Can Lloyd Recruit?

[YoDeFoe]

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

Yeah I'd like Curry a lot at this point. Big, athletic, high motor. Can rebound, defend the rim, absorb some contact down low and be a lob threat.

Nice view of him at the JUCO level here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6nQLQ49xtc

Honestly dude looks like a Texas A&M player - like a baby Jonathan Williams. That's not a prediction, just flash reaction.

[BeardownZonaZona]

Yup. Don't know if we are or will be interested but I don't see why we wouldn't. High motor guy who is a true four. Looks like he can bring some energy. Don't know if he can shoot but we have enough shooters. We've been saying for weeks we needed a bouncy and athletic big, well a good one just came available. If he was good enough for Kansas to take originally, he's good enough for me

[TucsonClip]

I saw nothing in any of the clips I have found on this dude to make me believe he should be a target, let alone someone we need to prioritize. Maybe there are some clips I havent seen yet of his defense and agility, but he looks like a brute forward who cant dribble, havent seen him take a jumper, not sure he can pass, no idea if he can move laterally to defend 4s, and everything is a power dribble and dunk.

[goslingswagg]

I saw nothing in any of the clips I have found on this dude to make me believe he should be a target, let alone someone we need to prioritize. Maybe there are some clips I havent seen yet of his defense and agility, but he looks like a brute forward who cant dribble, havent seen him take a jumper, not sure he can pass, no idea if he can move laterally to defend 4s, and everything is a power dribble and dunk.

100% agreed - feels like a raw athlete type that is not a good fit for Lloyd at all.

[YoDeFoe]

I know skills coach highlights are even less valuable than JUCO in-game highlights, but I think the kid can fill a role for us similar to Keanu Pinder. I don't know what else is out there, so potentially I'm setting my sights too low, but at this point I'm assuming we don't have a potential star in the wings and what we need instead is a dude who can rebound, defend, and dunk the ball.

Our back-up PF is Dalen Terry or Benn Mathurin. It might be beneficial to have a real back-up PF who can take a DNP or can spell Tubelis given the matchup.

[TucsonClip]

I know skills coach highlights are even less valuable than JUCO in-game highlights, but I think the kid can fill a role for us similar to Keanu Pinder. I don't know what else is out there, so potentially I'm setting my sights too low, but at this point I'm assuming we don't have a potential star in the wings and what we need instead is a dude who can rebound, defend, and dunk the ball.

He also has to fit the system. I dont see in these videos from this dude.

I expect the 4s to either be able to shoot/skill level or athletic enough to defend multiple positions and have some sort of passing/IQ to operate out of quick decisions, short rolls, ect.

[YoDeFoe]

He also has to fit the system. I dont see in these videos from this dude.

I expect the 4s to either be able to shoot/skill level or athletic enough to defend multiple positions and have some sort of passing/IQ to operate out of quick decisions, short rolls, ect.

I'm just feeling antsy that we've got no real back-up at PF beyond just playing a wing (Terry or Mathurin) there. But there's so much going on in the transfer portal - largely opaque to us fans - that I'm sure just logging off and waiting would be a better idea than talking myself into whatever new dude emerges.

[TheCat]

You guy's thinking maybe offering these scholarships up as self punishment might be the plan? It has been mentioned.

[Chicat]

Not Arizona-good.

But then again, maybe I need to recalibrate my expectations.

[TucsonClip]

Not Arizona-good.

But then again, maybe I need to recalibrate my expectations.

You do not.

In addition, and as a blast from the past... Not a PG.

[Merkin]

So the answer is yes, Lloyd can recruit.

The question is now: Can Lloyd recruit well?

[BBQ wildcat]

Very true. Rich Rod and Sumlin could also recruit. But only bodies to fill available scholarships.

[EastCoastCat]

Let me sum it up - can Lloyd recruit "Arizona good"?

Or do we know what that is anymore? That is what concerns me.

[YoDeFoe]

Let me sum it up - can Lloyd recruit "Arizona good"?

Or do we know what that is anymore? That is what concerns me.

Dylan Anderson is Arizona good. Every dude who chose to stay instead of transfer is Arizona good. Pelle is Arizona good. Bal is Arizona good and Ballo is worth a shot. Justin Kier is as Arizona good as plenty of other grad transfers we've taken.

This concern feels silly. We missed out on a couple of guys we wished we'd gotten. Shit happens.

[RondaeShimmy]

[BeardownZonaZona]

Bring him back lol!

[YoDeFoe]

Bring him back lol!

I had to check, and these are disgusts stats:

Twice as many turnovers as assists shooting 36 / 26 / 52 splits y’all

[Merkin]

Look at his shot at 1:23. You can't tell me he shot it off the backboard on purpose. That was all damn luck.

[HiCat]

Look at his shot at 1:23. You can't tell me he shot it off the backboard on purpose. That was all damn luck.

He called the bank.

[YoDeFoe]

May 30 was the deadline to declare for the NBA Draft, but after the (somewhat) recent changes players have until July 7th to withdraw and maintain eligibility (assuming they never hired an agent). These next five weeks will set the stage for the final rosters around the country. Required summer practices begin July 20th - seven weeks from now.

[Merkin]

assuming they never hired an agent

Pretty sure elite athletes can hire agents now, but need to drop them if they return to school.

[Beachcat97]

Do we even have anyone who's declared for the draft? I thought our whole roster for next season was accounted for: guys are either transferring, staying put, or proceeding with their commitments to enroll as freshmen.

[YoDeFoe]

Do we even have anyone who's declared for the draft? I thought our whole roster for next season was accounted for: guys are either transferring, staying put, or proceeding with their commitments to enroll as freshmen.

Yeah I don't mean guys returning to Arizona, I mean other schools will have guys return or leave and that's the last landscape changer that will shake rosters until they're set.

[Beachcat97]

Do we even have anyone who's declared for the draft? I thought our whole roster for next season was accounted for: guys are either transferring, staying put, or proceeding with their commitments to enroll as freshmen.

Yeah I don't mean guys returning to Arizona, I mean other schools will have guys return or leave and that's the last landscape changer that will shake rosters until they're set.

Right. There are draft decisions around the Pac that will absolutely impact next season, particularly at UCLA. Depending on what happens with their players, they could be ranked anywhere from top 5 to much lower to begin the season.

[IndianaZonaFan]

assuming they never hired an agent

Pretty sure elite athletes can hire agents now, but need to drop them if they return to school.

And that’s only if they’re NCAA approved agents.

[EVCat]

Let me sum it up - can Lloyd recruit "Arizona good"?

Or do we know what that is anymore? That is what concerns me.

Dylan Anderson is Arizona good. Every dude who chose to stay instead of transfer is Arizona good. Pelle is Arizona good. Bal is Arizona good and Ballo is worth a shot. Justin Kier is as Arizona good as plenty of other grad transfers we've taken.

This concern feels silly. We missed out on a couple of guys we wished we'd gotten. Shit happens.

and we got in ridiculously late on the ones we "missed". They were only misses because we, somehow, made it onto their radar. Not many cases of a new coach taking over for a fired one and getting top 30 recruits in 8 weeks when there was no strong tie to the school before the change.

I am upset with how Miller was treated, for sure. But it seems some are letting that bleed into wanting to find fault with Robbins' shiny new toy.

[EastCoastCat]

Let me sum it up - can Lloyd recruit "Arizona good"?

Or do we know what that is anymore? That is what concerns me.

Dylan Anderson is Arizona good. Every dude who chose to stay instead of transfer is Arizona good. Pelle is Arizona good. Bal is Arizona good and Ballo is worth a shot. Justin Kier is as Arizona good as plenty of other grad transfers we've taken.

This concern feels silly. We missed out on a couple of guys we wished we'd gotten. Shit happens.

and we got in ridiculously late on the ones we "missed". They were only misses because we, somehow, made it onto their radar. Not many cases of a new coach taking over for a fired one and getting top 30 recruits in 8 weeks when there was no strong tie to the school before the change.

I am upset with how Miller was treated, for sure. But it seems some are letting that bleed into wanting to find fault with Robbins' shiny new toy.

I admit I sort of flip flopped on this.
Mea culpa because things are so slow I want to be able to argue both sides of the discussion.

[YoDeFoe]

Let me sum it up - can Lloyd recruit "Arizona good"?

Or do we know what that is anymore? That is what concerns me.

Dylan Anderson is Arizona good. Every dude who chose to stay instead of transfer is Arizona good. Pelle is Arizona good. Bal is Arizona good and Ballo is worth a shot. Justin Kier is as Arizona good as plenty of other grad transfers we've taken.

This concern feels silly. We missed out on a couple of guys we wished we'd gotten. Shit happens.

and we got in ridiculously late on the ones we "missed". They were only misses because we, somehow, made it onto their radar. Not many cases of a new coach taking over for a fired one and getting top 30 recruits in 8 weeks when there was no strong tie to the school before the change.

I am upset with how Miller was treated, for sure. But it seems some are letting that bleed into wanting to find fault with Robbins' shiny new toy.

I admit I sort of flip flopped on this.
Mea culpa because things are so slow I want to be able to argue both sides of the discussion.

This is a completely fine thing to do in the doldrums of this offseason

[Merkin]

Walk on?

[MountainCat]

Sooooo... I can't find him on either 247 or rivals databases. Was he ever evaluated?

[Merkin]

Interesting article on him here

https://www.simivalleyacorn.com/article ... e-century/

some nuggets

Arnold, a senior point guard for the Royal High boys’ basketball team, leads the Highlanders in points (23.0), rebounds (8.7), assists (3.2), steals (1.9) and blocks (0.8) per game.

ankles are glass though.

Arnold, who has had nagging ankle injuries since middle school, underwent double reconstructive ankle surgery after missing all but five games of his junior season. He’d had similar operations on his ankles the previous summer.

[EastCoastCat]

Walk on practice player?

[gronk4heisman]

I would assume that if we are giving this guy a scholarship that is one in the no, Lloyd can't recruit bucket. Seems like a potentially good practice player/walk on though.

[Irish27]

I would assume that if we are giving this guy a scholarship that is one in the no, Lloyd can't recruit bucket. Seems like a potentially good practice player/walk on though.

Why? Have you seen him play? I am assuming you are judging a book by its cover regarding Arnold.

[gronk4heisman]

I would assume that if we are giving this guy a scholarship that is one in the no, Lloyd can't recruit bucket. Seems like a potentially good practice player/walk on though.

Why? Have you seen him play? I am assuming you are judging a book by its cover regarding Arnold.

Yes, I am judging a book by its cover. An injury plagued player from a lower division California school that finished last in their division with no recruiting profile and no known offers. Mix that with the fact that this happened over 12 hours ago and no recruiting site is even mentioning it. So yes, offering a recruited scholarship here would be a reach and I would be surprised if this was more than a preferred walk on situation.

[YoDeFoe]

Kid is a 6'3" 180lbs PG and is a college head coach / NBA scout's son. He's put up multiple 30pt games and double doubles this past season but prides himself on his defense. He's not playing among elite competition and he had the ankle issues during the period where you'd expect him to join a travel team (soph-junior years), plus the two year mission plan, so he's been way off the radar.

Personally I was wondering if we'd pull in his dad, Gib Arnold, former USC assistant coach and former Hawaii head coach (and recently a scout for the Celtics) as an assistant coach back when we had more oppenings.

I think this is a fine pick-up at this stage - at the worst he's a four year practice / bench all star. But with his frame and IQ he could become a contributor in his own right.

Reporting is that he's a walk-on. Family certainly doesn't need the financial aid.

Interesting note: Those glass ankles? He got them repaired by Steph Curry's ankle surgeon. I assume he was out-of-network.

[azgreg]

Number 11 in white.

[Dave]

I just noticed Augustas Marciulionis committed to Saint Mary's. Does anyone know anything about his recruitment? He would have been a nice pickup.

[U.P. Zona Fan]

Hmm he looks like a nice guy, smiles good. What were they saying about TJ McConnell his junior year in high school?

Not comparing them, just saying the recruiting services don't get everyone.

[YoDeFoe]

Hmm he looks like a nice guy, smiles good. What were they saying about TJ McConnell his junior year in high school?

Not comparing them, just saying the recruiting services don't get everyone.

TJ was the lowest ranked PG in the ESPN ranking (50th) and the 71st ranked PG in his class by 247. He's one of three PGs from his class that played this season in the NBA (along with Corey Joseph and Kyrie Irving).

[UofAlum05]

Is there any confidence what so ever that we will actually land Obanor?

[gronk4heisman]

Is there any confidence what so ever that we will actually land Obanor?

I don't even have confidence that we will try to land him, and if we do I have very little confidence in succeeding. Prove me wrong! Please!

[YoDeFoe]

Is there any confidence what so ever that we will actually land Obanor?

I don't even have confidence that we will try to land him, and if we do I have very little confidence in succeeding. Prove me wrong! Please!

We're one of a dozen or more schools trying to recruit him and we have no prior connection to him. He's very tight with his family who live in Houston. If I were guessing, Arkansas is the obvious choice as Musselman recruited Obanor out of high school, there's an open roster spot, there's a wide open hole at PF/C, and it's a relatively local school. Already a preseason top-25, Obanor's commitment would make the Hogs a potential Final Four favorite. Alternatively, Texas A&M and Texas Tech both come to mind as potential landing spots.

We should not expect to be favorites here and him committing anywhere else isn't indicative of a lack of effort or ability from our recruiting. Y'all don't need to go out of your way to hate on our new coach.

[Chicat]

Y'all don't need to go out of your way to hate on our new coach.

I just want him to go out of his way to make us love him.

I haven’t really seen that yet. Maybe it will come during the season.

[84Cat]

[gronk4heisman]

We should not expect to be favorites here and him committing anywhere else isn't indicative of a lack of effort or ability from our recruiting. Y'all don't need to go out of your way to hate on our new coach.

I would argue that our new coach is going out of his way to make me hate him. I am trying to like the guy and am excited for some new direction and some improved player development, but on paper this is the worst roster we have had since Sean Millers first year. From the outside it looks like Tommy is content with that unless some star falls in his lap.

[RawleArenas]

This is why I was despondent about the Lloyd hire. Going into this season we had a team that legitimately had a chance to make a FF run. We had depth at every position, talented newcomers and great (and proven) leadership at the lead guard position. You don't just throw that away for the chance to hire Roy Williams 2.0 (which is a reach, btw).

Washington tried this experiment with Hopkins and it failed horribly. Two time Pac COY but has failed to be consistent or show the grit needed to run a high major. I get the same vibes for CTL. If he somehow manages to reach a FF in year 5, fans will be jumping up and down when Miller had us poised for a run THIS year.

I've said all along you don't get rid of a guy of CSM's caliber without replacing him with someone that's a slam dunk. Plus, I'm not sure if I like the way that CTL recruits. I don't want to be Gonzaga Southwest, and I don't want our program to defer to Mark Few. Gonzaga historically plays a raisin bran type of basketball with a bunch of euros with average defense (which got exposed against Baylor). Miller recruited in a unique way in which he always seemed to pull a rabbit out of his hat. Markkanen, Zeke (who was heavily recruited by UK, KU and UNC), Tubelis, Akinjo (Memphis and Gonzaga wanted him bad) even Ayton. The problem I have with CTL and some of the fanbase is I don't think they understand the work that CSM put into this job, even Damon marvelled at Miller's approach to recruiting. For me, I give him two years. After all, that's all it took Miller to make a major run in the tourney, and he had far less in his cupboard than CTL has.

[azcat49]

Hard to spend anymore emotion after losing Miller and Jay Johnson, two relentless recruiters.

For me it’s time to just sit back and relax and be less fanatical and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

It seems Jedd Fisch is a recruiter like Miller and Jay were for us. Would have been a powerhouse three some for years to come

[YoDeFoe]

Plus, I'm not sure if I like the way that CTL recruits. I don't want to be Gonzaga Southwest, and I don't want our program to defer to Mark Few. Gonzaga historically plays a raisin bran type of basketball with a bunch of euros with average defense (which got exposed against Baylor).

This is "up is down" stuff.

Gonzaga has the number one recruit in the nation in their current class (an American!). They had the number one PG in the nation in their last (an American!). They've been nailing their recruiting for years now. And "raisin bran" basketball?? What game are you watching? They looked the closest to a pro-level team in the NCAA tournament - their offensive reads and defensive rotations were beautiful. They ran into the number one shooting team in the nation who buried them in threes just like Baylor buried Houston, Villanova, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and the entirety of the Big XII. But I'm sure all of those are just bad defensive teams with coaches Arizona would never hire.

I'm way past the "why didn't we just keep Miller" fantasies and I really shouldn't even engage in this stuff.

Azcat 49 has it right - we need to take a break here and wait until we see some basketball. There's no reason to get worked up over "was this the right hire????????" when we're in the middle of the offseason and this is our hire. It's both too early and too late to have these conversations.

[Spaceman Spiff]

This is why I was despondent about the Lloyd hire. Going into this season we had a team that legitimately had a chance to make a FF run. We had depth at every position, talented newcomers and great (and proven) leadership at the lead guard position. You don't just throw that away for the chance to hire Roy Williams 2.0 (which is a reach, btw).

Washington tried this experiment with Hopkins and it failed horribly. Two time Pac COY but has failed to be consistent or show the grit needed to run a high major. I get the same vibes for CTL. If he somehow manages to reach a FF in year 5, fans will be jumping up and down when Miller had us poised for a run THIS year.

I've said all along you don't get rid of a guy of CSM's caliber without replacing him with someone that's a slam dunk. Plus, I'm not sure if I like the way that CTL recruits. I don't want to be Gonzaga Southwest, and I don't want our program to defer to Mark Few. Gonzaga historically plays a raisin bran type of basketball with a bunch of euros with average defense (which got exposed against Baylor). Miller recruited in a unique way in which he always seemed to pull a rabbit out of his hat. Markkanen, Zeke (who was heavily recruited by UK, KU and UNC), Tubelis, Akinjo (Memphis and Gonzaga wanted him bad) even Ayton. The problem I have with CTL and some of the fanbase is I don't think they understand the work that CSM put into this job, even Damon marvelled at Miller's approach to recruiting. For me, I give him two years. After all, that's all it took Miller to make a major run in the tourney, and he had far less in his cupboard than CTL has.

My starting point is the same as yours. Our roster isn't as strong as when Miller left. Ballo isn't as good as Brown. Kier isn't as good as Akinjo. Pelle is solid, but I'm not sure how much value added there is given his positional similarity to Mathurin and Terry.

Recruiting-wise, Pelle, Ballo and Kier are solid, but not guys that I'm going to say automatically impress me as to Lloyd. We are a high profile program that was down to basically 5 contributors and potentially less. This isn't to criticize those guys, but they're not something I'd judge as unique in quality.

Anderson is a good addition, but then we had Tyty and Kaluma not happen and not much else. So again, not like a dumpster fire, but just not a lot of objective evidence to justify a high degree of confidence.

So, bottom line is Lloyd gets 2 years minimum even if he faceplants, so none of this really matters. What I've seen so far, it seems the short term outlook is worse and the long term outlook is completely hazy and unknown. So it's hard for me to be particularly excited about Lloyd, especially when compared to Miller.