Arizona's players get emotional about Caleb Love: 'So grateful for him'

In the aftermath of Arizona's season-ending 100-93 loss to Duke in the Sweet 16, the Wildcats players went out of their way to praise Caleb Love.

And it had nothing to do with Love's incredible performance.

Arizona's fifth-year senior guard was sensational on Thursday night, scoring 35 points on 11-of-21 shooting. At one point in the second half he scored 15 consecutive points to bring the Wildcats back from a 19-point deficit.

But when Jaden Bradley was asked about Love's remarkable game, he instead focused on his leadership.

"He's a great player, but you know I feel like we all built a relationship off the court. You don't see the workouts and the stuff that we do off the court. Y'all don't see that," Bradley said. "And he really took all of us under his wing. He's a leader. He's been through so much and he's taught us all so much, so we're definitely going to learn a lot ... just a great guy."

Redshirt sophomore Henri Veesaar, who was sitting next to Love in the press conference, wasn't asked the same question. But he went out of his way to answer it.

"I want to answer the same question about Caleb because I just want to say something," Veesaar said. "If anybody ever thinks he's not a good teammate, it's not true. He's the best teammate we have. He's one of the better persons I've ever met. He's pushed me so much over the last two years. I'm so grateful for him."

"(In the) tournament I was struggling. ... He came up to me after I missed the first free throw, because he's made me practice free throws ... and after that he just came up to me, he's like 'Hey, we worked way too hard. You got this.' After that I didn't miss a free throw. I made seven in a row."

"I just want to set the record straight: For any scouts, anybody who thinks he's not a good teammate, he's the best person. Everybody loves him on the team. There's no problems with him. (He's) the best person we have."

It was an emotional, heartfelt response from Veesaar, and Love was wiping away tears after his comments.

Love has been a lightning rod for criticism from fans over his five-year career, but over the last two years at Arizona — and especially this season — he has changed a lot of hearts and minds. And the comments from his teammates and head coach speak volumes about his character.

"I'm going to miss Caleb," Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said after the game. "Obviously he's had an amazing career and I'm so excited for his future. ... He was tremendous (vs. Duke) and he's going to wake up tomorrow and he's going to smile, because he has a lot to look forward to. I'm really, really proud of him."

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