Tommy Lloyd's targets to replace Koa Peat could face new eligibility hurdles

But the dozens of other high-major coaches who joined him at the Section 7 event are not necessarily the ones standing in the way for that final addition, likely a forward to help replace the departed Koa Peat.

The NCAA could be deciding the player he can add. Or a lawyer. Or a judge.

Somebody, somewhere, might eventually firm up eligibility rules for players who have already joined pro leagues. That's the sort of player Lloyd could still add this offseason, after he did so last summer with German pro Ivan Kharchenkov.

The NCAA issued guidance last month stating that athletes who played in professional leagues and received more than “actual and necessary expenses” would not be eligible for college basketball.

That's similar guidance that led the NCAA to sit out then-UA freshman guard Kerr Kriisa for 17 games in 2020-21 because he had agreed to a low-figure deal with Lithuanian club Zalgiris — and the same guidance that has melted away in recent years while EuroLeague pros such as Kharchenkov and Dame Sarr (Duke) left pro deals overseas to play in the NCAA.

“How our roster shapes up probably depends on how some of this eligibility stuff shapes out with the NCAA,” Lloyd said. “There's lots of things we're looking at, but we’ve got to know who's going to be eligible to play.

“There’s lots of differing opinions right now on who's going to be allowed to play and who's not, and there's been lots of different opinions the last couple years. What you’re told one moment may not necessarily be true three or four moments later, so we're just kind of waiting to see what our best options are.”

The potential changes are only expected to affect incoming players, meaning Kharchenkov would remain eligible, while reported UA signee Maksim Brnovic would likely be eligible since he played only for Zalgiris’ junior club.

Where the eligibility line actually gets drawn someday, Lloyd says he has no idea.

“We could have a three-hour conversation about this,” he said. “I don't know, and I'm being honest. I don't know.

“I’m just being patient. I’m gonna have nothing to do with what the ins and outs end up being, so I'm not going to waste any time thinking about it. We're going to be opportunistic and give ourselves the biggest window to make the best decision possible for the program, once we have the right information.”

Lloyd says he is hoping to add one more player to his 2026-27 roster — likely one who is based up front — but he and his staff have already bolstered a frontcourt that lost potential NBA picks in Peat and Tobe Awaka.

The Wildcats now have shot-blocking former Idaho State center Evan Otten, another Lithuanian big man in Nebraska transfer Ugnius Jaruševičius and a longer-term project in Netherlands forward Endurance Aiyamenkhue.

Lloyd said Otten has already arrived and joined offseason workouts, while Jaruševičius just arrived in Tucson and has yet to be cleared fully after suffering back issues last season. Aiyamenkhue is scheduled to arrive this week.

While all three have unique backgrounds, Otten started his career as a walk-on at Idaho State and became the Big Sky’s Freshman of the Year in 2024-25 after blocking 66 shots. In 2025-26, he led the Big Sky in blocks per game (1.8) and made the league’s all-defensive team, but committed 9.0 fouls per 40 minutes and fouled out of five games.

“It’s a great story, a kid who really wasn't from a basketball family but has a lot of potential to be a good player,” Lloyd said of Otten. “We think he's just scratching the surface, and we'll see what that ends up being, but he's been great. He's been a quick learner, has great energy and he's just fun to be around.”

Lloyd said Jaruševičius has been working out, if not fully cleared yet, and that his staff is "hopeful" the Nebraska transfer will be able to contribute next season.

Unlike Senegalese forward Sidi Gueye, who barely made it to Tucson in time for the start of fall semester classes because of visa delays, Lloyd said Aiyamenkhue has cleared that hurdle and will enroll in summer classes at UA.

That will give him a chance to jump into workouts on the court, where Aiyamenkhue is expected to be UA's latest frontcourt project after Gueye and Emmanuel Stephen. Both Gueye and Stephen played sparingly as freshmen before leaving — Gueye transferred to Santa Clara this spring while Stephen went to UNLV last spring.

“Our view on (Aiyamenkhue) has always been a developmental role, kind of see where he's at,” Lloyd said. “But he's got a lot of physical tools, and he's a great kid. We obviously value size, and we want to continue to have guys with size that need to be developed on our roster. We’re gonna keep taking some swings.”

Of course, the Wildcats wouldn’t need to find another power forward had Peat returned to Arizona from the NBA Draft.

Peat was initially expected to stay in the NBA Draft upon declaring after the season, but his shaky NBA Combine performance, particularly in shooting drills, drew speculation that he might return to college, where he might have earned as much, if not more, than in the NBA next season.

“The Koa situation was simple: The plan was always for him to go, and we were supportive of that,” Lloyd said. “But I feel it's my responsibility as someone who is invested in his career and him as a person, to give him the most options possible. So I was never going to take the opportunity for him to come back to Arizona away if he felt like it's an option he wanted to explore."

Peat is expected to be picked in the middle to later portions of the first round, where his rookie salary will be locked in somewhere between $2.5 million to $4 million. But UA was expected to assemble a similar compensation package for him, now that schools can provide revenue-sharing money and market for outside NIL funds.

But maybe it wasn’t all just about the money, which has drastically changed the equation for stay-or-go decisions for virtually anyone with college eligibility left except near-certain lottery pick such as UA guard Brayden Burries.

“In three to five years we'll be able to evaluate these decisions differently and see if they made the right one or the wrong one,” Lloyd said. “Never before have student-athletes had the opportunity to stay and make money, whereas back in the day it was stay and make nothing besides a scholarship and your meals, or go to the pros and make seven figures.

“So we're gonna see. It's so early in the process, I don't know if people know what is the right thing to do. But I know this: the allure of the NBA dream is really powerful for these kids.”