In every Arizona basketball season since 1982-83, the Wildcats have deployed a future NBA player in their regular starting lineup. That’s crazy good, possibly unmatched by any school except Duke and Kentucky, but it’s true.
Even Sean Miller’s crummy 17-15 team of 2018-19 started guard Brandon Williams, who is still active in the NBA. And even Lute Olson’s 13-loss team of 2005-06 used Marcus Williams as a starter. (Williams went on to play in 13 NBA games).
Isn’t that why Arizona stumbled this season, opening 6-5? Tommy Lloyd’s regular starting lineup is probably devoid of any future NBA players. I mean, do you think Caleb Love will play in the NBA? Unlikely. Trey Townsend? Less likely.
As we witnessed through a dozen games, the quality on Lloyd’s fourth Arizona team is strained — compared to Arizona standards of the last 42 years — with little or no NBA-type talent.
But all that seemed to change on Saturday when Carter Bryant and Henri Veesaar came off Arizona’s bench and put a charge in the Wildcats, leading to a 72-67 victory at No. 16 Cincinnati.
Arizona’s Henri Veesaar reacts following the team’s win over Cincinnati, Jan. 4, 2025, in Cincinnati.
If Bryant wasn’t Arizona’s game MVP, it was Veesaar. In a combined 41 minutes, they contributed 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting with 12 rebounds. Whatever the metrics people such as KenPom say, that’s a game-changer.
Veesaar had played so little over 2½ seasons that I forgot his last name has two “a’s.’’ I will no longer need to do a spell-check when typing his name. He has been so good in the UA’s first two Big 12 games — 23 points, 14 rebounds — that it’s not a stretch to think he’ll soon step into Lloyd’s starting lineup, thereby extending the UA’s 42-year streak of starting a future NBA player.
Am I wrong? Doesn’t Veesaar look like a potential NBA player if he stays two more seasons at Arizona?
He can shoot 3s, put the ball on the floor and move toward the basket. His size and length is what every coach is looking for.
And it’s a no-brainer that Bryant is on a path to the NBA. If you’ve watched UA basketball since 1982-83, it’s easy to see that Bryant has the right stuff.
In the UA’s losses to West Virginia and Oklahoma, Veesaar played a combined six minutes. Bryant didn’t score in either game. In a loss at Wisconsin, they combined for three points.
But on Saturday in Cincinnati, they responded and produced in a wickedly difficult environment. Onward and upward, right?
