Pac-12 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season

After another season without a tournament appearance, the Wildcats had enough and terminated their relationship with head coach Sean Miller. A team that underperformed throughout the program’s uncertainty in regards to NCAA sanctions was ready to be overhauled and given a new direction. After a somewhat contentious hiring search, Arizona went with longtime Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd as their new head coach.

Lloyd had been a buzzworthy name for years since his recognition as the premier international recruiter of college basketball. Without Lloyd, Gonzaga likely doesn’t reach the heights the program has seen over the last two decades because of the caliber of player he was able to bring to Spokane. Lloyd sells a family and personable approach that has worked not only on the recruiting trail but notably in Tucson. Considering the constant departures of players once their head coach leaves, it’s remarkable that Lloyd didn’t lose any of the guys that were still committed once he was announced as the coach.

The Wildcats roster is still stalked full of elite players who could make the transition for a first-year head coach easier than presumed. Sophomores Ben Mathurin and Azuolas Tubelis headline the returning players as two sophomores that carried the team last year. Tubelis is a perfect big for Lloyd’s eurocentric style of passing and ball movement, which will ask him to be the lynchpin of the offense. Gonzaga while Lloyd was there loved pick-and-roll sets and that is Tubelis’s calling card with his ability to not only maneuver in the paint but also showcase a solid midrange game when he pops out.

Mathurin is a reliable shooter who drilled 41.8% of his outside attempts. He should become a bigger part of Lloyd’s system and showcase his ability to get to the basket and elevate his transition game with the team likely to improve on that side of the court. Mathurin earned preseason All-Team honors along with Tubelis.

The Wildcats are also stacked along the perimeter, Lloyd was able to keep sophomore point guard Kerr Kriisa on board with the program and added sharpshooters Kim Aiken and Pelle Larsson in the portal. Add enforcer Christian Koloko and lengthy wing defender Dalen Terry and Lloyd could be fighting for the top of the Pac-12 in year one.