Tommy Lloyd was by far the biggest reason Arizona was able to net its latest top recruit, by 2026 five-star signee Caleb Holt’s own admission.
Playing for Lloyd on the U19 Team USA squad at the 2025 FIBA World Championship was “about 80%” of why Holt chose the Wildcats, the 6-foot-5 guard said Monday. The ensuing visit to Arizona’s campus was “just the cherry on top.”
five-star arizona signee caleb holt said playing for tommy lloyd on u19 team usa was "about 80% of my decision. the stuff at arizona was just the cherry on top…"
everything he said about joining the wildcats' program at today's mcdonald's all-american media day: pic.twitter.com/C9af6LArhb
— Damon Allred (@iamdamonallred) March 30, 2026
“It was great. He was a calm, collected, confident coach,” Holt said Monday. “A real coach who encourages you, instills you with confidence. That was the biggest thing, he instilled me with confidence, he believed in me when his job was on the line and everything.
“Under pressure, he was very poised and everything. That was my favorite part about coach Tommy.”
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Holt averaged 10 points, including 52.6% on 3.6 3-point attempts, along with 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.7 steals in 16.5 minutes per game while playing against older competition (17 years old at the time of the tournament).
Holt will appear in the McDonald’s All-American Game on Tuesday, which will be played in the Valley for the first time in its history at Glendale’s Desert Diamond Arena. He will be the only Arizona Wildcat commit in the game after the 2025 contest included both Brayden Burries and Koa Peat.
The No. 4 prospect in the 2026 class, according to 247 Sports, Holt said he’s been closely watching the Wildcats’ run to their first Final Four since 2001.
“I’ve watched every game. When we were down last game, I was feeling like it was the end of the road, but I knew they were going to come back and everything,” he said. “I just had to start watching, that’s what I told somebody.
“But it’s been great. That’s where I want to be next year, so I’ve been imagining myself in that position next year.”
He added that he wants to hang his hat on defense and shooting, envisioning a role similar to what Jaden Bradley has done on this year’s squad.
McDonald’s All-American Game to feature Valley prep product for 3rd time in last 4 years
The all-star event will also feature Phoenix St. Mary’s High School forward Cameron Williams, a 6-foot-11 Duke signee who was also one of three finalists for national Gatorade Player of the Year. Williams is ranked one spot ahead of Holt in 247’s rankings at No. 3.
After Peat was a McDonald’s All-American in 2025 and his former Gilbert Perry High School teammate Cody Williams was in 2023, Cameron Williams marks the third representative from a Valley school in a four-year span.
“It means a lot for the game to be here, because I could see my friends and family come support me and show love,” Williams said.
The Valley product led St. Mary’s to an Open Division championship appearance this spring, it being the Knights’ first time to make it that far since the Open tournament was introduced in 2021-22.
Bruce Branch III, a 6-foot-7 BYU commit and the No. 6 player in the 2026 class, is also from the Valley and played with Peat at Perry before teaming up with Holt at Prolific Prep in Napa, California.
“It’s honestly crazy that this is the first time McDonald’s has been in Phoenix, Arizona, and I get to be a part of that,” Branch said.
Williams and Branch had battles going back to elementary school, and Branch shared a memory from a youth camp where he knocked off Williams in a king of the court battle that he still gives Williams a hard time over.
The all-star game will tip off at 6 p.m. MST on Tuesday in Glendale, right after the girls’ game at 4 p.m. that will see the Gilbert Mesquite High School girls’ staff coaching one of the two all-star squads. ESPN will televise both games.
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