Arizona Basketball in talks with Dayton transfer Koby Brea and Clemson transfer RJ Godfrey
Arizona has gotten in touch with another pair of players in the transfer portal, and Arizona faced them both in-game not too long ago: former Dayton guard Koby Brea and former Clemson forward RJ Godfrey.
Arizona Basketball hasn’t been tied to many players in the transfer portal so far despite the roster turnover that’s already started taking place. One player they were tied to, Micah Peavy formerly of TCU, has already found a new landing spot at Georgetown. However, Trey Townsend formerly of Oakland, just finished up his official visit with the Wildcats.
Now, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd has the chance to grab two veteran players who would see significant minutes immediately while the freshmen develop.
Koby Brea
Brea was an unranked prospect coming out of high school in the Bronx, and Dayton was the only Division I school to give him an offer. He committed to play for the Flyers and spent the first half of his freshman season rehabbing an injury. However, he spent the latter half of the season developing and saw action in 16 games with three starts. He never scored more than 8 points in a game, but the potential was there.
In his second season, he won the A-10 Sixth Man of the Year for the first time on the back of a season where he played in all 35 games and started four of them. He scored 8.1 points and grabbed 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting over 43% from the field and over 42% from distance. His production ticked down a bit in his junior year when his shooting got less efficient, but he bouced back in a big way in 2023-24.
He played in 33 games and, despite only starting four, played an average of 29.1 minutes per game — those are starter minutes. He logged a career-high 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting over 51% from the field and 49.8% from range. His 3-point shooting is especially impressive; he shot with remarkable efficiency on hearty volume and his 100 made 3-pointers nearly doubled Nate Santos’ 51.
Brea earned his second A-10 Sixth Man of the Year award last season, and the ‘Cats will need some veteran experience at the bench point guard spot with former sixth man Jaden Bradley getting the starting nod going forward. Nobody fits the bill for what Arizona needs out of its sixth man than Brea.
RJ Godfrey
Godfrey was far less under the radar during his recruiting process than Brea was. The former four-star recruit held a litany of both power conference and mid-major offers coming out of high school, and he still has room to grow after showing improvement last season.
During his recruitment, he was graded as a four-star prospect coming out of Suwanee, Georgia. He held offers from smaller programs like George Mason, Kennesaw State, and Tulsa, but he also was recruited by teams like Utah, Ole Miss, and — of course — Clemson. He played in 33 games as a freshman, averaging 9.4 minutes, 3.2 points, and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Godfrey saw more time on the floor last season, but a deep Clemson team didn’t leave room for him to start much. He played in all 36 games without a single start and logged 15.6 minutes per game. He posted 6.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 60% from the field. With his 6-foot-8 frame, he would add more depth to a forward group that’s looking thin with the departures of Keshad Johnson, Pelle Love, Paulius Murauskas, and Filip Borovicanin.
What this means for Arizona
Both players have been contacted by prestigious programs since entering the transfer portal. Brea has heard from Kansas, Duke, UConn, Indiana, and Illinois among others, while Godfrey has been in talks with LSU, Auburn, Butler, and TCU among others. It would be big for Arizona to land either or both of them.
Neither one projects as a full-time starter, but they would both be key depth pieces who see significant minutes, with Brea likely playing the Sixth Man and Godfrey playing out of the seventh or eighth spot. Here’s to hoping Lloyd finds some magic in his hat and manages to bring both veterans in with a solid sales pitch about ring-chasing.
