Bruce Pascoe
Considering the uncertainty over Italian standout Dame Sarr and five-star Canadian forward Will Riley’s decision to head for Illinois, the Arizona Wildcats appear less likely to fill either of their two remaining roster spots for next season.
UA coach Tommy Lloyd isn’t complaining. While he can’t discuss individual recruits, he said at the Section 7 event last weekend he was willing to stick with what he has: Eleven scholarship players after the return of standout guard Caleb Love and acquisition of three key transfers, but without decommitted freshmen guards Joson Sanon and Jamari Phillips.
“We feel really good about our roster right now,” Lloyd said. “Obviously things are always under consideration and you’re looking to see if you can add a piece or not. But we love the group we got and we’ll probably just roll with this unless something else just presents itself that we think is a good thing.”
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A decision from Sarr to reclassify from his 2025 status and play for the Wildcats would be one of those things. The 6-6 wing, who played last season mostly for FC Barcelona’s junior club, visited Arizona earlier this month while also being recruited by Gonzaga, Georgia Tech and Arkansas, according to a report by solobasket.com.
Sarr opened eyes by briefly playing with FC Barcelona’s senior team and with his performance in the Adidas Next Generation tournament, when he averaged 17.4 points, 5.4 reb rebounds and seven assists while playing for FC Barcelona U18.
PDT Scouting’s Arman Jovic said Sarr was one of the top international prospects looking to play in college as well as a 2025 NBA Draft prospect. Sarr turned 18 earlier this month but projects as a class of 2025 player who could face academic and logistical hurdles to be cleared for college basketball next season.
Sarr, or anyone else the Wildcats landed for next season, would likely need to accept being a bench player. Arizona already has a projected starting lineup of Love, point guard Jaden Bradley, small forward KJ Lewis, power forward Trey Townsend and center Motiejus Krivas.
Dell’Orso impresses early
Most of Arizona’s 2024-25 players went through the first wave of summertime workouts this month before mostly taking a break this week and next, with transfers Trey Townsend (Oakland), Tobe Awaka (Tennessee) and Anthony Dell’Orso all opening Lloyd’s eyes.
Lloyd said Townsend and Awaka are “not only good experienced players but great guys,” while Dell’Orso has held his own after two years at low-major Campbell.
“I don’t want to call him a pleasant surprise because we knew he was a good player,” Lloyd said of Dell’Orso. “But he’s really fit in well. He’s just a really skilled basketball player. He’s got a high IQ, and is a great, quick decision maker. He shoots the ball really well. I don’t see a lot of limitations to his game.”
Dell’Orso is the second Campbell transfer Lloyd has brought in after Cedric Henderson arrived as a senior in 2022-23. The Camels are known to run their offense at a much slower tempo than the Wildcats, but feature some similarities in how offensive players read and cut.
“I don’t know the coach at Campbell (Kevin McGeehan) personally but he’s doing a good job, because those kids know how to play,” Lloyd said. “They know how to play real basketball and team basketball.”
Krivas gets senior stint
Expected to join Lithuania's junior team for the FIBA U20 EuroBasket championship next month, Arizona center Motiejus Krivas first spent time in training camp with his country’s senior team.
Lithuania trimmed Krivas from the senior roster that will compete in an Olympic qualifying tournament but its nationl federation thanked him and a few other training camp players “for work and effort during training.”
Lithuania named former UA standout forward Azuolas Tubelis one of 12 players on its Olympic qualifying tournament team, though the team will likely need to make room for NBA free agent center Jonas Valanciunas if it qualifies for the Olympics. Valanciunas is sitting out the qualifiers to ensure he is healthy before signing a new NBA deal next month, according to multiple reports.
Big 12 schedule framework coming
The Big 12 signaled in a social media post Wednesday that it would announce “home and away” matchups Thursday for men’s and women’s basketball schedules next season.
With 16 teams playing a 20-game schedule, men’s teams are expected to face five teams twice — one game at each team’s home venue — and the other 10 teams once. That suggests five Big 12 teams will not appear at McKale Center this season, and Arizona will face another five Big 12 teams only away from McKale.
The Big 12 has given no indication on how it will determine the “double-play” teams for each school but close geographic rivals such as Arizona-ASU are expected to still play each other twice.
Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe
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