Offseason limitations could slow development for Arizona's Christian Koloko
Arizona freshman big man Christian Koloko was a pleasant surprise for the Wildcats this season. The least heralded player of the UA freshman class, Koloko was rated as a three-star recruit coming out of Sierra Canyon High School in California but he eventually carved out a role for himself as the season moved along.
UA head coach Sean Miller always talked about Koloko in more long-range terms, so his development and ability to get on the floor and contribute as much as he did during his first season with the Wildcats was certainly something that caught Miller off guard.
His offensive game continues to develop, but his ability to block shots and defend in the paint gave the Wildcats a unique presence on that end of the floor. Miller was convinced enough throughout the year that he started to allow Koloko to see the floor in more critical end-of-game situations as Arizona's confidence in the freshman center grew toward the end of the season.
"Christian was a lot of fun to watch, because he gave everything he had to our practices, to our skill workouts, to learning the college basketball game, certainly in our weight room with [UA strength] coach [Chris] Rounds, and he gave us more as a freshman than I could have ever predicted," Miller said last week during a video interview with UA play-by-play announcer Brian Jeffries. "If you would have saw him as a junior in high school, there's no way you would have said that he would have played the role at Arizona as a freshman that he did.
"It's a real tribute to him and our staff, but also coach Browns in his weight room and our conditioning and strength program. So we're looking forward to getting Christian back."
Getting him back is going to be key for the Wildcats and right now there is uncertainty about when that will happen for Koloko and the rest of the team. College basketball came to a halt in March as the spread of the coronavirus swept across the country.
The NCAA Tournament was canceled and sports have been on hiatus ever since. Because coaches are only allowed to have limited time with their players during this extended offseason, it has left Miller and his staff somewhat blind to how their players are going about preparing for the upcoming season over the last two months.
In addition to that no player is going to have the type of facilities available at home that Arizona has on campus in Tucson, so with the Wildcats not allowed to be on campus at this time it is going to impact how well prepared they will be whenever they are allowed to return.
In Miller's mind, the time away from Tucson this spring – and potentially summer – will impact no player more than Koloko, who has stressed how much he understands his need to continue adding bulk so that he can make an even bigger impact.
"I would say my most frustrating part of the COVID-19 is simply him," Miller said. "Because I know what being here on our campus with Chris Rounds, the nutrition and strength and conditioning program that we were fortunate to have. He might be missing more than anybody, because just watching how his body changed in the first year he was with us. I mean, these months of March, April, May, June, and then the remainder of the summer Christian could come back 240 pounds. Where this year when you watched him he was right at about 220, 215.
"It still can happen, but he doesn't have the weight room that we have here in RJ at home. So, he's doing the best he can. We're in communication with him."
Koloko averaged 2.3 points and 2.4 rebounds to go with 25 blocks in 28 games as a freshman, but with more roster movement up front this offseason he is in line to have a bigger role as a sophomore.