Love Caleb
I know all the warts. I don't know how to eradicate them, but if Arizona does they've got something here.
Right up front: I don’t know how they’re gonna make this work.
I can’t imagine why adding Caleb Love to an already-crowded Arizona backcourt featuring Alabama transfer Jaden Bradley and sophomore Kylan Boswell is going to work from a touches and shots standpoint. Love is going to shoot; he’s going to shoot when that’s the best thing for his team and certainly when it’s not, because that’s what he does. Is that a by-product of Hubert Davis not having the sternest touch at the helm of North Carolina, Love’s inability to rein himself in, a tertiary concern stemming from North Carolina’s season from hell a year ago or some combination of all, with a little “mane, these guys suck and somebody’s gotta score” sprinkled in? I’d put it all somewhere between ‘maybe’ and ‘probably’, with Love himself probably a 6.5 out of 10, 3 frowny-Heels out of 5. Mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike is not just a grade, it’s been the whole Caleb Love show for a couple of years now.
Three years, two head coaches, one improbable NCAA Tournament run and one season everyone in Chapel Hill would sooner forget, that is still the Love Experience writ brief: what, after all this time, is Caleb Love supposed to be as a ballplayer, outside of supremely talented? And what’s this do for Arizona?
A consensus top-10 prospect out of high school, Love was an anticipated departure after each collegiate season, including the last one, but instead of turning pro, he turned to Tucson (after a brief and disappointing flirtation with Ann Arbor) as a late jewel to a class heavy on question marks. Tommy Lloyd needed a strong portal outing after landing one fringe top-100 prep player in KJ Lewis, three internationals in Lithuanian duo Paulius Murauskas and Motiejus Krivas and Spaniard Conrad Martinez; getting Bradley, Love and former San Diego State wing Keshad Johnson was a coup, but a necessary one to secure a top-40 recruiting class. Johnson and Love have started in the last two national title games, giving a young team in need of leadership with the departure of Kerr Kriisa some title bonafides (at least on paper).