Tommy Lloyd has recruited and coached numerous NBA players over his 25-year coaching career.
From current NBA stars Domantas Sabonis and Rui Hachimura — who Lloyd coached when he was Mark Few’s head assistant at Gonzaga — to former Arizona Wildcats standouts Bennedict Mathurin and Pelle Larsson, Floyd knows what it takes to compete at the next level.
And Arizona freshman Carter Bryant might be his most talented recruit yet.
Bryant, a five-star prospect out of Corona Centennial High School in Southern California, is a coveted “3-and-D” wing in the modern NBA. At 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, Bryant can guard four positions at the college level, and he can shoot with range.
Bryant is only averaging 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds for Arizona (19-9, 13-4), but he has hit numerous big shots for the Wildcats — and Lloyd knows how special he is.
“The one thing about Carter is … he checks two boxes that are really hard to check. He’s an elite talent and he has elite character,” Lloyd said in early January. “The game is going to come to him. The refinement is going to come. The experience is going to come, and the progress he’s made in the last month has been game-changing for us.”
“I’m really proud of him because when you’re somebody with Carter’s stature, and you come to a place like Arizona, the expectations might be a little unrealistic. Sometimes it works out for freshmen right away. A lot of times it doesn’t, and you’ve just got to hang with it. And he’s hung with it and he’s continued to get better. He has had an amazing attitude.”
ESPN released its updated top 100 prospects for the 2025 NBA Draft on Saturday, and Bryant is near the top.
Bryant is ranked No. 19 on Jonathan Givony’s big board, ahead of Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, UConn’s Alex Karaban and a slew of other big-time college players.
If Bryant declares for the 2025 NBA Draft, he will almost assuredly be a first-round pick. He has been linked with the Brooklyn Nets in multiple mock drafts.
There’s no doubt Bryant could benefit from another year under Lloyd, but the NBA is calling — and we’ll find out soon if Bryant answers the phone.
