. Aristode is likely to be the Wildcats’ only fall addition, with top targets such as guard Brayden Burries and forward Koa Peat expected to make decisions after the fall signing period ends.
Recruiting analyst Travis Branham of 247 Sports wrote Wednesday that Peat’s recruitment was initially expected to be over by now but instead has become a “toss up at the moment” between UA, ASU and Baylor.
Burries’ recruitment has been just as difficult to read, if not more so. He told 247 that he won’t make a decision until January, having already visited Arizona, Texas and Alabama, with visits possible to USC and Tennessee.
“If we had to pick a favorite right now, we would say the safe bet is with Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats,” Branham wrote. “But there’s still a lot of time for Alabama and the Volunteers to come into the picture.”
Asked if he expected his other targets to decide in the spring, Lloyd said only that it was their decision and spoke of the big picture — and the importance of focusing on his current players, who will play at Wisconsin on Friday.
“I think the best thing we can continue to do as a program is keep galvanizing our everyday culture, keep galvanizing our ability to develop players,” Lloyd said. “Then let’s go out and be competitive, be tough and play with great discipline, and hopefully that leads to good results. If you put all those things together, that gives you the best pathway to rebuild next year’s squad.”
