One thing is abundantly clear with Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd: he is made for this.

The first-year head coach completely maximized the talent he had available to him a season ago, helping the Wildcats to a Pac-12 title sweep and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. As tends to be the case with good teams, top players have moved on. And, on Thursday, Lloyd found a potentially key replacement piece from the transfer portal.

Cedric Henerson Jr., a 6-foot-6 guard from Campbell, announced via Instagram his intention to transfer to Arizona. He’ll be a grad transfer addition for the Cats.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by cedric henderson (@cedrich_2)

At the junior college level in 2019, Henderson was named Freshman of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection in the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association after averaging 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block a game. He shot 51% from the field and 37% from 3.

Stat-sheet stuffer. High-efficiency shooter. That’ll be the theme as we move through his career accolades.

When he jumped to Campbell for the 2019-20 season, he stepped in as an immediate starter, contributing 12.4 points a game, 4.5 boards, and 1.8 assists in just under 30 minutes a night. He shot 58% from the field and 45% from 3 his first year with the Camels. The following season, he upped his scoring production to 15 points a game while still contributing 4.4 boards, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks a game and shooting 50% from the field.

Last season, Henderson averaged 14 a game to go with 5.6 boards and 1.6 assists.

For his career, Henderson averages 17 points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block per 40 minutes. He owns a career PER of 19.8 and a career true shooting percentage of 59.7%. Simply put: Henderson looks to be a capable option to try and fill the role vacated by NBA Draft-hopeful Dalen Terry.

With length and a career’s worth of commitment to the defensive end of the floor, Henderson should be able to find an immediate role within Lloyd’s system.

And an 18-point, 11-rebound, zero-turnover performance against Duke at Cameron Indoor last year suggests his game should translate up to the power conference level.

As things stand now, Arizona’s roster sits 10-deep for the 2022-23 season. Losses include Bennedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko, and the aforementioned Terry—all to the NBA Draft—as well as super senior Justin Kier (graduation). The Wildcats are also pursuing transfer targets in Texas guard Courtney Ramey, Illinois forward Jacob Grandison, and Washington State big man Efe Abogidi.