Former Arizona Wildcat Caleb Love has signed a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.
"Known for his ability to catch fire as a scorer, Love can also struggle with inconsistency, often falling into shooting slumps that hurt his team," Love's NBA profile states. "His showing in the NBA Summer League should offer a better sense of how his game translates to the pro level."
Throughout the season, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd was vocal in his support for Love and belief that Love's future will be successful.
"About Caleb, the thing is, you know, I don't lie -- especially our local media, I don't lie to you guys," Lloyd said. "I tell you the truth as I see it. Caleb is a great person, and he's been through a lot. I hope everybody takes a step back, whether they've been a hater or whatever or pile on, and give this guy a real chance because he's special.
"This is what I know. When he gets there, the right team is going to wrap their arms around him and they're going to see they've got a guy who's been through it. Been through it, and he's come out the other side of it better. That is so valuable, to have gone through what he's gone through and come out the other side. I think his experiences are going to give him advantage over a lot of other guys that he's competing with for opportunities at the next level.
"More importantly, I always tell Caleb, the most important thing I want him to do is just to have a great life. Hopefully eventually his basketball thing is going to run out, and I don't want him to define himself by what people thought about him in college, good or bad, because he's just such a great dude. I'm sure he's going to be a great husband someday. I know he's going to be a great dad. Probably could be a heck of a basketball coach some day. I'm excited to see him move through his next journeys in life, and I'll always be here for him."
When Love was asked about his favorite moment from the season, he once again pointed to the time he was able to spend with his teammates.
"It's hard to pinpoint one moment or one memory," Love said. "I'd just say the whole season because we went through so much adversity, especially after we came back from the Bahamas, us starting out 4-5. It's tough for a team to fight through that. We could have went the other way, and we didn't.
"We fought through adversity. We fought, we stuck together, and I just -- the memories, it's a bunch of them. I'd just say just spending time with these guys, spending time with them in the locker room, off the court, going to dinners, having team bonding, outings, going bowling together, the bus rides, the plane rides, everything under the sun.
"I feel like we just connected on a different level, and I appreciate all my teammates for accepting everybody as a whole. The coaches did a great job, especially Coach Lloyd. He's one of the best, if not the best, at building a culture here at Arizona, and he takes pride in that, and we take pride in that, as well."