Arizona Basketball: What does Lorenzo Romar bring to the Wildcats’ staff?
By Connor Hope
The Arizona Wildcats hire former Washington Huskies Head Coach Lorenzo Romar to replace Joe Pasternack as Associate Head Coach.
After a disappointing 9-22 season, Washington Huskies’ Head Coach Lorenzo Romar found himself in search of a new job. Despite six straight seasons without an NCAA Tournament bid, Romar has an impressive resume as a coach.
In 21 seasons as head coach for Pepperdine, Saint Louis, and Washington, Romar has seven NCAA Tournament bids and only five losing seasons. Romar established himself as a great recruiter at Washington, with multiple current and former NBA players playing for him. In fact, despite the losing record last season, Romar coached the projected No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Romar did not have to search for a job for long, as Arizona hired him as their associate head coach last month. He will serve under head coach Sean Miller, the longest-tenured coach in the Pac-12, and will bring an extra recruiting boost to the Arizona program.
With Romar on his staff, Miller can count on a continued line of top freshman coming into his program. There were also rumors that Arizona star Alonzo Trier’s close ties to Romar convinced him to return for a third season.
Allonzo Trier's return to Arizona was definitely helped by the hire of Romar. Trier and his mother have close relationship with Romar.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 15, 2017
The biggest question is how Romar’s recruiting and coaching approach will affect the team’s tempo. Romar recruited players at Washington that would run the floor and play a high-tempo offense. Miller’s offense, however, runs in a low-tempo half court, which made them among the slowest teams in the country.
Regardless of strategic differences, Romar and Miller are both established and successful coaches who could work well together. If Arizona wasn’t already a title contender moving forward, Romar can sure help get them there.
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By hiring of Romar, Arizona has made it clear that they value the ability to recruit the top freshman.