Former Washington guard JJ Mandaquit is heading to the Big 12 to play for a familiar face. Mandaquit committed to head coach Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats, On3’s Joe Tipton has confirmed. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello was first to report the news.
Lloyd is the current head coach of the United States U-19 team. Mandaquit was a part of a gold medal-winning team, and now, the two are set to work together at the college level. Getting a similar type of result is the goal. Just replacing a gold medal with a national championship.
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Adding Mandaquit certainly helps Arizona’s chances of doing so. He was a solid rotation player for Washington as a true freshman, playing in 22 games and starting six of them. Mandaquit averaged 5.2 points on 43.6% from the field and 28.2% behind the three-point line. Just over two rebounds and three assists per game pop up as well.
From a player standpoint, there could be some familiarity for Mandaquit once arriving in Tucson. Incoming Five-Star Plus+ prospect Caleb Holt was a teammate of his on the U-19 United States team. Holt committed to Arizona not too long ago, wanting to play for Lloyd. Another teammate was Koa Peat, who has not yet announced his intentions for the 2026-2027 season. But many expect him to leave in favor of the 2026 NBA Draft.
Mandaquit signed with the Huskies as a four-star prospect and the No. 6-ranked point guard in the 2025 recruiting cycle out of Utah Prep (Hilo, Hawaii), where he was also the No. 4 player in the state and No. 49 player overall according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, a weighted average of all three major recruiting media services. He’ll have three seasons of collegiate eligibility wherever he lands.
To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.
On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this report
