Bear Down Wildcats

We all know its way overdue for this thread. Mark me as starting to be concerned.

Overdue like it should have been posted 6 months ago?

Too early to tell. The guy just got the job and tried to reel in a couple of players at the 11th hour that AZ was never in play for, and came very close to landing Tyty. The biggest recruiting task he had was keeping a handful of key players committed to AZ for next year, when they entered or were considering entering the transfer portal, which he did. The AZ brand has been a damaged over the past couple of years (more so than the other schools involved with the FBI scandal), he has no head coaching experience, and has a program potentially facing additional sanctions, so he has a lot to overcome as he tries to land one or two undecided and transfer players. It would have been nice to see him land Tyty or another notable remaining undecided player, but it is probably not reasonable to question what he can do yet.

I’m waiting for the “Can Lloyd draw up an end-of-game play?” thread, too.

Definitely not on the same level with SM, which we have grown accustomed to.

Of course Tommy Boy can recruit. He’s proven that.

The question is whether he can recruit high level kids to a program run by Tommy Lloyd, not to one run by Mark Few.

It's going to be a struggle to recruit to a high level early on in his tenure it seems

I'll just repost this from a while ago

RondaeShimmy wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 8:51 am People forget Miller missed on a ton of top end talent after raiding Xavier and USC in the off-season (frankly he could nab those guys because they would be guaranteed starters, something Lloyd doesn't have). Took him a couple of years to get big time guys, we'll see how his recruiting looks with a whole year recruiting and some coaching tape. We don't even know if he'll chase 5*s.

Some more serious than others but off the top of my head.

Josh Selby
Adreian Payne
Ray McCallum
Vander Blue
Quinn Cook
Jabari Brown
Kyle Wiltjer
Doron Lamb
Dominique Ferguson

Lloyd already has Dylan Anderson lined up for his first full recruiting year class, which is way better than anyone on Miller's first full recruiting class......

Daniel Bejarano (#73)
Jordin Mayes (#119)
Jesse Perry (juco)
Matt Korcheck (#290)

Only one 4*

When Miller didn't have starting spots to hand out (plus new coach bump), he struggled going after the blue chippers. He then got Turner, NJ, Chol and Sidiki the next year, so even with a much better class, only 1 guy contributed anything significantly to the program. Meaning, highly recruited kids doesn't necessarily equal success on the floor.

Lloyd will need a couple of years to get coaching game tape and recruiting relationships with kids, that's just the truth. The Turner, Chol, Sidiki classes are proof you necessarily shouldn't freak out after missing on some guys early.

Miller got 1 hit in his first two full recruiting classes.

Many were wanting Miller to change strategy to more multi year players over the One and Done, and it appears he was headed in that direction. I expect Lloyd will feature more multi year players and emphasize fit and player development.

Arizona will play an entertaining, free flowing style and that, along with wins of course, will attract top talent. I favored extending Sean Miller, but I admit there’s much to like about Tommy Lloyd.

RondaeShimmy wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 6:26 am I'll just repost this from a while ago

RondaeShimmy wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 8:51 am People forget Miller missed on a ton of top end talent after raiding Xavier and USC in the off-season (frankly he could nab those guys because they would be guaranteed starters, something Lloyd doesn't have). Took him a couple of years to get big time guys, we'll see how his recruiting looks with a whole year recruiting and some coaching tape. We don't even know if he'll chase 5*s.

Some more serious than others but off the top of my head.

Josh Selby
Adreian Payne
Ray McCallum
Vander Blue
Quinn Cook
Jabari Brown
Kyle Wiltjer
Doron Lamb
Dominique Ferguson

Lloyd already has Dylan Anderson lined up for his first full recruiting year class, which is way better than anyone on Miller's first full recruiting class......

Daniel Bejarano (#73)
Jordin Mayes (#119)
Jesse Perry (juco)
Matt Korcheck (#290)

Only one 4*

When Miller didn't have starting spots to hand out (plus new coach bump), he struggled going after the blue chippers. He then got Turner, NJ, Chol and Sidiki the next year, so even with a much better class, only 1 guy contributed anything significantly to the program. Meaning, highly recruited kids doesn't necessarily equal success on the floor.

Lloyd will need a couple of years to get coaching game tape and recruiting relationships with kids, that's just the truth. The Turner, Chol, Sidiki classes are proof you necessarily shouldn't freak out after missing on some guys early.

Miller got 1 hit in his first two full recruiting classes.

This isn't the Can Miller Recruit thread, and honestly, Tommy Boy was hired because he's not Sean Miller, so I'm not sure that comparisons are all that relevant here. But I'm not sure why you're discounting Miller's first class since that's where we are with Tommy at the moment.

Miller had trouble recruiting top level talent the next year because as you briefly mentioned he didn't have a ton of playing time to promise. That's because in his first recruiting class he pulled in Solomon Hill, Momo Jones, and Kevin Parrom... and Derrick Williams had blown up and was coming back as one of the top players in the conference. Hard to grab five star players who see a whole team returning and not much room to make their mark.

Tommy has playing time to sell to recruits this year, but couldn't close the deal on a couple. I get it. It happens. No coach gets every kid they want or need.

Tommy should also have playing time to sell recruits for the following year too. He's got Anderson in the fold and I would hope more commitments will be coming in the next few months. But that's where the question that is the title of this thread gets answered. Not in what Sean Miller did 12 years ago. It's about what Tommy Boy is doing right now.

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 4:50 am Of course Tommy Boy can recruit. He’s proven that.

The question is whether he can recruit high level kids to a program run by Tommy Lloyd, not to one run by Mark Few.

Exactly what I have been saying. Much easier to recruit kids to play for a proven, successful head coach than to play for someone who has always just been an assistant coach. TL will have to prove that he will be a successful HEAD coach to do well recruiting. If he stumbles early, it could sink him with future classes. If his style of play isn't what people are thinking it will be, if it looks like a disorganized run and gun, it will hurt.

Some might say can Arizona recruit without a bag of money

Coach Tommy will do OK. It might take a year but our success on the court and style of play will win recruits over.

Arizona will recruit with a bag of money no matter who is the coach. Especially since everyone else is recruiting the same way.

So with all things being equal, can Tommy convince kids that Arizona is still a marquee program and that he's the guy that's going to develop them enough and win enough to put them on the radar of the NBA.

So glad this thread was started. I can't wait to read through this thread in 5 years!

Arizona has a men's basketball team? I thought Robbins made Heeke hire someone with an underwhelming resume to further gut the program. So when he hired Tommy Lloyd, CSM got pissed and quit. He didn't want to work with someone who is a career assistant head coach from an out of conference rival. Once CSM quit Heeke dissolved the men's basketball team because the women's basketball team is on it's way to becoming the face of Arizona athletics.

This is the story I keep telling myself because I hate the reality of the whole situation. The current administration undervalues loyalty and overvalues making a statement and saving face.

IDGAF if this cretin can recruit or not. It is gonna be a long time before I devote the level of support to the university and it's athletics department the way I used to. You can't piss down someone's back, tell them it is just rain and expect them to accept it.

“Cretin?” Man, that’s harsh! I never understand fans ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water.’ Tommy Lloyd is the coach and I support him, even though I was in favor of extending Miller.

BetaCat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 12:24 pm “Cretin?” Man, that’s harsh! I never understand fans ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water.’ Tommy Lloyd is the coach and I support him, even though I was in favor of extending Miller.

I am just getting into the spirit of the cancel culture society we live in today. Name calling, finger pointing and demands for change all seem to have been amplified over the past couple of years and I am embracing it now. If it is good enough for the University of Arizona it is good enough for me. Just sayin'.

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 11:32 am So glad this thread was started. I can't wait to read through this thread in 5 years!

It just opens up the floodgates. I had to neg rep UofAlum05 just because...

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 12:41 pm

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 11:32 am So glad this thread was started. I can't wait to read through this thread in 5 years!

It just opens up the floodgates. I had to neg rep UofAlum05 just because...

I assumed it was made in jest to go along with the Can Miller Recruit thread made right after he was hired.

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 11:32 am So glad this thread was started. I can't wait to read through this thread in 5 years!

What if you're reading the "Can Lloyd Coach?" thread in 5 years?

It's just tough. Guys been on the job for like a month. Next class will be better and the year after that he'll have it hopefully dialed in. He's obviously looking for very specific archetypes. In a year or two from now he'll have made more connections, new lessons learned, and guys will have seen for themselves how he runs his squad. Thankfully, I'm assuming, we're just looking for a couple rotational guys. Not like we're looking for a guy who can drop 15 and 10. We're going to have a starting lineup of all vets most likely, which will be great. We'll be fine. Been frustrating, as we've been spoiled past 8 or so years recruiting-wise as it seemed as if we got almost every kid we were really invested in, but you can't win them all. We just have to learn from these recruitment battles and use these lessons next class

Not to mention these kids are making some of the biggest decisions of their life. Hard to commit to a guy they've never met before or a school that never really had interest

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 12:52 pm

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 11:32 am So glad this thread was started. I can't wait to read through this thread in 5 years!

What if you're reading the "Can Lloyd Coach?" thread in 5 years?

In 5 years I'll be over 50.... I'll be happy to be reading anything!

Patience my ass...we are Arizona fans so we want everything RIGHT NOW.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 1:06 pm Patience my ass...we are Arizona fans so we want everything RIGHT NOW.

I do want everything right now.

I have no problem admitting it.

If the admin supported Sean Miller all those years and decided to fire him when there was light finally appearing at the end of the tunnel and when his recruiting and roster were getting back to a successful level, it couldn’t have been for some kind of tear down and rebuild it plan. It had to be because Tommy Lloyd was the right coach for the program both now and into the future.

So let’s see the success now...

Unfortunately we can't see the actual success (or failure) until they are allowed to play games.

Tommy does make a boring offseason though! I will be able to deal with it if he brings an excitement to the actual games (bizarro Miller?), I also will likely complain about it until then.

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 1:46 pm

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 1:06 pm Patience my ass...we are Arizona fans so we want everything RIGHT NOW.

I do want everything right now.

I have no problem admitting it.

If the admin supported Sean Miller all those years and decided to fire him when there was light finally appearing at the end of the tunnel and when his recruiting and roster were getting back to a successful level, it couldn’t have been for some kind of tear down and rebuild it plan. It had to be because Tommy Lloyd was the right coach for the program both now and into the future.

So let’s see the success now...

I stopped reading after “If the admin...” because we all agree what happened was total bullshit.

But we can’t change that. I will be judging Tommy man on his own merits - with the good and the bad - irregardless of the circumstances of how he got to Arizona.

20 years ago my response might have been different. But now I’m getting old and can’t afford to invest my emotional angst on Arizona sports as frequently as I used to. But that’s just me I suppose.

Well we shall see how this all pans out for the admin. They just lost the best soccer coach we have ever had and if they aren't careful they will be losing a baseball coach that has done a really good job. Giving Barnes what she deserved is going to have others questioning how you are valuing them and what they had to work with. They're also questioning the value of loyalty with this administration.

TheCat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 3:34 pm Well we shall see how this all pans out for the admin. They just lost the best soccer coach we have ever had and if they aren't careful they will be losing a baseball coach that has done a really good job. Giving Barnes what she deserved is going to have others questioning how you are valuing them and what they had to work with. They're also questioning the value of loyalty with this administration.

I am no fan of this administration but somehow tying in Barnes raise and the Miller firing into Amato leaving for a major program with a winning history in his home state and resources Arizona can not dream of matching seems like a pretty big reach.

I think the better question is can he coach?

Olsondogg wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 4:23 pm I think the better question is can he coach?

So far, he hasn't shown either at Arizona. So I will definitely be in the "show me" phase at least until after the upcoming season -- and quite possible after that.

Who is he supposed to recruit right now? it was painfully obvious that if we didnt land Tyty or Kaluma, there werent many guys on the board beyond some stop gap fill ins without other guys hitting the transfer market or decommiting.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 3:13 pm

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 1:46 pm

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 1:06 pm Patience my ass...we are Arizona fans so we want everything RIGHT NOW.

I do want everything right now.

I have no problem admitting it.

If the admin supported Sean Miller all those years and decided to fire him when there was light finally appearing at the end of the tunnel and when his recruiting and roster were getting back to a successful level, it couldn’t have been for some kind of tear down and rebuild it plan. It had to be because Tommy Lloyd was the right coach for the program both now and into the future.

So let’s see the success now...

I stopped reading after “If the admin...”

Then you shouldn’t have commented.

If and when Tommy gets fired, I will be here to post "Lloyd Lloyd all null and void!" from "Say Anything".

TucsonClip wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 5:00 pm Who is he supposed to recruit right now? it was painfully obvious that if we didnt land Tyty or Kaluma, there werent many guys on the board beyond some stop gap fill ins without other guys hitting the transfer market or decommiting.

He can’t recruit for 2022? The dead period ends in four days. We going to hear that we are going hard after any top talent in early June?

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 12:45 pm

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 12:41 pm

Alieberman wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 11:32 am So glad this thread was started. I can't wait to read through this thread in 5 years!

It just opens up the floodgates. I had to neg rep UofAlum05 just because...

I assumed it was made in jest to go along with the Can Miller Recruit thread made right after he was hired.

Yes in jest and in hopes that in 3 years we can look back at this thread and laugh.

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 6:56 pm

TucsonClip wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 5:00 pm Who is he supposed to recruit right now? it was painfully obvious that if we didnt land Tyty or Kaluma, there werent many guys on the board beyond some stop gap fill ins without other guys hitting the transfer market or decommiting.

He can’t recruit for 2022? The dead period ends in four days. We going to hear that we are going hard after any top talent in early June?

I'd assume we hear that in one of those open windows.

If I were him, I'd want to see what these kids look like in person after a year off. The elite kids you have a connection with are no brainers, it's just about fit. The rest, it would make sense to see in person.

TucsonClip wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 5:00 pm Who is he supposed to recruit right now? it was painfully obvious that if we didnt land Tyty or Kaluma, there werent many guys on the board beyond some stop gap fill ins without other guys hitting the transfer market or decommiting.

We have three open scholarships and their is a shrinking list of transfers to fill those spots, We do not have a full rotation yet and he absolutely should be looking to add some contributors at PG and an athletic big.

I know Tommy Lloyd's recruiting;
So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies. Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about.
But trust me.... You don't.
I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you don't know what you are talking about.
This is how bad info gets passed around.
If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do.
Cos some people believe anything they hear.

PoM - way to pull out the old standard.

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Tue May 25, 2021 8:58 am

TucsonClip wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 5:00 pm Who is he supposed to recruit right now? it was painfully obvious that if we didnt land Tyty or Kaluma, there werent many guys on the board beyond some stop gap fill ins without other guys hitting the transfer market or decommiting.

We have three open scholarships and their is a shrinking list of transfers to fill those spots, We do not have a full rotation yet and he absolutely should be looking to add some contributors at PG and an athletic big.

He should, yes. And there is no rush, because the options are quite limited currently. Plenty of time to sort things out with guys entering the portal daily.

PieceOfMeat wrote: ↑Tue May 25, 2021 9:03 am I know Tommy Lloyd's recruiting;
So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies. Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about.
But trust me.... You don't.
I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you don't know what you are talking about.
This is how bad info gets passed around.
If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do.
Cos some people believe anything they hear.

Jerryd’s Kids makes his return

UAEebs86 wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 6:52 pm If and when Tommy gets fired, I will be here to post "Lloyd Lloyd all null and void!" from "Say Anything".

Ditched in the Malibu...

Lloyd’s first recruiting job was to keep most of the team together. He’s done that except for two. Not bad in my book.

Imagine if Mathurin went to Oregon in the portal. That would have been a disaster.

it seems retaining players that were seemingly sure to leave when Miller was fired is ignored as a recruiting win. But all the focus is on 2 players who were already 2 years into being recruited and still gave Lloyd some consideration before going elsewhere, like Lloyd was supposed to flip TyTy from UK, or any recruit this late in the game.

His 1st recruiting job was to keep anyone who could realistically be kept from the current roster. He did much better there than I think anyone expected. Then, he was tasked with keeping as many from the incoming class...players that committed to Sean Miller...as he could. The fact that he kept one is surprising, considering they all had plenty of good options and they were committed to Miller, not Arizona. The idea that commitments are to the school is a joke. His 3rd job is to backfill as best he can...but to expect him to flip TyTy from going to UK with an open PG spot and other considerations is silly, and that we were in the mix is a miracle. These kids have been recruited for 2 years, and we expect our guy to flip them in weeks because...Arizona?

He did well with the one task he could really attack...current roster. Now, transfer portal is a bit more open to quick relationship making. We'll see what he can do here.

EVCat wrote: ↑Wed May 26, 2021 10:39 am These kids have been recruited for 2 years, and we expect our guy to flip them in weeks because...Arizona?

Tyty and Kaluma were not recruited for two years, both the schools they went to offered them recently as they were both decommits. We started on a similar level as the other schools. Kentucky, were not going to compete with that but Creighton? I for one however have a bigger issue with the fact that we are not even be mentioned by all these big time transfers who we missed out on. We definitely have some PT to sell, but judgement on this year until school starts.

My concern is the normal buzz and excitement new coaches generate to their schools. Where is that?

TheCat wrote: ↑Wed May 26, 2021 1:10 pm My concern is the normal buzz and excitement new coaches generate to their schools. Where is that?

Did you not hear? We just got the 4th best transfer available from UGA (A school that finished 10th in the SEC).

What can I say? I misjudged the buzz surrounding CTL.

Sydney Curry just decommitted from KU. Would be very interested if I were Lloyd. Four who can play defense and rebound. One of the top JUCO guys in the country. Athletic. Will have a lot of options. But we definitely would have playing time for him