While all eyes in Tucson are on the Arizona Wildcats getting their football season underway, basketball is slowly starting to get things in motion.

Two scrimmage dates have been announced for fans to get their first look at this year’s team, with one being held on their home floor and the other being played in Glendale.

Expectations are high for the Wildcats to hit the ground running during their first season in the Big 12 Conference, and with the way this program has performed under head coach Tommy Lloyd, that should be of little surprise to anyone.

In the three years since he’s taken over, Arizona has won two Pac-12 regular season titles and two Pac-12 tournaments, earning a top two seed in the NCAA Tournament every year.

But despite that success, they have topped out on the national stage by being unable to advance past the Sweet 16 round.

Solving that riddle will be the key for Lloyd during his time in Tucson, and by being inserted into a more competitive conference, it will be more difficult for them to maintain a stranglehold on the regular season.

So how can Arizona emerge as true national powers again?

They need to start recruiting at a much higher level than they have under Lloyd.

His first full cycle in charge was the 2022 class, and since that time, the Wildcats have failed to secure a ranking in the top 15.

There are signs this is changing since they finished with the 16th overall class last year, but only landing two four-star recruits makes it tough to maintain long-term success when they have to rely on the transfer portal.

Seemingly knowing that, Lloyd and his staff are attacking the recruiting trail by trying to land some of the best players in the 2025 class.

With visits set up for the fall, the Wildcats are poised to make a huge splash this year.

However, there is at least one recruit in this cycle Arizona had interest in who they are moving on from.

When referencing Tounde Yessoufou, Joe Tipton of On3 reports, “Arizona has moved on from his recruitment and will look to fill the small forward position elsewhere.”

The California native is ranked as the No. 19 player in this class and has garned national interest from some of the top programs around the country like Kentucky, Baylor, UCLA, Tennessee, Kansas, and UConn.

The 6-foot-5, four-star forward has taken two trips to see Arizona, including an official visit back on June 16.

But clearly they feel like their attention is better served elsewhere, whether that’s because the interest has waned from a singular party, or if both are more interest in other options.

Still, this cycle will be one to closely monitor for the Lloyd and the Wildcats as they look to secure their best recruiting class in this era.

PHOENIX — In a shootout 10-9 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, the Arizona Diamondbacks had to make some tough decisions with the bullpen. Ryan Thompson was unavailable and manager Torey Lovullo wanted to stay away from Justin Martinez, as the duo had pitched in each of the previous two games.

Lovullo had some maneuvering to do, and his pitchers did not get the job done.

Starter Zac Gallen did not have great feel for his pitches early, although he gutted out five innings and left with the two sides tied 5-5.

The biggest moment for the bullpen came in the seventh inning when Paul Sewald entered down 6-5 with two runners on and one out.

Two batters into Sewald’s outing, Dodgers catcher Will Smith broke the game open with a three-run homer. Sewald missed his spot with a fastball in after Smith looked pretty hopeless on back-to-back sweepers. Lovullo thought the pitch should have been down-and-away to freeze Smith.

HR No. 17 for Will Smith is an insurance BLAST 💥 pic.twitter.com/ljT3REZHRn

— MLB (@MLB) August 31, 2024

Why Sewald? Kevin Ginkel, who has not allowed an earned run in his last 11 games, had previously warmed up, but Lovullo wanted to save him and A.J. Puk for a situation in which the D-backs were ahead. Jordan Montgomery was also not available.

“I can’t run away from everybody, and I want to give Paul a chance to get some rhythm and go in there and and find his way,” Lovullo said.

“It’s getting better. Believe it or not, I know it’s hard for me to sit here and convince you guys of that based on what his line score look like, but it’s getting better. I think we’re an arm fake away from executing an out at third base and being out of that inning.”

Sewald then allowed a second home run, this time a solo shot by Shohei Ohtani in the eighth inning on an 0-2 fastball right down the middle.

Ohtani’s homer became the difference in the game, as an Eugenio Suarez two-run shot cut the deficit to one run in the ninth inning.

The D-backs have not named Martinez the closer despite the 23-year-old filling that role over the past three weeks. Lovullo continues to leave the door open for Sewald to retain that status, but Sewald has allowed runs in three straight games and Friday’s performance proved costly.

“The thing I like about him is he’s landing the slider and I know last year it was kind of reverse. It was a lot of four-seam fastballs, and he couldn’t find the slider,” Lovullo said. “He’s got to find that fastball location.”

The Dodgers took a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning on a Joe Mantiply wild pitch, scoring a run charged to Dylan Floro. Mantiply was charged with two runs on Smith’s homer.

Diamondbacks’ first-and-third play

Lovullo highlighted a first-and-third play just before Smith’s home run that he felt made a significant difference in the game.

With runners on the corners, Los Angeles’ Teoscar Hernandez stole second. Instead of throwing down, catcher Jose Herrera pump faked to second and ran toward third. Mookie Betts was caught well off the bag, but Herrera had to wait a beat for Suarez to cover before throwing the ball. Betts just beat the throw to keep Smith’s at-bat alive.

“I thought we got him, but I played deep. I played almost in the grass. That’s why I didn’t make it to third,” Suarez said. “I thought if I played short there, we got him because that was a good play. … As a runner, when you see the third baseman play that deep, you got a chance to break off hard like he did and you’ve got a chance to be back. That’s what happened on that play.”

Lovullo admitted he had not yet reviewed the play, but he was frustrated by the failure to record the out. He said they practice it in spring training a lot, and he would take a closer look at the execution.

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In this episode of Arizona Highways TV with Robin Sewell, explore the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a unique blend of a zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum, and art institute. Learn about its immersive exhibits, including the hummingbird aviary and the 147-species cactus garden. Meet the animal ambassadors like Knight, a barn owl, and discover the role of education and conservation at the museum. Later, visit Ingo’s Tasty Food in central Phoenix for a gourmet alfresco dining experience, and explore George Aberbeck’s handcrafted glass art in Flagstaff. Finally, stay at the historic Armory Park Inn in Tucson, filled with stories of iconic Arizonans. The episode also touches on the music scene in the valley, including the Zubia Brothers and their journey from mariachi roots to the local music landscape.