4-star center Dylan Anderson becomes Arizona’s first commit of Tommy Lloyd era

Tommy Lloyd wasted little time landing his first commitment as Arizona’s head coach.

Dylan Anderson, a seven-foot center from Gilbert, committed to the Wildcats on Friday morning. His commitment comes one day after Lloyd was announced as head coach.

247Sports ranks Anderson as the No. 50 overall player in the 2022 class, including the No. 8 center and the No. 2 prospect from Arizona. Anderson is the Wildcats’ first commit of the 2022 class.

Anderson had several offers including one, interestingly, from Gonzaga.

“Anderson is a mobile center with good size, decent length, a budding skill set and a pretty high upside,” said former 247Sports national recruiting analysis Josh Gershon (via InsideCarolina). “He moves very well for the his size and impacts the game on both sides of the court. Even though he still has work to do as a shooter and tends to force shots at times, he does have a pretty good stroke and has range out to the perimeter. Still, he is much more efficient around the basket at this point. Anderson has respectable hands and feet and decent footwork/touch. Continuing to develop his post moves while gaining strength should help him inside, but he does have a right hand hook shot as a go-to move and an improving drop step.

“His size and length make him a formidable rim protector and rebounder, while strength should help him improve as a man defender. Seeing how his athleticism changes with strength will be a key area to monitor while he hopefully continues to add to his skill set and efficiency.”

Anderson’s commitment gives Lloyd immediate momentum on the recruiting trail, but it shouldn’t come as a total surprise that the new head coach would nab a top prospect so quickly.

Lloyd is known as an exceptional recruiter. Though his reputation is largely built around international success, he’s shown he can recruit domestically as well.

“When I think about recruiting I also think about my job is to get the best fit, highest character, most talented guy for our team,” Lloyd said Thursday. “You always have to have that formula and whether that’s an international guy, a transfer, a junior college kid, I don’t know. We’re going to fish in all waters, trust me and when we’re going to find the best kids for the University of Arizona, no matter if they have a name you can’t pronounce, or they’re a kid down the street.”

In this case, Lloyd went for the kid down the street and it worked.