Arizona Hires Gonzaga Assistant Tommy Lloyd as Men's Basketball Coach

Arizona hires Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd as the Wildcats' new men's basketball coach.

Lloyd spent the last 20 years helping Mark Few build Gonzaga's program from mid-major castoff to men's basketball powerhouse. He joined Few's staff before the 2001–02 season after first serving as an administrative assistant. He will now get his first job as a head coach.

Pacific head coach Damon Stoudamire, Arizona assistant coach Jason Terry, Lakers assistant coach Miles Simon, and Yellow Jackets coach and Wildcats alumnus Josh Pastner were also considered for the job.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported that Lloyd landed the job after interviewing with Arizona president Bobby Robbins on Saturday.

Lloyd played an integral role in recruiting international players to Gonzaga, including Joel Ayayi, Rui Hachimura, Ronny Turiaf, Kelly Olynyk and Domantas Sabonis, among others. 

Arizona fired head coach Sean Miller on April 7. Miller's future with Arizona was in jeopardy in the wake of a federal probe of corruption in college basketball.

The Wildcats finished the 2020–21 season at 17–9 and 11–9 in Pac-12 play. Arizona was not eligible to play in its conference tournament or the NCAA men's tournament this season due to its self-imposed ban.