Arizona basketball's Dylan Anderson to redshirt 2023-24 season

The Wildcats have a full 13 scholarship players for the first time in UA coach Tommy Lloyd’s three seasons at Arizona, and are stacked with four 7-footers, including returning all-Pac-12 first teamer Oumar Ballo. Lithuanian freshman Motiejus Krivas has also moved toward becoming the top backup center role this fall.

Anderson’s father, Rob, said the redshirt was Dylan’s idea. Sitting out this season would give Dylan Anderson three full seasons to compete for the Wildcats starting in 2024-25.

Rob Anderson’s comments to the Star came after Mike Luke of PHNX posted via X (Twitter) that it was likely the Gilbert native would redshirt.

Because of the Wildcats’ full roster, it appeared possible that Anderson, Spanish freshman guard Conrad Martinez might redshirt, or possibly sophomore forward Henri Veesaar, if he does not return quickly from an unspecified elbow injury. It is also possible Anderson is pulled out of the redshirt season if Veesaar doesn’t quickly return and/or UA suffers another backcourt injury.

When the Star asked Lloyd whether he might redshirt anyone Monday, after UA finished its exhibition play, Lloyd acknowledged it was possible. Players cannot play in any regular-season games if they are seeking an intentional (non-medical) redshirt, and Arizona’s season will begin on Monday against Morgan State.

“There have been some conversations behind the scenes, and we’ll work those out here this week,” Lloyd said. “I think that’s an important part of continuity and really building a program, not just a team, and we’re a program.

“That’s something that I value. I really think it creates a lot of advantages for players and for the program. So we’ll sit down and talk about it this weekend, and then hopefully figure it out before Monday.”

Arizona’s backcourt appears particularly loaded with returning sophomore Kylan Boswell, North Carolina transfer Caleb Love, Alabama transfer Jaden Bradley and freshman KJ Lewis — plus versatile wings Pelle Larsson and Filip Borovicanin.

Moreover, Lloyd indicated when Martinez signed with the Wildcats in late May that he was a long-term prospect with a fiery playing style that would grow on McKale Center fans. He even nicknamed Martinez “El Jefecito” (Little General), a nickname Martinez says he’s happy with.

“Plain and simple, Conrad is a winner,” Lloyd said upon Martinez’s signing. “He has impacted winning with every team he’s been part of. His best days as a basketball player are definitely ahead of him and we look forward to helping him take those next steps.”

UA remains uncertain how long Veesaar will be out. While he does not appear to have a season-ending injury, a midseason return could make a return problematic with chemistry and rotations.

NCAA stays quiet

While the NCAA declined comment on Kerr Kriisa’s nine-game suspension for accepting impermissible benefits while at Arizona, the organization typically only comments on significant rules violations (Level I or Level II).

Moreover, as of Friday, it has not announced the opening of an infractions case, nor a conclusion, regarding a review of Kriisa’s eligibility issue. Conclusions to significant NCAA cases are normally listed on its website.

While West Virginia said Kriisa admitted to accepting benefits while at Arizona, UA responded with a statement saying its coaches and staff were not involved, and that the NCAA issued it no penalties, leaving open the possibility that benefits were accessed despite UA safeguards around NCAA rules.

He’s efficient (so far)

All that talk about Love not shooting efficiently last season at North Carolina? Over two exhibition games, he shot a combined 17 for 25 (68.0%) and made half of his 12 3-pointers. He also had 10 assists, four steals and four turnovers.

All four of Love’s turnovers came last Monday against New Mexico Highlands and while Lloyd said that was too much, he said he was happy with Love’s progress overall.

“I think Caleb’s playing really well,” Lloyd said. “I’m getting a feel for coaching him in games a little bit, and I see there’s some good effort on the defensive end. But I also see there’s a little bit of room for growth, in how he finishes possessions. We’re definitely going to attack that this week.”

Love said he has been having a lot of fun and enjoying his coaches and teammates, while on the court he said the Wildcats’ playing style has made it easier to fit in his game.

“Our offense creates a lot of movement, a lot of space to maneuver throughout the floor,” Love said. “So it’s easy for me to just get downhill, just make the right play.”

Big leap for Murauskas

The adjustment to college basketball has come with an added twist for Paulius Murauskas.

After spending most of the preseason with Arizona at small forward, the Lithuanian freshman has had to switch largely to power forward this fall because of injuries to big men Oumar Ballo, Motiejus Krivas and Veesaar.

In UA’s system, Lloyd indicated, that’s a big deal because the point guard, shooting guard and small forward have similar responsibilities than the post players at power forward and center.

But after scoring four points on 1-for-6 shooting on Oct. 20 against Lewis-Clark State, Murauskas had 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting Monday against New Mexico Highlands.

“It’s the classic caught-in-between two positions a little bit,” Lloyd said. “When you make that jump from the three to the four, there’s a little bit of a learning curve, and so I feel for him in that — and as a freshman, that’s a lot.

“But he did look more comfortable (against New Mexico Highlands). And he’s a really talented player. He can really score the ball and he’s got that scorers’ mentality. Now he’s just got to start putting some of the other things together.”