Arizona basketball: Lorenzo Romar rumored to be candidate for Wildcats coaching staff

Will the ex-Washington coach make his way to Tucson?

The Arizona Wildcats now have an opening on their coaching staff with Joe Pasternack taking the UC Santa Barbara head coaching job. With the Final Four in Phoenix, Sean Miller has a chance to meet some potential replacements for Pasternack, and one name that has been whispered for a few days is starting to pick up some traction now.

Former Washington Huskies head coach Lorenzo Romar is being rumored to join the Arizona staff.

Not there, but rumor at Final Four says @APlayersProgram's Sean Miller may consider former @UW_MBB coach Lorenzo Romar for assistant job.

— Percy Allen (@percyallen) March 31, 2017

Lorenzo Romar said he was interested in another HC job and didn't seem thrilled about an assistant gig. But Arizona tho. Different story.

— Percy Allen (@percyallen) March 31, 2017

Romar’s obvious strength at Washington was his ability to recruit, bringing in some of the top NBA talent in each class. However, he wasn’t able to translate that into success on the court in recent years, putting up the worst season in Washington history this past year.

After Washington fired Romar, its highly-ranked recruiting class fell apart, and now they’re essentially starting over with Mike Hopkins moving from Syracuse to Seattle.

Washington’s biggest issue this year — among many — was its ability to defend the ball. The Huskies wound up being ranked 224th in adjusted defense, while putting up a ranking of 111 in adjusted offense in KenPom. But the thing Romar could bring to Arizona is more of an up-tempo philosophy, as well as a fresh take on how the Wildcats could play the game on the offensive end.

And obviously, this wouldn’t hurt recruiting one bit.

Romar’s familiarity with the Pac-12 would certainly be a positive as well when looking to replace Pasternack. After all, he was the longest-tenured coach in the conference before his firing, an honor that new belongs to Sean Miller.

It will be interesting, but I’d imagine Arizona makes a move quickly as the end of the 2017 recruiting cycle heats up and the Wildcats look to add to an already loaded class.

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