Funny thing about the transfer portal, no one is immune from its ability to raid a roster.
Indeed premier programs largely benefit from it, as their reputations, facilities and NIL packages often help to lure star talent away from, shall we say, lesser schools.
But even the country’s best, or those closer to the top than the middle, can see talent depart.
According to EvanMiya.com, the top transfers in the portal come from the likes of Maryland, Illinois, North Carolina, Indiana and Michigan. St. John’s, Iowa and Virginia have also lost guys, and even ASU has seen some talented players bolt.
Arizona is not alone.
Not long after the team’s competitive-yet-largely-expected Sweet 16 loss to Duke, guard KJ Lewis put his name into the portal. Soon after reserve center Emmanuel Stephen joined him, and then so too did Henri Veesaar and Conrad Martinez.
The portal closes on April 22 so more could still follow suit, but if the exodus from Arizona ends here the Cats should count themselves lucky.
Losing Lewis and Veesaar especially hurts, as both were key players in this season’s run, whereas Stephen and Martinez were projects who didn’t see the floor much and had no guarantees of doing so next season.
All could have played a role in 2025-26, though with the Cats’ incoming recruiting class and yet-to-be-named portal acquisitions no one can know for sure.
At any rate, each player’s reason for leaving is probably different. It could be playing time, usage or money or something else entirely. Unless they say something all we can do is speculate.
But as players leave it’s wise not to overreact or see departures as some sort of indictment of Tommy Lloyd or the program he’s running. Having been to three Sweet 16s in four seasons and done a good job of developing talent, it’s unlikely transfers are a sign of something being rotten in Tucson.
No, instead it’s just the way college athletics works these days.
It’s clear Arizona’s administration understands this, as evidenced by the decision to extend Lloyd’s contract through 2030. The agreement smartly provides additional funds and different length contracts for assistants and addresses an annual budget for revenue sharing and more.
The rapidly-changing nature of college athletics dictates not just a forward-thinking approach, but also a level-headed perspective. Time will tell if Arizona is getting out ahead of things, keeping pace, behind the times or something else, but regardless it’s good to see there is a plan in place and an understanding that Lloyd is the guy to execute it.
Because he is.
Four seasons into his tenure the coach has three Sweet 16 appearances. He developed and led players he didn’t recruit and now has succeeded with rosters entirely of his own making. He’s guided the program through the early days of NIL and the transfer portal, consistently rebuilding and retooling the roster to where it’s consistently one of the top 25 or so in the country.
This past season he helped the team get through a key injury to center Mo Krivas, a rough start to the season and then one of the most challenging schedules in the country. The season ending at the hands of Duke in the Sweet 16 was disappointing, but not a disappointment.
Under Lloyd Arizona’s average NCAA tournament seed has been 2.25, which is the second-best mark in the country over that span behind only Houston. Would we like to see the program reach the final weekend and compete for a championship? Of course.
But consistent success is difficult to achieve, especially with the way the game is set up today. Lloyd’s ability to keep Arizona at a level where it is knocking at the door year after year matters, because eventually the matchups will work out or the bounces will go the Cats’ way and the door will open.
Right?
For now the only door we see is the one players are using to leave. It’s not fun to watch good players move on, but it’s important to remember that for every player who leaves another one will come to take their place. Be it traditional high school recruits or players brought in through the portal, you can count on Lloyd and Arizona replacing high-end talent with more high-end talent.
Whether it will all be enough to again compete for the Big 12 title and then make a deep tournament run remains to be seen, especially because it’s early April and the roster is still rather fluid.
But as these days, weeks and months play out and things at time seem less-than-ideal for Arizona keep in mind it is not alone in seeing talent depart, but for many reasons it is one of a handful of programs that has proven it can withstand departures and continue to succeed.