What’s next for Arizona men’s basketball after 2nd Sweet 16 exit in 3 seasons

LOS ANGELES—After making the Sweet 16 in Tommy Lloyd’s first season, though that loss to Houston was disappointing there was still a feeling Arizona’s program was getting back to where it used to be prior to the tail end of the Sean Miller era.

Following year three, and a second Sweet 16 exit to a lower-seeded team, the scales of hope and concern are likely rocking back and forth for UA fans. But not for Lloyd.

“I love the culture we’re starting to really build at Arizona,” he said after the loss to Clemson. “I feel like I’m real big on eventually getting some compound return on our investment. I think we’re going to do that. I think we’re doing all the right things. Obviously we’re not perfect and no one is, and we don’t ever want to be perfect. We just want to be making progress. So I love where we’re at.

“We’re just going to continue to build on that foundation. We’re going to continue to get teams that are this competitive, and our day in the sun will come.”

Lloyd said he plans to “take a breath” before evaluating the 2023-24 season, which saw the UA win the final Pac-12 regular season title and going 27-9.

We’re not waiting, however. Here’s a look ahead at what to keep an eye on during what figures to be a critical offseason for the Wildcats:

The departures

Arizona honored five seniors before its final home game on March 2, but only one of them—forward Keshad Johnson—is out of eligibility. The other four can return, including walk-on Grant Weitman, but the most likely scenario is that he and starters Oumar Ballo, Pelle Larsson and Caleb Love have all played their final games as Wildcats.

Larsson called his three seasons with the UA “the biggest joy in my life” and thanks Lloyd for giving him the opportunity to join the program after starting his career at Utah. That sounded like someone who was ready to move on to a professional career.

After going through the NBA Draft process last spring before returning to the UA, Larsson is unlikely to repeat that especially when he’s the most likely player on the roster to get drafted. Bleacher Report had him going 36^th overall to the Indiana Pacers—Wildcat Nation’s team!—in its mock draft ahead of the Sweet 16, comparing him to Denver Nuggets wing Christian Braun.

Love is also expected to go pro rather than use a fifth year of eligibility, and even if he didn’t Arizona’s backcourt additions from the recruiting trail indicate it was planning on him being a 1-year contributor.

The one most likely to return for one more season is Ballo, who has been in college for five season but redshirted the first one at Gonzaga. He and Lloyd have a very strong bond and, while Ballo’s skill set could definitely earn him a nice contract overseas he could entertain another go-around in Tucson.

The returners

The other half of Arizona’s 8-man rotation each has at least two years of eligibility left, but whether they’ll use it (and do so with the Wildcats) is anyone’s guess. The NCAA transfer portal welcomes all comers, and it’s benefited the UA both in terms of addition and subtraction under Lloyd.

Kerr Kriisa leaving after last season opened the door for Arizona to bring in Jaden Bradley, and the way he played down the stretch—he averaged 9.5 points and shot 50.9 percent in just over 22 minutes per game over the final nine—shows he should be a big part of Lloyd’s future plans. It also makes it very easy for the team to part ways with Kylan Boswell.

Boswell, who had a similarly strong finish to his still-not-18-year-old freshman season, had what he described as a “rollercoaster” of a sophomore campaign that saw the UA go 19-1 when he scored in double figures and 8-8 when he didn’t, including against Clemson.

“This summer I’ve got to change a lot of habits,” Boswell said. “Get more locked in on my mental (side) and body, for sure, and just prepare for whatever comes next in my life.”

All signs point to Motiejus Krivas and KJ Lewis returning for their sophomore years, unless Krivas would prefer to return to Europe where he can start getting paid. Same goes for Filip Borovicanin, Conrad Martinez, Paulius Murauskas and Henri Veesaar, all of whom could might be tempting to head back overseas.

One writer’s prediction: Arizona will see two or three scholarship players, beyond the seniors, leave the program.

The additions

Arizona signed three prep prospects in November, one more than it had in the previous two fall recruiting cycles combined under Lloyd. And the day before opening this year’s NCAA tourney against Long Beach State the Wildcats landed a commitment from Class of 2025 wing Joson Sanon, who is expected to reclassify in order to join the UA for next season.

Sanon is a potential 2025 lottery pick while fellow incoming freshman Carter Bryant, a 5-star forward, could also be one-and-done. Both figure to be key parts of Arizona’s rotation next season while 4-star guard Jamari Phillips and 4-star big man Emmanuel Stephen should also have notable roles depending on the overall roster situation.

Assuming all the seniors leave and all the signees honor those commitments, Arizona has all 13 scholarships accounted for. If someone like Ballo comes back an opening would need to be made, while if Boswell or someone else chose to transfer or go pro then there would be a spot to fill. That would most likely be done via the portal, but it won’t be the guy who announced Thursday he had the Wildcats in his final four choices.

Riley Kugel, a 6-5 sophomore who averaged 9.5 points in 65 games (28 starts) in two seasons at Florida, has the UA listed alongside Houston, Kansas and UConn but no one with the Wildcats has reached out to him.

Expect Arizona to start showing interest in transfers now that it’s season is over.

The move to the Big 12

Arizona went 15-5 in Pac-12 play, winning the league’s regular season title for the 18^th time in 46 seasons. Now it moves to a league that, by all accounts, is a major step up in competition.

While the Pac-12 got four teams into this year’s NCAA tourney, and each reached at least the second round, the Big 12 got eight of its 14 teams into the field and seven of them will be in the league in 2024-25 when the UA joins along with ASU, Colorado (which won two games in the tourney for the first time since 1955) and Utah.

Gone will be the arduous Thursday/Saturday road trips, replaced by a conference where a .500 record in league play is considered pretty darn good. Whether UA fans will be able to accept such a performance, though, remains to be seen.

The UA’s nonconference slate next year will be arguably tougher than this season’s, with a trip to Wisconsin and a visit from Duke as well as facing Alabama in Birmingham. There’s also three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas from a lineup of Creighton, Davidson, Gonzaga, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma and West Virginia. The remaining five figure to be buy games played at McKale Center.