Tommy Lloyd stresses importance of Arizona Wildcats leaving Final Four run in the past

The Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball team is projected to finish as the winner of the Big 12 this season.

Despite the expectations that surround a team coming off a trip to the Final Four, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd has stressed keeping last season in the past.

“The sooner you can disassociate from last year and realize that this year is its own journey and build from square one is the most important thing. There are no skipping steps in having a successful season or building a team,” Lloyd said at Big 12 Media Day on Wednesday.

Last year, the Wildcats advanced to the Final Four for the first time in 25 years before losing to the eventual-champion Michigan Wolverines.

They’re expected to have a similar level of success even though they lost much of their core — Brayden Burries, Koa Peat, Jaden Bradley and Tobe Awaka — to the NBA.

Going forward into this year, progress will be on returners Motiejus Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov and star freshman guard Caleb Holt to lead the charge.

“With these three dudes next to me, I feel pretty good no matter what we’re navigating,” Lloyd said.

Krivas is the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, Kharchenkov was selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team and Holt was selected to the CBS Sports Preseason All-Freshman First Team.

The Wildcats kick off their season in Las Vegas on Nov. 2 against the UCLA Bruins.

Related

Arizona’s Motiejus Krivas named to AP Preseason All-American TeamArizona’s Tommy Lloyd expresses frustration at RJ Godfrey’s eligibility issuesArizona men’s basketball pulls a top-5 ranking in both preseason pollsArizona basketball picked to win Big 12 in coaches poll, Motiejus Krivas is Preseason Player of the YearSam Vecenie’s first 2027 NBA mock draft sees 3 Wildcats selected in the top 10ASU, Arizona men’s basketball TV schedule revealed