Arizona basketball: Lorenzo Romar likely to join Wildcats’ coaching staff, per report

Interest is reportedly mutual between Romar and Arizona

Even though the Arizona Wildcats can’t officially hire a new associate head coach until April 13, it appears they have already zeroed in on one particular candidate.

Josh Gershon of Scout.com said on DawgmanRadio that former Washington Huskies head coach Lorenzo Romar “is way more likely than not” to join Arizona’s coaching staff.

“Is it possible that something falls apart? Of course,” Gershon said. “But Sean Miller is moving forward with Romar as his top option and Romar wants the job, so at this point it’s just working out details. I do think that as of now that will happen. But you know how these things are. Anything’s possible in terms of things falling apart at the last second.”

Romar was also seen by several people at a local Tucson restaurant on Tuesday night.

Since the associate head coach position wasn’t formally posted by UA until April 3, the earliest Arizona would be able to announce the hire of Romar would be April 13 (10 days after the posting), and Gershon wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes official then or shortly after.

“My guess is they will be able to announce something maybe late in the week or early next week if they do come to a final agreement on everything,” he said.

If that agreement does come to fruition, Romar would be replacing Joe Pasternack, who left Arizona to be the next head coach at UC Santa Barbara.

Romar, who was UW’s coach for 15 seasons, is known for being an excellent recruiter — especially on the West Coast — as well as a coach who runs an uptempo offensive system.

Arizona is already a powerhouse when it comes to recruiting, generating a top-10 recruiting class in six of the last seven years, and adding someone of Romar’s prowess would only make them more dangerous in that regard.

Romar’s penchant for running an uptempo system is noteworthy because the Wildcats have been the opposite of an uptempo team in the Sean Miller era.

The fastest tempo the Wildcats have played at during Miller’s tenure was in the 2009-10 season when UA was 99th in the country in adjusted tempo (per KenPom). This past season Arizona was 276th in adjusted tempo.

Romar’s Washington teams, on the other hand, have played at some dizzying paces, and were in the top 20 in the country in adjusted tempo in 2016, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2006, 2005, and 2004.

In short, Romar’s style of coaching is a far cry from Miller’s, perhaps signaling that Miller is at least open to incorporating other styles of play.

Romar’s familiarity with the Pac-12 can only be a plus, too, as well as his overall experience (he has been a head coach every year since 1996).

Therefore, it would be quite the hire if he does join the Wildcats’ coaching staff, and right now it appears as if that will be the case.

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