Arizona freshman forward Henri Veesaar spoke to the local Tucson media Wednesday afternoon as team inches closer to the start of official practices in the next month. He joins Azuolas and Tautvilas Tubelis, Filip Borovicanin, Pelle Larsson, Adama Bal, Oumar Ballo and fellow Estonian Kerr Kriisa as the latest international player on Arizona's roster.

Veesar's relationship with Tommy Lloyd played a big part in bringing the 7-footer to Arizona from overseas.

"I believe in coach Tommy and he has a great system for big guys, especially if you come from Europe" Veesar said. "He doesn't have the usual American style for basketball."

Veesar played the last three years for the Real Madrid youth program prior to coming to Tucson. In his most recent season, he averaged over 10 points per game while shooting just under 70 percent from the field. In the year prior, Veesar averaged over 16 points and 11 rebounds per game playing in the FIBA U18 European Challengers event at 17 years old.

The competitiveness of playing for Real Madrid and that experience can help transfer over to the college level with Arizona, he feels.

"Being from an academy like Real Madrid, it really helps you because you had to fight for your spot every day, in the academy" Veesar said. "I think most kids who come from high school, they have been the best player on their team for the whole team. There was no competition for them. I think coming from the academy, where we had many players you had to fight for playing time, is good."