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Except Lloyd still doesn’t know exactly how many guys will stay on board, or how many more he might need to add.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ moved headfirst into the spring roster transition season Wednesday, when guard Bennedict Mathurin made his expected announcement that he’s off to the NBA, giving Lloyd a tentative roster of 10 players for next season.

A very tentative 10 players. Not only do Christian Koloko and Dalen Terry have to decide whether or not to join Mathurin in the NBA Draft pool, but UA’s European players have options to return home and play professionally every season, while there’s always the chance somebody hits the transfer portal.

And, to make matters even more complicated, two of Lloyd’s high school class of 2023 commits — guards Kylan Boswell and KJ Lewis — have yet to say if they will skip their senior seasons and play for the Wildcats next season.

All that plus spring recruiting means a roster of 10 could slip to eight or nine — or become 11 or 12 or 13 — at any moment.

“Everything’s in flux,� Lloyd said. “We’ll see how many scholarships we end up having and hopefully we’ll be able to find some guys to fill the open spots.�

Of course, this is nothing new around ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ or college basketball in general. The Wildcats annually flipped over roughly half their 13-player roster during the previous few offseasons under former coach Sean Miller, thanks to early pro departures and transfers.

An NCAA rule change last year allowed players a one-time exception to transfer without having to sit out a season, accelerating the trend to the point where there are an average of nearly four players per team in the transfer portal this spring so far.

“We’ve all seen college basketball has really changed the last 10 years, the last five years and and in the last year,� Lloyd said. “I just think you buckle up. You understand it’s gonna be a busy offseason, and you look at the options available.

“For me, the No. 1 options available are the always the guys currently on the team. So you try to help them figure out what they’re gonna do and give them some space so their families can (decide) and then I try to fill in the gaps accordingly. There’s no crazy master plan or anything.�

That might suggest the decisions of Koloko and Terry are at the top of Lloyd’s priority list. ESPN projects both players to be taken in the second round, Koloko at No. 35 and Terry at 43. Both The Athletic (29) and The Ringer (24) project Koloko to be taken late in the first round.

A first-round selection would earn Koloko a rookie-scale guaranteed contract of at least $3.7 million for two years. NBA teams also often offer high second-round picks guaranteed packages, but Koloko has to weigh whether he could go even higher in the 2023 draft if he returns.

“I’m sure he’ll get drafted� if he leaves this year, Lloyd said. “He’s had a great year, and he’s a great young man. It’s just, ‘choose wisely.’ These are big decisions that will impact the rest of your life and ultimately, whatever decision you make, it’s your responsibility to make it the right decision. Those are basically my messages to them.�

Asked if Terry or Koloko or any other players were gathering feedback via the NBA on their prospects, Lloyd said he thought they all were, and noted that international players were checking out their options, too.

Then there’s that portal to keep an eye on.

While Lloyd’s increasing use of freshman Adama Bal suggested that he has a future standout role to aim for at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, fellow freshman Shane Nowell played a limited role in just 19 games. Asked about Nowell’s future at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, Lloyd said he didn’t want to comment on specific players but that “everybody’s having conversations about all that stuff now.â€�

Again, it’s roster transition season.

“As I tell people, April in college basketball is a crazy time,� Lloyd said. “Every coach wants to renegotiate. Every player wants to know what their options are. Everybody kind of takes a step back and looks at it through their own lens

“Obviously, there’s no guarantees about anything, but I feel great that we’re going to have a really good roster next year, and I’m excited for that.�

Certainly, Lloyd and the Wildcats have momentum on their side — much more so than last spring, when Lloyd was a rookie head coach hired to replace Sean Miller while six players transferred out of the program.

Picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ blew past expectations, going 33-4, winning the Pac-12 regular season and tournament titles and earning a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed. The Wildcats’ success earned Lloyd three major national Coach of the Year awards, from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association.

“It’s been awesome,� Lloyd said. “It’s been a ton of fun. It’s been a little bit of an adventure, and it’s been humbling at times. I’ve been able to reflect a little bit since the season has been over and I’m excited to do it again. I’ve already worked through... the things I want to work to get better at.�

The Wildcats’ final two games gave him one idea to work on: How to get more physical when needed. TCU, in taking UA to overtime in the second round, and Houston, in its Sweet 16 win over the Wildcats, both used punishing defense to take ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ out of its usual free-flowing offensive rhythm.

“I didn’t think we were a soft team, but they were physical,� Lloyd said. “So it’s, ‘Can we find a way to be a little bit more physical in some of those matchups against a TCU or a Houston to kind of increase our margin for error?’

‘You’re always looking for that (in recruiting). But at the end of the day, we had a great season. We came up a little bit short of winning it all but I think we had the pieces that were good enough to do that, but probably some other teams that can say that too. So I don’t necessarily think we totally need to reinvent the wheel, either.�

At the very end of the season, when Kansas was storming back to beat North Carolina in the NCAA title game in New Orleans, it all came together for Lloyd in both a gratifying and humbling manner.

During a timeout late in the first half, Lloyd waved to the crowd after being introduced as the NABC’s Coach of the Year … while also realizing he wasn’t coaching in the game.

“I walked out that court on that court and I was tired .. it had been a long time going through the season,� Lloyd said. “But when I stepped foot on that court, I was like, `This is where I want to be.’ I don’t take it for granted and I’m not making any promises but that definitely added some fuel to my fire.�

Rim shots

Utah Valley transfer center Fardaws Aimaq has narrowed his choices to Washington, Iowa, Texas Tech, Texas and Gonzaga, according to ESPN. Aimaq, the WAC’s Defensive Player of the Year last season, had initially considered ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

Lloyd said ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has not yet scheduled any additional games for next season. He said there are “conversationsâ€� about whether to schedule more aggressively after he inherited a soft nonconference schedule last season — but still had a team earning a No. 1 seed. “Maybe the formula wasn’t so bad,â€� Lloyd said. So far, the Wildcats' nonconference schedule includes home games against NAU and Southern during the first week of the season, participation in the Nov. 21-23 Maui Invitational and a Dec. 17 home game with Tennessee.

Among NAU’s new players is Lloyd’s son, Liam, who transferred to the Lumberjacks from Grand Canyon last month. “He felt like he had a better opportunity to get on the court there, and that’s ultimately what he wants to do,� Lloyd said. “The great thing about Liam is he handled that on his own. I was pretty busy. And he feels really good about the decision, so we’re gonna support him.�