Arizona basketball is coming off another Sweet 16 appearance, the third under head coach Tommy Lloyd. This year’s team has a lot of excitement and buzz around the incoming freshman class.
The first chance for fans to get a look at this year’s team, and the star studded freshmen, happens Friday night when the Red-Blue Showcase takes place at McKale Center.
A dunk contest, a 3-point contest including the women’s basketball team, and of course the 5-on-5 scrimmage are all included in the showcase.
Following the scrimmage is the Post Move afterparty on Bear Down Field. It is headlined by Shaquille O’Neal, aka DJ Diesel, and will feature the first public appearance of DJ Tomm-E (Lloyd’s alter-ego).
While the first public event for Arizona basketball is Red-Blue, the team will have a few practices under its belt already.
“I’m still trying to figure out exactly what the build looks like,” Lloyd said when asked about his fifth Arizona team. “I feel like we got a lot of great pieces. I feel like this is a team that’s going to be built for all the challenges that are in front of it.”
The Wildcats will be led by returning starter and senior Jaden Bradley. He has tested the NBA waters the last two offseasons but has chosen to come back to UA both times.
“JB is a first class individual,” said Lloyd. “It’s not too often in this day and age where you have a senior point guard that’s been at a school with a coach for numerous years. I have real comfort with JB, and I really value what he brings to our team on and off the court.”
Also coming back this year, and coming off an injury that kept him out almost all of last season is Motiejus Krivas. Lloyd knows that it might take time for Krivas to get his feet under him but also has seen a lot of progress.
“I think the thing now is he’s got to kind of prove to himself how ready he is and how impactful he can be,” he said. “We’re going to continue to encourage him and push him, but I think he’s at the point now where the next step probably needs to be doing it under the lights.”
Bradley and Krivas may be some of the stronger pieces to the team, but this year’s team is going to be more freshman heavy. Some would see this is a potential problem. For Lloyd, it’s business as usual.
“I’m not anticipating any more challenges than a normal season,” he said. “The challenge for us is always going to be in the competition that we’re playing, it’s at the highest level.”
Arizona’s nonconference schedule is one of the more difficult schedules in the country. It starts with playing the defending national champions in Florida in Las Vegas.
The schedule also includes more neutral site games against UCLA (Inglewood), Alabama (Birmingham) and San Diego State (Phoenix). There will also be a game against Auburn in McKale and a road trip to Storrs, Conn. to take on UConn.
Before any official game is played, and after the Red-Blue Showcase, the Wildcats will play an exhibition game against Saint Mary’s on Oct. 18. It may not count towards wins and losses, but this is something that Lloyd is not taking lightly.
“Let’s start with playing Saint Mary’s at home in front of fans, that’s the first time we play a 40-minute game,” said Lloyd. “We know how good Saint Mary’s is. I mean, no one knows more than me how steady that program is and they have high level players and a high level coach, and they’re a team that plays well early in the year.”
Key freshmen like Koa Peat and Brayden Burries are going to be tested early and often. Both have said they’ve had their ‘Welcome to the Big 12’ moment when going up against teammates like Bradley and Tobe Awaka in practice.
Since then, Lloyd has seen tremendous growth from his younger players, and feels like they are ready to show their skills.
“Our young group is physically mature and then they’re built for those battles,” he said. “We’re a team that’s always wanted to be really physical, and it’s an important part of what we do at both ends of the floor.”
Lloyd may be performing in the after party concert, but it has not distracted him from his day job of trying to bring a national championship back to Tucson, and developing his players to be the next NBA stars.
“I have an unbelievable ability to compartmentalize,” said Lloyd. “I mean, Tomm-E is a different guy than Tommy. I don’t even know if they’ve ever been in the same room.”
Even with the glitz and glamour of the showcase, and even with the beginning of the season approaching, Lloyd says that Friday is for the community of Tucson. A celebration of how much Wildcats basketball means to the fanbase.
“I have the good fortune of being a representative of Arizona basketball, so a lot of people come up to me and share their stories about Arizona basketball to me,” said Lloyd. “It’s amazing in this state, everyone has a story about Arizona basketball that’s close to their heart. So the more things we can continue to do to engage with the community, I think is a great thing.”
