Big 12 commish Brett Yormark visits UA campus as Arizona's final Pac-12 hoops season nears

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark was in town.

Yormark visited the UA campus last Tuesday after having locked up the Wildcats along with Colorado, Utah and ASU during the Pac-12’s summertime implosion, during which Oregon and Washington also opted to join USC and UCLA in the Big Ten while Cal and Stanford bolted for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“Obviously, they feel great about adding the Four Corners schools,” Lloyd said of Yormark and his staff. “He was very forthright in saying `This was our dream scenario, getting these four schools.’ He said, `I thought it was going to happen because I’m optimistic. But I also understand that we got pretty lucky in how it all played out.’ "

The move meant Lloyd will next season take a program that has led the Pac-12 in men’s basketball championships since joining in 1978-79 into the nation’s toughest men’s basketball conference, comprised of perennial powers such as Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State and now Houston.

“It’s obviously exciting. Change is exciting,” Lloyd said, after saying he wanted to enjoy the last season of Pac-12 competition first. “To step into what looks like could be potentially one of the best, if not the best, basketball conference in the country could be a daunting task. But it's a challenge I think we're up for, so I can't wait to see what it looks like and feels like.

“I don't know if we're gonna do anything different. I think we're just going to do what we do. We're trying to compete at a national level anyway, and we'll continue to do that.”

Among other things, Lloyd said he was curious to see how Arizona’s Big 12 schedule would play out, expecting the Wildcats might be assigned an occasional two-game road trip in Big 12 play, but nothing comparable to the regular two-game road swings made in the Pac-12.

“We'll kind of figure out what it looks like to play on different days,” Lloyd said, “what does it look like to play a bunch of single-game road trips and not have travel partners, to be in a 16-team league where you play five home and homes and 10 single games. It's interesting.”

Playing in the Big 12 could be difficult both in competition and in travel for the Wildcats, but Lloyd said UA ultimately ended up taking the best deal available the way things played out over the summer.

In other words, what was best for Yormark might not have been best for Arizona. But best wasn’t an option anymore.

“We played the hand that we were dealt,” Lloyd said. “I think our intention all the time was to try to figure out some way to stay in some form of the Pac-something. But when that wasn't a possibility, we had to do what was best for our institution.”

Bronny, Trojans on mend

For their final Pac-12 go-round, the Wildcats are expected to have the most trouble with USC despite the fact that the Trojans have had standout freshmen Vince Iwuchukwu (in 2022) and guard Bronny James (last summer) sidelined after cardiac arrests in successive years.

After USC was picked to finish second behind Arizona in the conference’s official preseason poll Wednesday at Pac-12 media day, Trojans coach Andy Enfield said James has been doing well — while his father, LeBron James, said earlier this month during the Lakers’ media day that Bronny has begun a rehab process “to get back on the floor this season.”

Enfield also said he expected Iwuchukwu would be able to play a full season after sitting out the first half of last season.

“Vince is feeling great, probably the best he’s ever felt physically,” Enfield said.

Lloyd said he couldn’t imagine having to deal with two straight serious health crises as Enfield has had to.

“That could be any one of us,” Lloyd said. “I know Andy has had to go through it in back-to-back years, which I can't even wrap my head around. I feel bad enough when a guy sprains an ankle or dislocates a finger. So my hat's off to them and to their medical staff and to their coaching staff and to their players, because they've been through a lot.”

“I don't know Bronny personally but I've heard he's an amazing high-character kid and a great teammate, which is awesome to hear."

Llloyd also called incoming USC five-star freshman Isaiah Collier a “dynamic” player after seeing him at a USA Basketball event, while also complimenting Ellis and Johnson, along with the the Trojan post players’ ability to protect the rim.

“They have lots of good pieces,” Lloyd said. “I think they maybe when Bronny committed that brought a lot of attention to the program. Maybe talks have cooled on them a little bit since the incident but I know they’ve got a really good team coming back. I'm excited to see them put it together.”

Noncon 'Pac' games possible

While Lloyd says he and UCLA coach Mick Cronin have talked about continuing to face each other in nonconference play, both indicated the scheduling constraints of their new conferences and multi-team events might limit how many available home dates they have in the future.

But one thing’s for sure: With 10 departing Pac-12 schools facing conference road trips that will mostly be farther away next season, a chance to play good nonconference games without traveling too far might be welcomed.

Oregon coach Dana Altman said he and OSU coach Wayne Tinkle have already decided to keep playing “unless the higher-ups tell us we’re not,” and Altman is also interested in playing the Wildcats.

“I haven’t talked to Tommy but I’d love to play Arizona and keep that going,” Altman said.

Having grown up nearly equidistant between the Washington and Oregon campuses, Lloyd said he has an affinity for the Pacific Northwest and that he and Altman could discuss playing games that would generate a lot of interest.

But there’s also the fact that Eugene is still a two-hour-plus charter flight away from Tucson, farther than some of the Big 12 campuses the Wildcats will be visiting.

“The Arizona-UCLA one for us probably makes more sense right away because of the proximity,” Lloyd said. “All of us now, we're looking at extensive travel. So one of the things we're looking at is, `Hey, we can play a home and home with an hour flight' — that’s pretty appealing.

“We're all in a situation where we're all kind of learning what it's gonna look like but there's a lot of respect amongst the coaches in this region. We know each other. So I would be shocked if there's not a lot of these games that start popping up.”

Diallo schedules visit

Five-star class of 2025 guard Zoom Diallo has scheduled an official visit this week that could allow him to take in the Wildcats’ exhibition game with Lewis-Clark State on Friday at McKale Center.

Diallo, a 6-4 point guard, transferred from Tacoma’s Curtis High School in Washington to Prolific Prep, in Napa, California, for this season.