It's already been a whirlwind offseason for North Carolina's leading scorer Caleb Love. Once bound for Michigan, reported admissions issues kept him from making that his new home. That reignited the flame with Love and Arizona leading to the Wildcats earning his commitment Tuesday after a visit to Tucson.
Love had been working out in Arizona recently, so it made the process an easy one for head coach Tommy Lloyd who has reloaded his roster after several key departures this offseason.
"Caleb is a tremendously talented guard who has significant experience playing college basketball at a high level," Lloyd said in a statement provided by the program. "We look forward to helping Caleb grow his game at Arizona. And as we near the completion of the roster for the upcoming season, we feel great about how everything has come together. Now it's time for the real work to start."
In Love, the Wildcats add a player with high-level scoring ability after he led the Tar Heels last season averaging 16.7 points. That average was good enough to finish fifth on the ACC scoring list earning him an all-conference honorable mention nod.
Love scored in double figures in all but three games last season including his final 18 contests.
There are plenty of connections to the Wildcats that turned what once seemed like an improbable pairing into a match. Arizona was among the finalists for Love as a five-star high school prospect when the former UA coaching staff led by Sean Miller prioritized him.
He ended up, however, choosing UNC where his lead recruiter was current Arizona assistant coach Steve Robinson.
It all led up to UA being the new future home for Love who joins a retooled roster for Lloyd who has had to overhaul his rotation after losing top contributors including starting point guard Kerr Kriisa (West Virgina) and power forward Azuolas Tubelis (NBA draft).
Seniors Courtney Ramey and Cedric Henderson Jr. exhausted their eligibility at the end of the season.
Since the Wildcats' early exit from the NCAA Tournament, Lloyd and his staff have added several new players including Alabama starting guard Jaden Bradley and San Diego State starting power forward Keshad Johnson. Top international big man Motiejus Krivas also committed to the Wildcats earlier this month plus there are two more international prospects in line to join Arizona by the start of the season as well.
Love is currently rated as the No. 9 transfer according to Rivals, and he heads to UA with the possibility of two seasons of remaining eligibility should he opt to use his free year of eligibility given to players during the COVD season.
In addition to averaging 16.7 points last season, he also 3.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals.
Arizona spring additions
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