Inside Tommy Lloyd’s Bold Vision for Arizona Basketball
The Wildcats coach was in Kansas City alongside three of his stars to preview the upcoming campaign.
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On Nov. 3, Arizona will tip off in Las Vegas against the Florida Gators to start the 2025-26 season grandly. The Wildcats come into the season No. 13 in the preseason AP Poll after falling to Duke in the Sweet Sixteen last March.
Since then, the Wildcats have flipped their team. The No. 2 recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports, behind only the Blue Devils, will feature heavily in the rotation as the season gets underway.
Forward Koa Peat and guard Brayden Burries will slide into the starting lineup against Florida, as they did in Arizona's exhibition win over Saint Mary's. Both freshmen scored 10 points in their debuts and were reliable on the floor in their first showings.
Tommy Lloyd addressed the media in Kansas City this week at Big 12 Media Days to discuss the upcoming season. Here's what he had to say.
Tommy Lloyd's Media Day Comments
On how he and his staff build a roster:
- "I think the number one thing with your staff is you’re always telling them the most important thing we’re doing is building the team, and then building the team to be as as competitive and well rounded and solid as possible. Then you've got a little mix. Who are the guys you think you’re going to have back, and you always start with them. We feel great. We have four returning guys back that have already made significant contributions to our program."
- "And then, how do you start filling in the gaps? A lot of schools focus on transfers. For us the first thing we’re going to do is look at high school kids. I’m a big believer that these really good high school players still got to have a place to go. So sometimes maybe they’re not as valued or they’re a little bit more forgotten about than they have been in the past. So we kind of fell into a group of freshmen, and one-by-one that we feel great about. For the most part, these guys are better than any transfers we could take. So let’s roll with these guys, and we feel great about those decisions.”
On Harvard transfer guard Evan Nelson:
- "Evan is obviously a great person. It’s really cool having someone in your program that grows up kind of idolizing the players that played at that program as a child, as do a lot of the young kids in Tucson. Arizona basketball is a big deal. We’ve been honest with him, and he’s been great with us. We're trying to figure out what his role is. I’ve been really pleased with the progress he’s made and and I have no doubt this year that he’s going to make real contributions to us in big time games.”
On maintaining a consistent program despite roster turnover:
- "I’m in a great place. I mean, I’m at a place that I’m proud to represent. I love being a basketball coach at Arizona. I always tell people, Arizona basketball doesn’t represent me. I represent it. It’s way bigger than me, or way bigger than I’ll ever be. So, I’m proud to call the program home, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we got this year and delivered for our fans.”
On Jaden Bradley's value to the team:
- "JB is somebody I really appreciate and really value. You’re right, he is underrated. How do you handle that as a head coach? Do I get out and make all these crazy proclamations and say he’s the best point guard in the country and all these things? For sure I could, and it would be sound to say that."
- "But JB is also someone who's not like fighting for the spotlight. He wants to do his job, he wants to serve the team, he wants to represent his family, and he does an amazing job at all those."
- "So for me, going into the offseason, while we were figuring things out with our roster, I had great peace of mind knowing we had a starting point guard coming back that is as good as he is, that is as a good person he is, and in just being a winner."
- "So I really value JB and, you know, he played great in our exhibition game on Saturday. You can see his experience kind of kind of shine through. So I think he’s primed to have a great year.”
On scheduling challenging opponents in the non-conference:
- "I think that’s how Arizona should schedule. We view ourselves as one of the premier programs in the country, and I think it’s great for the game when programs of our caliber are matching up with other programs maybe a little bit higher than us, but at the same caliber. I think it’s important to do. Why would you ever be scared of failure? You’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some. It’s part of the process. That’s what makes college basketball so great. I know this, at Arizona, we’re not protecting anything. We’re trying to go out and get everything we can."
On what Koa Peat and Brayden Burries bring to the team:
- "They’re both mature beyond their years. Not only basketball wise, but just physically. And then they’re winners. They’ve come in and they’ve been as advertised, whatever that means. So I really feel good. When everyone else was aggressively shopping the transfer portal, I’m like, 'I don’t think I could get two transfers better than these guys.' So why even get distracted?"
- "So I really feel good about those two and what they mean for our program. They’ve been great in practice. I’m sure there’s going to be some ups and downs, and there’s going to be a learning curve, but the one thing I do know, they’re competitors, and they’re quick learners. I think over the course of the year, they’re really going to really step up and show themselves as premier college basketball players.”
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LOGAN BROWN
Logan Brown is an alumnus of the prestigious Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He currently works as a General College Sports Reporter On SI. Logan has an extensive background in writing and has contributed to Cronkite Sports, PHNX Sports, and Motion Graphics.
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