INDIANAPOLIS — When the Tommy Lloyd-coached USA Basketball team won the 2024 FIBA AmeriCup to qualify for last summer’s U19 World Cup, not all of his players took advantage.
The U18 tournament’s MVP, guard Darius Acuff Jr., opted to prepare for his upcoming freshman season at Arkansas, while LJ Cason and Morez Johnson considered doing the same after playing a season of college ball, Cason at Michigan and Johnson at Illinois.
Then Lloyd picked up his phone. Cason chose offseason workouts at Michigan over coming to the U19 training camp, but while Johnson considered doing the same after transferring from Illinois to Michigan, he soon found he didn’t have much of a choice.
“I called Morez and I’m like 'Morez, no, no, no, no, I need you. We really need you on this team,'” Lloyd said.
That did it.
“I wasn't 100% going until I talked to him, Dusty (May, Michigan coach) and Mike Brooks" of USA Basketball, Johnson said. “I'm so glad I went. It was a great experience. It was fun.”
One of the oldest players allowed in the tournament because he turned 19 less than four weeks after the Jan. 1, 2025, cutoff date, Johnson brought a year of top-level college experience, having played a key reserve role while starting seven games for the Illini last season.
But he still had room to grow. Johnson said Lloyd prodded him to stay aggressive and not “just be cool with the team or whatever,” and he wound up playing a key role during the Americans’ 7-0 run, teaming in the frontcourt with UA’s Koa Peat and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa.
“Great player and really good guy, as well, off the court,” Peat said. “Got ultimate respect for Morez. He's gonna play in the NBA someday. That’s my guy.”
Michigan's Morez Johnson Jr. dunks during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament against Tennessee, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Chicago.
Johnson averaged 9.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and a team-high 1.7 blocks in USA’s 7-0 run to the gold medal.
“He was a difference maker on that gold-medal team,” Lloyd said. “He was just such an important part of it. I'm glad we were able to talk him into coming in.”
Not a freshman, Part I
Asked about the success of Arizona’s freshmen Thursday, Michigan coach Dusty May started by reframing the question.
“First of all, if you've played in the EuroLeague, you are not a freshman," May said. “So let's cut Kharchenkov off that list.”
Arizona forwards Koa Peat, left, and Ivan Kharchenkov answer questions during Arizona's open locker room session Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
That’s pretty much what UA forward Ivan Kharchenkov has been saying — and behaving like — all season. And, when told of May’s comment Thursday, Kharchenkov said it again.
“Every time someone will (say) 'you're a freshman, but you don't play like a freshman,'" he said, the response is, "'I'm a class freshman, I’m not a basketball freshman.'"
Kharchenkov played with Munich Bayern’s senior club last season, both in Bundesliga and EuroLeague games, before breaking out of the remaining two years of his contract and joining the Wildcats.
Not a freshman, Part II
May said UA forward Koa Peat also arrived in college with an unusual level of experience after playing with Johnson in the U19 World Cup.
“When we were at Florida (May was a Gators assistant), we used to talk about how there are certain prerequisites to be able to play as a freshman at a Power Five level,” May said. “One of those prerequisites was playing USA Basketball because of the amount of intensity that it takes to compete during the trials, during the practices and also the games.
"Also, the sacrifice it takes because you're playing with 11 of the best players in our country and you have to sacrifice so much just to play. You know what it means to play team ball and put something above yourself. … That experience allows those guys to be much more advanced than the typical high school player.”
Peat became the first player ever to win four USA Basketball junior gold medals when USA won the U19 World Cup in Switzerland last June.
Lloyd unchanged on speculation
Asked again Thursday about how he responds to people wondering if he’s going to be North Carolina’s coach next season, UA coach Tommy Lloyd gave pretty much the same answer he gave Tuesday at McKale Center.
“Listen, I've got my full focus on this team. Nothing is distracting me," he said. "That's just how I've decided to approach it. I'm excited. I thought we had a really good practice today. I'm excited to play and for our practice tomorrow.
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd speaks during a news conference ahead of a national semifinal NCAA Tournament game against Michigan at the Final Four, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Indianapolis.
“I'm a simple guy. I am kind of just one thing at a time. I'm not a multitasker. You can ask my wife. I'm 100% locked in on Arizona basketball right now, and I'm excited to see what this team can do.
“I have a real strong belief in this team, and this team deserves my full attention, so that's what I'm giving them.”
Thursday was considered a critical day. Lloyd appeared unlikely to be involved with negotiations as Saturday's game drew closer, but all indications Thursday were that communication behind the scenes was continuing, with differences over resources devoted to men’s basketball.
Boswell moved on
Former Arizona guard Kylan Boswell helped Illinois reach the national semifinal game that will be played before the UA-Michigan game, but didn’t make too much of it Thursday.
“They’re a really great team, but we’ve been focused on ourselves, just doing our best,” Boswell said.
Boswell transferred from Arizona in spring 2024, after drawing some heat on and off the court as a sophomore, when he started in front of Jaden Bradley.
But the move took Boswell back to his hometown area of Champaign-Urbana, and to the school where his grandfather was a standout football player in the 1980s. Illinois coach Brad Underwood said moving home has been a “source of comfort” for him, and Boswell said it has helped.
“I needed to surround myself in a different group of people,” Boswell said, “and put myself in a more disciplined situation where I knew I'd become the best version of myself as on and off the court. I think this was a great move for me.”
Illini support
In his ninth season at Illinois, Underwood says the Illini have what it takes to win a national title.
“I'm blessed,” Underwood said. “I've got an athletic director that I'm in step with, that's in step with us. I think coaches win games. Administrators win championships. You look at our facilities, you look at our fan base, we're selling out every game. We travel like crazy. I've said this is my dream job, and I think we can win a national championship.”
Illinois coach Brad Underwood celebrates after Illinois beat Iowa in an Elite Eight game in the NCAA Tournament, March 28, in Houston.
Underwood and the Illini could have a geographic edge this weekend, too.
They are located just a two-hour drive to the west of Indianapolis, though Michigan’s campus is only about four hours away — and Arizona fans are known to live in or travel to just about every metro area around the country.
“I would think there'll be some orange in the stands,” Underwood said. “We’ll see. We’ve got four elite programs here. There’s Michigan and Arizona — and Arizona hasn’t been here in a while, and we all know how they draw. Then UConn is UConn. They're pretty established, as well.”
Homecoming
While UA players held court with reporters in front of their locker stalls Thursday, Jason Gardner could barely make it out of the entrance to it.
He had a media crowd around him for a reason: The UA player relations director is an Indianapolis native who committed to the Wildcats after they won the 1997 national championship in his hometown, then became one of the program’s greats over a four-year career from 1999-2003.
Arizona's Jason Gardner (22) soars to the basket during the first half against Butler in their NCAA first-round game March 16, 2001, in Kansas City, Mo.
“I always thought that would be so cool, so awesome to come back home and be in the Final Four with the team that I played with," Gardner said. "And, all of a sudden, now we're here. It's a real experience. It's a real opportunity.”
The shot lives on
After hitting the shot of the NCAA Tournament — and maybe of several NCAA Tournaments — UConn’s Braylon Mullins has tried to move on.
But it’s not easy when your near-buzzer-beating 3-pointer against Duke in the Elite Eight on Sunday takes on a life of its own.
“The first day, it was countless,” Mulllns said, when asked how many times he’s seen a replay of the shot. “Every scroll in the feed, it was there. But after the first day, it was like, 'Hey, you gotta scroll past it. You gotta move on, flip the page.'”
UConn guard Braylon Mullins celebrates his game-winning basket against Duke during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament Sunday in Washington.
But UConn coach Dan Hurley didn’t want them to move on too fast. The shot completed UConn’s remarkable comeback from a 19-point deficit, and Hurley said he had to let Mullins and his guys soak it up, at least for a while.
“I couldn't come in on Monday like a cold damp blanket and just start destroying people,” Hurley said. “That just would have been a cruel thing to do to people's spirit after such an incredible victory.”
But by Tuesday, Hurley said, it was time to get back to work. By Thursday, they were practicing in preparation for a Final Four game.
“The reality is that moment is over,” Hurley said. “It's an incredible moment. You'll have that moment the rest of your life. But we came here for rings, not watches. Everyone that comes to the Final Four gets a beautiful watch, but only one group is going to get a ring.
“So get off social media, stop injecting the dopamine into your arm and get serious about the preparation and the practice because we don't hang banners for Final Fours at UConn. We hang National Championship banners.”
The big number
6-7.1: Average height, as weighted by minutes played, among the four Final Four teams, which are ranked from No. 1 (Illinois, at 6-8.0) to No. 30 UConn (at 6-6.6)
Quotable
“When we watch them, we see ourselves, other than a few stylistic differences. We see a lot of ourselves in them, and it's going to be a battle. We believe it's going to be won in the 39th or 40th minute of this game.” — Michigan coach Dusty May, on Arizona
