On Wednesday, Arizona Wildcats star guard Caleb Love announced his return to Tuscon for another season of college basketball. Love recently announced that he would put his name in the NBA draft to test the waters of turning professional. But, an announcement came on social media that was in the form of a heartfelt video message stating how grateful he was to be a part of the Arizona program and was thrilled with how welcoming the fan base was to him.
OneLove…❤️ pic.twitter.com/8vnBWDgRGx
— Caleb Love (@caleb2love) May 29, 2024
Arizona once again puts themselves in the driver’s seat that could result in another very successful season with Love at the wheel. He is coming off of a season that involved him winning Pac-12 player of the year He was also named as a member of the AP thrid team All-American squad.
Love averaged 18.0 points per game on a shooting split of 41/33/84. These were the best marks of his career compared to his previous three seasons with the North Carolina Tar Heels. He ended the season being a top five scorer in the Pac-12.
Love also really improved himself on the boards avergaing right around 4.8 per game which were by far some of the best numbers he had getting rebounds during his college career. He also re-ignited his passing ability with a better assist average than his final season in Chapel Hill the year before.
All of these efforts were huge in helping Arizona have the kind of season they did. The Wildcats finished the 2023-24 campaign with a 27-9 overall record when it was all said and done and were 15-5 in conference play. The conference record was enough to win the Pac-12 regular season title. Arizona also had big wins throughout the season over great teams from a year ago like Alabama, Michigan State, and Duke.
Love also had big time performances throughout the season. His season-high in 2023-24 came against the Oregon Ducks on the road in Eugene where he had 36 points in a 87-78 win. The points came from all three ways of scoring as Love went 12-18 from the field, 5-8 from three-point range, and 7-8 from the free throw line.
So, it is very clear that Arizona is getting a big time player back. Can he be the big name that takes the college basketball world by storm? He most certainly can. Caleb Love will be heading into year number five of college hoops meaning he has now been around the block a few times. And after a season within Arizona’s program, he knows the standard that is needed from the Wildcats and their head coach Tommy Lloyd. He has a chance to be a leader and that combined with his star power could be the seperating factor from the rest of the college basketball field.
Arizona has some big time transfers and freshmen coming in too. They brought in a top 25 recruting class and have big time portal names like Tobe Awaka (from Tennessee), Anthony Dell’Orso (from Campbell), and Trey Townsend (Oakland). There are also two former four star recruits coming out of high school. Samll forward Carter Bryant and center Emmanuel Stephen are top 20 players in the 2024 class at their respective positions. All of these players could use leadership from a guy like Love.
The move to Arizona has made him a better player in many facets of the game especially on the offensive end. It is safe to say that the 2024-25 season can see him take even bigger steps towards being on of the best players the country can have. His role is changing into one that is of experience and leadership with an Arizona team that can once again compete for a national title. This is key in making Love the country’s biggest name in the sport.
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