Following the departures of Oumar Ballo, Keshad Johnson and Pelle Larsson, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd had a lot of size to replace this offseason to go alongside the returning players and incoming freshman.

Lloyd did so by attacking the transfer portal and bringing in both Trey Townsend from Oakland and Tobe Awaka from Tennessee.

It was associate head coach Jack Murphy who first contacted Awaka about transferring to Arizona.

"Coach Murphy hit me at like midnight on a given day, and from then it was talks back-and-forth," Awaka said. "I think the thing that really did it was just how much they showed they really wanted me... I think it was creating that relationship with the coaches on the staff."