Former Gonzaga star Kevin Pangos reportedly joining Tommy Lloyd's staff at Arizona

Tommy Lloyd has long relied on contacts made during his time as an assistant coach at Gonzaga, a strategy that has paid off for his Arizona Wildcats.

Sounds like another Zag connection is in the works, with a report that Kevin Pangos - a former All-American guard who played at Gonzaga from 2011-2015 - will join Lloyd's staff as an assistant coach this upcoming season.

Pangos is likely ticketed as the replacement for Ken Nakagawa, who spent four seasons with Lloyd at Arizona - first as a Director of Advanced Scouting before being promoted to assistant coach in 2024-25. Nakagawa began his career, you guessed it, at Gonzaga as a graduate assistant, before following Lloyd from Spokane to Tucson.

Newly retired Gonzaga standout Kevin Pangos is set to join Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona basketball staff, beginning his coaching career after 10 professional seasons. ➡️ Find link to story in bio pic.twitter.com/VA0JkfO5dI
— Arizona Daily Star (@TucsonStar) October 5, 2026

Kevin Pangos' Gonzaga career and professional background

Pangos was a 3-star point guard from Ontario, Canada, when he first arrived on Gonzaga's campus, and he immediately made quite the impression by dropping 33 points with nine made threes in his second career game against the Washington State Cougars.

That foreshadowed what ended up being a prolific college and pro career, including a brief stint in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers at age 28, as well as stops overseas in Lithuania, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Turkey.

Pangos was named All-WCC First Team all four years of his career, including conference player of the year in 2015 when he also earned Third Team All-America honors.

Mar 29, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Kevin Pangos (4) is defended by Duke Blue Devils guard Quinn Cook (2) during the second half in the finals of the south regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at NRG Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In his post announcing his retirement last week, Pangos thanked coach Lloyd as well as Mark Few, before ending it by saying, "We left it all out there and accomplished everything you always dreamed of. Now it's time to do the same for the next chapter."

Where Pangos could fit on Arizona's coaching staff

The departure of Nakagawa, who is now an assistant coach with the Salt Lake Stars of the NBA G League, means Lloyd has an opening on his staff for an assistant coach.

Currently, the coaching staff consists of Lloyd, Associate Head Coach Jack Murphy, and assistants TJ Benson, Brandon Chappell, and Evan Manning.

While Pangos does not have any coaching experience yet, he has always been a cerebral basketball player, and his ability to coach up young point guards Derek Dixon and JJ Mandaquit will be quite valuable in Tucson this season.

Tommy Lloyd's longstanding Gonzaga connections

Texas Tech assistant coach Rem Bakamus looks on during warmups prior to a non-conference men's basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, at United Supermarkets Arena. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Pangos is not the first former Gonzaga player to serve on Lloyd's staff at Arizona. Rem Bakamus was a walk-on at Gonzaga from 2012-2017, eventually landing on Scott Drew's staff at Baylor before joining Lloyd at Arizona, where he worked his way up to assistant coach before leaving for Texas Tech prior to last season.

Przemek Karnowski was also at Gonzaga from 2012-2017, before eventually spending two years as a graduate assistant with Arizona from 2023-2025.

Neither Arizona nor Pangos have officially announced the move as of this writing. Arizona will take the floor next on Tuesday, Oct. 13, for a home exhibition matchup against San Francisco, which tips off at 7:00 PM MST on ESPN+.

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