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Joe Tipton: Arizona forward Koa Peat has declared for the NBA Draft, he announced. The 6-8 freshman averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game this season.
James didn't speak to reporters Thursday ahead of Arizona's matchup against Michigan this weekend in the national semifinals. Tucked away in the Wildcat locker room on Thursday, an Arizona staffer was shielding the media away from James. CBS Sports approached James last month after Arizona's win over Utah State in the second round, but an Arizona staffer said James would not be doing any interviews. Players who are redshirting and/or injured don't have to talk to the media, but they can if they choose to. When reporters approached him on Thursday during media day at the Final Four, they were also quickly turned down. Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said earlier this week the program wants to "protect" James during his redshirt season.
Dan Wolken: Arizona had an enforcer in the locker room today near Bryce James to tell reporters that he wasn’t going to do interviews. Carron J. Phillips: You can get really good stuff from the guys at the end of the bench at the NCAA Tournament during locker room availability. This is dumb. Dan Wolken: To be clear, Bryce’s media availability is being dictated by LeBron/Klutch, not Arizona.
Bryce James, the younger son of LeBron James, will redshirt this season for No. 1 Arizona, head coach Tommy Lloyd announced Tuesday. “Bryce has made huge progress. The red-shirting decision is a long play, to give Bryce the most options as his career unfolds. I have a real strong believe that Bryce will be a contributor at Arizona in the near future,” Lloyd said per Chancellor Johnson.
Mat Ishbia on Devin Booker: He means so much to the Arizona community, the Phoenix community, and he knows that. But on top of that, you know, when you find out who your real friends are when everyone else turns their back on you. And so when we went through some tough times, you know, it'd be easy after we a new owner comes in, we try to spend money, we try to do things and we didn't win. It'd be easier for that franchise player to be like, "Hey man, I put my time in. I'm ready to go." Instead, he did the reverse. He said, "Listen, I'm with you, Matt. I believe in what we're doing. I'm all in with you. I'll even sign an extension. Like, I want to be here with you. Let's go do this." He's had my back. I'll always have his back. It's been special. And so very, very lucky to have him.
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Inside the Phoenician hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, with pain radiating across her leg, Collier sat to write a withering 4½-minute missive about the state of WNBA officiating and commissioner Cathy Engelbert's leadership and attitude toward players. She planned to deliver it whenever Minnesota's season concluded. Collier would do this alone: There was no communication or coordination with the players' association, for which Collier served as vice president, sources say. The general message she planned to deliver had been on her mind for months, sources say, ever since a meeting seven months ago in Miami.
Sportswriter John Canzano, a former columnist for The Oregonian/OregonLive, reported Tuesday on the possibility Arizona car magnate Ernest Garcia II, or his son, Ernest Garcia III, or both, are helping fund the deal. Almost as soon as Dundon’s bid was first reported, speculation to that effect was passed among multiple high-level local observers. One source told The Oregonian/OregonLive that they believed Garcia III was a “significant player” in the group. The Oregonian/OregonLive was unable to confirm those claims. The source familiar with the deal said the Garcias are not involved.
Ryan Blackburn: Cam Johnson told us a story about being at a breakfast spot in Arizona near his home. A family of roughly 10 older Nuggets were having breakfast but were beside themselves with excitement about Cam being a Nugget. “The lady was almost crying.”
Jalen Williams: Me and D-Book had a jump ball. You know how you wrestle for the ball and nobody really wants to give it up? That’s basically what happened. I remember pulling my hand out of the mix—there were a couple people involved—and I heard what sounded like a paper ripping or a switch-type noise. Then my hand was just on fire. The whole top of my wrist was burning. If I backtrack a little, I think what made it give out was that I’d already been dealing with a wrist sprain most of the season. It was frustrating because I had just gotten to a point where I was shooting better, had gotten used to the pain, and the sprain was improving. Then I tore it completely. I finished that game. It was burning. I think I took some ibuprofen during the game and was good after that—didn’t feel much. I was in Arizona, my family and friends were there, so I didn’t really think about it. After the game we had team dinner, went out with family, and then when I got to the hotel, halfway through the night my hand swelled up like crazy. My fingers were fat, my whole wrist was swollen. I couldn’t flex it up or down or side to side. It was the worst it had ever been. We got an MRI the next day after I flew back. Still in pain, couldn’t move it. Worst it’s ever felt. Got the results back two days later—they said I tore it. This was around the time the season had just ended, so we had about a week off. I think we got nine days total, maybe a little more. That time off helped.
Shams Charania: Arizona’s Caleb Love – one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball – is expected to sign a two-way NBA contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell ESPN. Love went undrafted and now lands a deal to be on the Blazers’ roster next season.
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The FanDuel Sportsbook lounge inside PHX Arena will become a lounge and will cease sportsbook operations as of July 24, less than four years after it opened on the first day of legalized sports gambling in Arizona. The 7,400 square-foot sportsbook, billed as the first inside an NBA arena when it opened in September 2021, featured five betting windows, 26 kiosks, 40 TVs, an outdoor terrace and a full-service bar and menu.
Williams was 5-foot-11, skinny and gangly with big feet when he entered Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona. But he grew 5 inches between his sophomore and senior season. He was 6-3 when he averaged 25 points per game during his senior year during the 2018-19 season and stands 6-5 now.
Jalen Williams, an All-Star and All-NBA selection this season who went to high school in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert, Ariz. (population, about 275,000), was drafted 12th in 2022 after the Thunder lost 58 games the season before. He remembers fans gathering outside his hotel when he first flew to Oklahoma City from New York following the draft — and the welcoming atmosphere hasn’t stopped. “I always compare it to, like, a small local high school football team being really good, and the city around them kind of gathers around them,” Williams said. “That’s how Oklahoma is. But it’s (like) that with the whole state. Everywhere we go, I’ve been met with love since I’ve been out here. It’s a really cool experience.”