Former Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski reunites with Tommy Lloyd, becomes GA at Arizona
Jan. 18—Tommy Lloyd successfully recruited Przemek Karnowski as a Gonzaga assistant, so he figured he'd give it another try as the head coach at Arizona.
Karnowski, the former Gonzaga center who left Spokane as the NCAA's all-time leader in career wins (136), has joined Lloyd's staff in Tucson as a graduate assistant, the second-year coach told reporters Wednesday.
"He showed up last night," Lloyd said. "There's a ton of value having a big man GA and there's not a lot of them out there, and obviously he and I have a special relationship and a long history."
It's the first coaching opportunity for Karnowski, who had professional stints with six European clubs, most recently playing for Stelmet Zielona Góra in his home country of Poland.
Karnowski has dealt with back issues dating back to his college career in Spokane and lingering injuries in Europe this season forced him to take a leave of absence from professional basketball.
"Unfortunately, his body's not letting him play the game, and he's a heckuva player and he's young," Lloyd said.
"So he and I talked over the summer and fortunately it's worked out now, so I'm excited for him."
In Tucson, Karnowski will presumably spent considerable time mentoring another former Gonzaga big, Oumar Ballo, the 7-foot junior who's given the 11th-ranked Wildcats a massive boost down low this year averaging 16.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
Karnowski's ability to connect with, and relate to, the European players on Lloyd's roster should also be valuable. There are seven such players this season, including starters Azuolas Tubelis (Lithuania), Kerr Kriisa (Estonia) and Pelle Larsson (Sweden).
" 'Shimmy' was one of the smartest players I've been around," Lloyd said. "And he always thought the game like a coach and he's a very unique player. With that size and that experience, but just having that body. The beautiful thing about Przemek, he don't need a blue pad, he can just use his body to hit against so it'll be great for all of our guys."
After leading Gonzaga to the school's first national championship appearance in 2016-17, Karnowski began his professional career playing for Toruń of the Polish Basketball League. From 2017-18, he had brief stints in Andorra and Spain before moving back to Poland, where he's played the past five seasons.
Lloyd didn't rule out a return to the court for Karnowski, but said the 29-year-old plans to explore the game from a different vantage point while working on his degree.
"I'm not saying he won't play, that he's done forever, but his body's giving him a lot of problems," Lloyd said.
Karnowski averaged 12.2 points and 5.8 rebounds as a senior at GU. "End of his college career, he had major back surgery and basically he had a he had a disc replaced and there's just been a lot of — Achilles injury and a knee injury.
"I think he's contemplating now, he's a great student so finishing up his degree and seeing if this coaching thing works out or going into the real world."
Graduate assistants are able to participate in on-court drills, but Lloyd couldn't say to what extent, if any, Karnowski would be able to help as a practice player for the Pac-12 Wildcats. Local reporters who monitored a portion of Arizona's practice on Wednesday said Karnowski was semi-active, banging down low with the team's post players.
"We haven't even talked about that, we haven't even talked about that," Lloyd said. "I don't know what kind of shape Shimmy's in, so I don't want to put him at risk."
Karnowski averaged 12.2 points and 5.8 rebounds at Gonzaga as a senior, winning the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the top center in college basketball.
