Henri Veesaar gives red-hot Arizona huge boost: 'Henri's what college basketball's all about'

The Arizona Wildcats have won seven consecutive games, and a big reason is the emergence of Henri Veesaar.
A 7-foot redshirt sophomore from Estonia, Veesaar has been a force off the bench, averaging 12.4 points and 6.6 rebounds in Arizona's five Big 12 games.
Against Baylor on Tuesday night, Veesaar scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead the Wildcats to an 81-70 win. The victory moved Arizona (11-5, 5-0) up to No. 13 in the country in the NCAA NET Rankings.
Veesaar was a 4-star recruit in the class of 2022, but he has needed time to develop. He had an up-and-down freshman season, then missed all of the 2023-24 season after dislocating his right elbow.
'Henri's What College Basketball's All About'
After the win over Baylor, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd shared some insight into Veesaar's emergence — and how important it is to be patient with young players.
"Henri's what college basketball's all about," Lloyd said. "Everyone wants things to happen so fast, and here's a kid in his third year, and his first year I thought he was going to be part of the rotation. He was a high level recruit and he struggled. So we got to the point where we didn't play him much because it just wasn't right for that team."
"Last year he had made progress. He has an unfortunate injury in the preseason and continues to work and changes his body and matures, and now an injury happens on our team so he gets a little bit more of an opportunity. That's what building a program and developing players is all about."
"So I'm really proud of Henri. ... Until the day I'm done I'm always going to be about helping players get better, and so I'm really proud of the way Henri's progressing. But I'm sure I'll see a few things on film that I want him to do a little bit better next week."
Veesaar Needed Time To Develop
Veesaar wasn't ready as a freshman, but the past two offseasons have given him time to develop as a player and gain strength in the weight room. It's a formula Lloyd has seen play out throughout the course of his career, especially at Gonzaga where he routinely recruited and developed international players.
"I more than anybody — and you can ask my staff this — have believed in Henri from day one," Lloyd said. "Even when it didn't look good I never wavered. ... A lot of times these European kids, they never really get an offseason. Their offseason's with their national team, so we don't get them much. So they don't get that pivotal four, five, six months.
"When you're 18 to 21 years old the testosterone starts kicking in, your body starts changing, you can really get better. They don't get that, so basically what [Henri's] saying is he had two offseasons stacked up back-to-back because he didn't play last year. ... Our staff did a great job developing him and then he got to do it again in the summer because he didn't go play for the national team last summer."
Veesaar Is 'A Pro'
Veesaar can play all over the floor, as evidenced by his stat lines. Against UCF he drilled two 3-pointers. Against Cincinnati he had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
"He just gives us real advantages out there," Lloyd said. "He can make a three. He can pass. And he's a big target on some of your passes, whether it's in the zone trying to get in the middle of the zone or hitting him on a lob or or a tip dunk on a rebound — he's a big target."
After the Baylor win, Bears' coach Scott Drew had high praise for Veesaar.
“He’s a pro,” Drew said in his postgame press conference. “First time I saw him on film, I was like, ‘He’s a pro.’ I don’t know how Tommy [Lloyd] does it year in and year out. He finds them dudes, develops them, does a great job.”