{"id":822036,"date":"2024-11-21T15:01:19","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T20:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=822036"},"modified":"2024-11-21T15:02:20","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T20:02:20","slug":"arizona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/slam-university\/digital-covers\/arizona\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona is Ready to Turn Things Up a Notch: Wildcats Talk New Beginnings, Mindset and Mission for This Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first SLAM University Digital Cover has arrived. Get your SLAMU Cover Tees here.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out with some <\/em>old, in with some <\/em>new. This is the recurring challenge that many, dare I say most, programs face in today\u2019s college basketball landscape. Case in point: this year\u2019s Arizona Wildcats, a team that, despite its consensus top-10 preseason ranking, has still managed to fly under the radar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is the case with every program of blue blood-esque caliber, Arizona entered this season with a single goal in mind: cutting down the nets at the Alamodome in San Antonio next April. But that\u2019s a long way away from this November afternoon; the season just started and there\u2019s a lot of basketball to be played between now and then. In order for Arizona to get where they haven\u2019t been as a program since \u201801\u2014the Final Four\u2014and damn sure in order to accomplish what they haven\u2019t since \u201897\u2014a national championship\u2014they know they have to stay rooted in the moment, committed to the work and focused on the journey, not the destination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the transfer portal\/social media\/NIL era, staying focused on the task at hand is much easier said than done. But the culture they\u2019ve been building under Coach Tommy Lloyd leaves little room for outside noise to infiltrate their solidarity. \u201cWe have a great group of guys who don\u2019t worry about any of the off-the-court stuff,\u201d says KJ Lewis, a sophomore guard who returned to Tuscon after testing the NBA Draft waters. \u201cWe\u2019re such a tight team; all we wanna do is win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one thing to express<\/em> this team-first, win-by-any-means mentality; it\u2019s another to actually embody<\/em> it. But if you have any intentions of getting on Coach Lloyd\u2019s court, you have no choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to forget this is only Coach Lloyd\u2019s fourth season as a head coach. He\u2019s accomplished more in his first three years than a lot of coaches will in an entire career: he\u2019s amassed two Pac-12 Regular Season Championships, two Pac-12 Tournament Championships, two Sweet Sixteen appearances and has never earned lower than a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Talk about excellence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arizona has always been one of the premier brands in college basketball, and Coach Lloyd is only raising the standards. \u201cHe wants us to be the best version of ourselves and he pushes us to be that each and every day,\u201d says Caleb Love, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year. \u201cAnd he\u2019s never really satisfied, so I think that\u2019s what helps us keep going and keep getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With the former National Coach of the Year at the helm, the Arizona faithful can rest assured that they\u2019ll always, at least, have the recipe for success\u2026and while merely having <\/em>the recipe means nothing if you don\u2019t have the right ingredients at your disposal, recruiting is another aspect of Coach Lloyd\u2019s brilliance. If there was a book titled How to Recruit in the Transfer Portal Era for Dummie<\/em>s, Coach Lloyd would be the author and a photo of this year\u2019s team would grace the cover. The coaching staff pieced together a well-balanced group of highly-touted freshmen, high-level transfers and core veteran returnees. On paper, their roster can compete with any in the nation. And though a talented roster is hardly enough in today\u2019s age of college hoops, it\u2019s surely a great starting point. In that regard, this Arizona squad is ahead of the curve. And with roster churn as high as it is across the sport due to transfer rules, a team\u2019s ability to develop chemistry can prove to be as vital to a team\u2019s success as their ability to knock down a jumper. These guys seem to be ahead of the curve in that regard, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing is just playing for your brother,\u201d says former McDonald\u2019s All-American, freshman Carter Bryant. \u201cWe come in every day and work our tails off to reach the mountain top this year.\u201d It\u2019s always a good sign when your star freshman is looking to the pinnacle of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>\"\"
\n
\n
COP SLAMU ARIZONA COVER TEES<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When a player puts on that Arizona jersey, suddenly the name on the back of the jersey falls by the wayside in favor of the name across their chest. \u201cWe\u2019re playing for something bigger than ourselves,\u201d says Caleb. \u201cThe national championship is always the goal here; that\u2019s the standard at Arizona. And we hold each other to that each and every day, whether it\u2019s practice, workouts, games, etcetera.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth-year senior combo guard is the engine that makes this team go. Caleb entered college as a heralded five-star recruit with one-and-done expectations and has experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows throughout his career, from the game-winner in the Final Four that ended Coach K\u2019s career at Duke to navigating being the first preseason No. 1 ranked team in history to miss the NCAA Tournament. You name it, and he\u2019s seen it. And through it all, one constant remains: \u201cWe have to keep the main thing, the main thing\u2014which is putting wins in our win column\u201d says Caleb. \u201cWinning solves everything<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arizona knows a thing or two about winning. It\u2019s a program with a rich history and storied tradition that spans decades. And the players are well aware. \u201cThe coaching staff does a good job of preaching who came before us and [talking] about the legacy,\u201d says starting junior point guard Jaden Bradley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaden is a former five-star recruit who began his career at Alabama, where he was named to the SEC All-Freshman team before opting for a fresh start with Coach Lloyd in Tuscon for his sophomore campaign. After a steady and productive regular season last year, Jaden turned it up a notch when it mattered most. In their three NCAA Tournament games, he averaged nearly 13 points and four rebounds, while shooting 50 percent from three, adding two steals and two blocks per contest. Now, if your point guard is producing like this on both ends of the floor, your chances of success exponentially increase. As Jaden steps into a full-time starting role and prepares to \u201ctake on a new leadership role\u201d with a year of experience in Coach Lloyd\u2019s system under his belt, he plans to carry that momentum from the Tournament throughout this season. For Jaden, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean filling up the stat sheet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to do whatever it takes to help my team get wins,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wins in college basketball don\u2019t come easy, let alone in the Big Dance. A lot has to go right to be the last team standing. Last year\u2019s Wildcats came within an arm\u2019s reach of a national championship, suffering a 5-point loss at the hands of Clemson in the Sweet Sixteen; this year\u2019s team is (rightfully) confident they have what it takes to get over the hump. But what\u2019s behind their confidence? It all goes back to an old team concept that they\u2019ve seemed to embrace and buy into. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we have a lot of talented guys who understand that we\u2019re playing for something bigger than ourselves,\u201d says Trey Townsend, a fifth-year senior transfer from Oakland and the reigning Horizon League Player of the Year. \u201cAnd on top of that, we have an elite<\/em> coaching staff to guide us in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
SHOP ARIZONA COLLECTION<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cover portrait by Arizona Athletics. Action photos via Getty Images. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first SLAM University Digital Cover has arrived. Get your SLAMU Cover Tees here. Out with some old, in with some new. This is the recurring challenge that many, dare I say most, programs face in today\u2019s college basketball landscape. Case in point: this year\u2019s Arizona Wildcats, a team that, despite its consensus top-10 preseason […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":822037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-parts\/blog-template-no-ads.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65307],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-822036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-covers"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822036"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":822068,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822036\/revisions\/822068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822036"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=822036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}