MONSTER ENERGY BIG 12 MEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYS

October 21, 2026

Tommy Lloyd

Caleb Holt

Ivan Kharchenkov

Motiejus Krivas

Arizona Wildcats

Media Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the Arizona men.

Coach, you know all about having the target fixed to your back as the pre-season favorites. Expectations are a fickle beast. What is the key to managing expectations when you had such a great season and you're lining up to do something bigger this year?

TOMMY LLOYD: Well, the first thing with expectations is they're a privilege. I don't think you should look at it any other way.

The next thing is the sooner you can dissociate from what happened last year and understand this year is its own journey and kind of build from square one I think is the important thing.

There's no skipping steps, having a successful season, building a team. You just have to kind of get back to square one and be okay with that. You have to be okay with the journey is going to be rough. There's going to be some rough seas ahead. With these three dudes next to me, I feel pretty good no matter what you're navigating.

I look forward to all the challenges this season. Can't wait to get started.

THE MODERATOR: I imagine the identity you want to establish is similar to what you have done in the past. Every team has its own unique elements. What makes this roster a little bit different and unique?

TOMMY LLOYD: Well, last year obviously we had kind of great size across the board. This year kind of some of the eligibility issues kind of lingering, remains to be seen what our final look is going to be.

I think a lot of other schools are in that situation.

But maybe this group will be able to play with the floor a little bit more spread, more open floor oriented. I make no bones about it, I love playing with two bigs. If you don't have that luxury sometimes, there's other ways to play the game.

I think this team can be pretty dynamic when we kind of get clicking on all cylinders and the floor is spaced the right way.

THE MODERATOR: Caleb, you are new to the Big 12 scene. What are you looking forward to most playing in this highly competitive and physical league?

CALEB HOLT: Man, I say when we start conference play. Just every Tuesday and Friday night, just getting ready to play one of the biggest games of my career.

TOMMY LLOYD: You're not in high school anymore. We don't play Tuesday and Friday nights anymore. For two nights every week you got to be ready to go out there and kick ass.

CALEB HOLT: Yeah, yeah, every -- two nights a week it's probably going to be one of the biggest games of my life. I'm looking forward to competing with the guys every night in the best conference in the country, honestly. Whatever day it is, Monday through Sunday.

THE MODERATOR: Mo, what do you feel like Arizona or where do you feel like Arizona displayed the most growth in the off-season?

MOTIEJUS KRIVAS: I would say it's not easy to rebuild almost a whole new team. I feel like with the good job this summer, it's still ongoing job. The trip to Lithuania really helped us to kind of see where we are as a team, where we need to get better.

We've been working whole summer. We just had couple exhibition games. Super excited for the season.

THE MODERATOR: Ivan, why do you feel like the trip was so beneficial for your team?

IVAN KHARCHENKOV: 'Cause we spend so much time together on the court. Especially with the new group we needed to spend some time off the court as well.

The 30-hour trip in the other way was really beneficiary for us. We also did many things, like culture-wise, in Lithuania. Yeah, just getting to know each other, how everybody's day routine is, game routine is, what they eat for lunch, breakfast and dinner. Just so many opportunities we can just learn your teammates.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, you're a pretty relaxed guy, even-keeled. At least that's how you portray yourself. There are always things that sometimes keep coaches up at night, especially with how fast college basketball is changing. What do you find yourself sometimes late at night being concerned about?

TOMMY LLOYD: Well, I try not to delve into the weeds of all the chaos going on. Sometimes you have to. I'm confident better days are ahead.

But as far as this, I just want to make sure that I'm there for these guys every day, I'm giving my energy to the team and the staff. It doesn't matter if my career, if it's practice 10,764, these guys, they deserve my best every single day.

I just really try to stay focused on that and understand I'm a servant to the program, to the players.

Anytime I get outside of that lane, I need to check myself. I love being around these guys every day. I love the day-to-day process of what high-level college basketball entails. I'm just honored and privileged to be able to do what I do every day and call it a job.

THE MODERATOR: Caleb, how would you explain the culture of Arizona basketball?

CALEB HOLT: Man, the culture in Tucson is like none other. I take my dog to the dog park, and all the people at the dog park, there about 50 and plus, and they all know me. They are season ticketholders of the McHale Center and everything.

The community, everywhere I go, is so huge and everything. It's crazy, I'm not going to lie.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions.

Q. Tommy, in light of what you said about the final piece, seems like maybe there's some momentum with Ohio and California, et cetera. Are you more optimistic about R.J. or where do you stand?

TOMMY LLOYD: Listen, I don't know if I'm more optimistic. Obviously this eligibility stuff is something everyone is talking about behind the scenes in college basketball. I think we all agree how chaotic it is.

It's hard for me to sit here and not be able to defend somebody just 'cause they entered college in the class of 2022 and everybody before them got five years, and everybody after them is going to get five years.

You ask yourself a lot of questions and you wonder why. I know there's two sides to every story, but we have a guy that's a true five for five. I mean, that's where I would draw the line for me.

I think a true five for five, I think you're eligible, you should be eligible. If there's extenuating circumstances in year six, seven, or eight, I don't think your case is as strong. I think true five for fives, they shouldn't be penalized because a court system that's -- we have our own court system in the U.S., and there's a lot of independents amongst courts in different states and counties, and that's going to impact our game this year.

You wish cooler heads to prevail and give these kids the opportunity that they deserve because these kids did nothing wrong. They're missing out on a life-changing opportunity, not only experience-wise but financially just 'cause of the year they graduated in high school. Somebody has to explain to me how that's okay.

Q. Coach, how do you go about building culture within your program when you bring in players from all over the globe each year? Can't be easy to bring kids from different cultures and places together.

TOMMY LLOYD: Well, I mean, I understand where you're going, but at the end of the day we're all human beings. We're not that different. Just 'cause you're born in a different country, you speak a different language, doesn't mean you have different values.

One of the things we try to spend a lot of time on is, for one, being good people, treating each other with respect. That's kind of the number one deal when you kind of enter our locker room.

Beyond that, it's just we want to create kind of a common vision, a common purpose, common values, a common identity where we can kind of have these beacons where we can look to and know what it means to play Arizona basketball.

These guys spend a lot of time having real conversations about this stuff. It's not just something we talk about, it's something you have to do. Building a culture is a living organism, it's not words on paper.

We're very intentional with building our culture and valuing it and understanding what it means to us. It's a huge part of what we do on a daily basis.

Q. We've heard a lot about R.J., what he adds to your program. What kind of a differencemaker can he be for this group?

TOMMY LLOYD: R.J. first off, he's a first-class individual. The guy has done everything right along the way.

One question I'd have to get when you bring up R.J. specific is there's international players getting eligible now that are older than him, a 'fifth-year' of eligibility because they didn't go to college. They played four years pro, but they're getting eligible now.

Somebody has to explain to me how logically this all makes sense. On the court, R.J. he's a physical presence who's a great team player. Kind of with our roster, listen, we're going to move forward no matter what, we're a no-excuses program, but he puts the pieces in the right place for our roster to kind of have the depth it needs to have and kind of the impact we would love to have off the bench.

R.J. is going to help put all the pieces in the right place. I hope and pray we get to see it.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, appreciate the time. All three of you student-athletes, thanks for being with us.