Arizona Wildcats Boast Preseason All-American
The Arizona Wildcats men's basketball program is quickly approaching the commencement of the 2024-25 season, their first as a member of the Big 12.
In what is looking to be another fantastic season for the men on the hardwood, head coach Tommy Lloyd is looking to build on his already impressive tenure in his fourth season at the helm.
Though the majority of last year's starters are no longer on the team, players that helped the program play to a 27-9 record overall, a 15-5 record in conference play, and a trip to the Sweet 16, one member does still remain and looks to be a big part of the team's success once again.
Caleb Love has seen success already in his time in the collegiate ranks of basketball as he was a part of the 2021-22 National Champion North Carolina Tar Heels program.
Love spent one more season with the Tar Heels, a part of the first team in the history of college basketball to be named the number one team in the nation in the preseason and miss the NCAA Tournament, before transferring to the Wildcats to play under Lloyd.
"In his first season under Tommy Lloyd at Arizona," writes Brendan Marks of The Athletic, "Love posted career highs in points per game (18.0), rebounds per game (4.8), field-goal percentage (41.3 percent) and perhaps most importantly, assist-to-turnover ratio (3.4-to-2.1)."
It was a performance worthy of Marks naming Love as a second-team preseason All-American, as Love now heads into his fifth and final season in the college basketball ranks.
The graduate guard is sure to show even more signs of improvement in the coming year, a season that could see his points total creep closer to 20.0 if things go as planned for the Wildcats.
Love has had a solid career to this point, with one championship to show for it, on the back of a career total of 15.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals across 32.7 minutes in 137 games.
As the veteran leader of this Arizona offense, Lloyd is hopeful that Love can be a vocal mentor on and off the court for the younger members of the roster, to help show them the Arizona Wildcats way of basketball.
It is an exciting time for the Wildcats as they approach their first season as a member of the Big 12, and with Caleb Love running the offense, they have a solid opportunity at making another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
