Arizona, Illinois mastered international recruiting to make Final Four

· Yahoo Sports

Tommy Lloyd understood the international college basketball recruiting market at Gonzaga, when he was Mark Few's right-hand man. Brad Underwood got to Illinois and has made significant investments in overseas recruiting. As a result, Arizona and Illinois are in the Final Four. It's not all about international recruiting, but the Wildcats and Illini would not be in Indianapolis without this important piece of the puzzle.

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Illinois imports

Brad Underwood has Croatian twins Zvonimir and Tomislav Ivisic, Montenegrin forward David Mirkovic, Serbian guard Mihailo Petrovic, and Andrej Stojakovic, the Greece-born son of former NBA player Peja Stojakovic.

Arizona internationals

Tommy Lloyd has three international players in his core rotation at Arizona this season: Anthony Dell'Orso from Australia, Ivan Kharchenkov from Germany, and Motiejus Krivas from Lithuania. Several other international players are on the roster, from The Netherlands, Senegal, France, England, and Sudan.

Brad Underwood before this season

Brad Underwood helped build Illinois in the years before this one by landing Kofi Cockburn of Jamaica and bringing aboard Andre Curbelo from Puerto Rico. Underwood, as you can see, has moved toward Eastern Europe as the central pillar of his international recruiting strategy. It's paying off for the Illini.

Tommy Lloyd is the master of the art

Tommy Lloyd's list of star international recruits is a long one, going back to his Gonzaga days. Ronny Turiaf was a Lloyd recruit. Przemek Karnowski was too. Domantas Sabonis was a Lloyd recruit. Rui Hachimura was as well. That's just a small taste of what he achieved. He also recruited Canada to bring in Kelly Olynyk and Kevin Pangos, among others. Lloyd has been the giant in this part of the college basketball recruiting industry, and that has continued at Arizona.

Michigan's key piece

Dusty May didn't recruit international prospect Aday Mara at Michigan, but he swiped him from UCLA in the transfer portal market this past offseason. Michigan would not be here without Mara's unicorn-like package of skills.

Team chemistry

Pieces of the puzzle

High school recruiting, the transfer portal, and international recruiting are all ways for coaches to build rosters. Tommy Lloyd's understanding of the international recruiting world has helped him in this profession for a long time. Brad Underwood has shown a willingness to adapt and evolve. Notably, the Ivisic pickup was in the portal, not the product of direct recruiting. Ivisic, you might recall, previously played at Kentucky before Illinois grabbed him. We already mentioned Aday Mara -- he is an international prospect who didn't come to Michigan initially but went there in the portal after Mick Cronin failed to maximize him at UCLA. All these interwoven pieces and plot points have reshaped college basketball this season, creating the Final Four field we have in Indianapolis.

NBA draft

We have seen international players rise to the top of the NBA draft board in recent years. Consider 2024, with the top two picks and three of the top six coming from France. No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher has had a bumpy start to his NBA career, but is showing signs of growth at the end of his second season with the Atlanta Hawks. As with pro draft evaluations, college evaluations are complicated and require a lot of homework. Arizona and Illinois have been smarter and better than anyone else in college hoops, and it shows.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Arizona, Illinois made Final Four by crushing international recruiting

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