Lloyd ‘wishing cooler heads could prevail’ over RJ Godfrey during Big 12 media address

RJ Godfrey, after all, did not join them on the Big 12 media-day stage. That left UA coach Tommy Lloyd still wondering why the veteran Clemson transfer isn’t eligible when many others in his situation are.

“I know there's two sides to every story, but we have a guy that's a true five-for-five,” Lloyd said. “That's where I would draw the line. If you’re a true five for five, I think you're eligible. If there's extenuating circumstances in years six, seven, or eight, I don't think your case is as strong. But true five for fives shouldn't be penalized.”

Just over a minute after being introduced on the Big 12 media day main stage, which welcomed both the UA men’s and women’s teams Wednesday, Lloyd was asked about the expectations of being picked to defend their conference title, but said he still wasn't sure what the Wildcats could look like. 

Godfrey is that critical — a physical, experienced power forward who will start if he can somehow get eligible. Without him, as they have been in exhibition games so far, the Wildcats are smaller, forced to play wing Ivan Kharchenkov next to Motiejus Krivas in the post and fill in the gaps with perimeter players elsewhere.

If Godfrey was involved in Ohio or California, or if he was a 23-year-old European, maybe things could be different.

On Tuesday, more than 70 athletes gained eligibility via a ruling in a California lawsuit, including BYU’s Jaxon Kohler and Gonzaga guard Xaivian Lee, though the NCAA is expected to appeal that decision.

Last week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order that would effectively give athletes at its schools a fifth season because it would prohibit Ohio colleges from enforcing NCAA eligibility restrictions — even though, according to Sports Business Journal, NCAA president Charlie Baker wrote a letter to NCAA schools saying DeWine “cannot legislate NCAA eligibility rules.”

So, at least for now, some athletes are OK to play a fifth season. Godfrey is not.

Godfrey graduated from Georgia’s North Gwinnett High School in 2022, has played four college seasons, but the Georgia “five-for-five” lawsuit he is a plaintiff in remains stalled due to a stay against a legal ruling that initially allowed a fifth season.

The “five-for-five” lawsuits all over the nation stem from the NCAA’s decision not to include athletes who graduated high school in 2022 from a new rule allowing all athletes to play five seasons starting with their high school graduations or 19th birthdays. The NCAA has argued that 2022 athletes who have played four seasons are subject to the old rules in place when their eligibility expired after last season.

Lloyd said he realizes there is a lot of independence among different courts around the country but said he wished overall for a national standard allowing all 2022 high school graduates a fifth season.

“You wish cooler heads could prevail and give these kids the opportunity that they deserve because these kids did nothing wrong,” Lloyd said. “They're missing out on a life-changing opportunity — not only experience-wise but financially — just because of the year they graduated in high school. Somebody has to explain to me how that's OK.”

Lloyd said he isn’t sure he’s more optimistic despite the legal rulings elsewhere. Mostly, he said, he’s just puzzled by what he sees as inconsistency, noting that even some international players older than Godfrey are getting cleared after “playing four years pro” overseas.

“Obviously, this eligibility stuff is something everyone is talking about behind the scenes in college basketball, and I think we all agree how chaotic it is,” Lloyd said. “It's just hard for me to sit here and not be able to defend somebody just because they entered college in the class of 2022 when everybody before them got five years and everybody after them is going to get five years.”

“It’s just, like, somebody has to explain to me how logically this all makes sense.”

With Godfrey in limbo, Lloyd said it remained to be seen what the Wildcats’ “final look” was going to be when he was asked about the expectations around them.

“The first thing with expectations is they’re a privilege, and I don't think you should look at it at any other way,” Lloyd said. “The next thing is (to) dissociate from what happened last year and understand this year its own journey and from square one. There's no skipping steps in having a successful season or building a team, so you just have to get back to square one, and be OK with that.”

Thanks to the Big 12’s new idea of mixing in both women’s and men’s programs into the two-day affair at the site of the conference tournament, both the UA women’s and men’s teams made appearances on the main stage Wednesday morning.

While the UA men were voted to defend their title, receiving 12 of 16 first-place votes from the league’s head coaches, the UA women were voted to finish 13th, slightly above the 14th-place tie they finished in last season at 3-15 under new coach Becky Burke.

During her appearance, Burke said her Wildcats learned how hard they had to play in the “super competitive” Big 12 last season, then worked to improve via recruiting and preparation.

“Obviously we knew that we had a talent deficit, and we addressed that in the offseason with recruiting our freshman class, the returners that we brought back, but also the transfer portal class that we brought in,” Burke said. “We really feel like we've narrowed that gap.

“I think we played extremely hard, and I think we were very well prepared. So now that we feel like we've done a great job elevating our talent, we feel like we have a great opportunity to move the bar this year.”

While Lloyd said his Wildcats “will move forward no matter what,” he made it clear that their bar gets higher if Godfrey is pushing it.

“We're a no-excuses program,” Lloyd said. “But he puts the pieces in the right place. For our roster to have the depth that it needs to have, and the impact we would love to have off the bench, RJ is going to f help put all the pieces in the right place. I just hope and pray we get to see it.”