Arizona is expected to hire Gonzaga’s assistant Tommy Lloyd as the next men’s basketball coach, sources confirmed to ESPN.
In recent weeks, Lloyd had become the favorite to replace Sean Miller in Tucson. Arizona looked at coaches with connections to the Wildcats, namely Pacific Damon Stoudamire, Georgia Tech Josh Pastner and Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Miles Simon, but they chose to leave the family.
Lloyd, 46, was interviewed over the weekend, sources told ESPN, and is expected to be officially announced in the coming days.
Stadium first reported his hiring.
Lloyd has been with Gonzaga since 2000, serving as assistant coach to Mark Few for the past 20 seasons. The Bulldogs have come to the NCAA tournament every season since Lloyd joined the show. They won the national championship game twice, in 2017 and last season, where Baylor ended their unbeaten record.
Lloyd has established itself as the top international college basketball recruiter, bringing dozens of foreign players to the Zags over the past two decades. Among the international prospects who played for Gonzaga and joined since Lloyd joined Few’s roster are Ronny Turiaf, Robert Sacre, Kelly Olynyk, Domantas Sabonis and Rui Hachimura.
This could be important when he takes over from Arizona, which had seven international players on its roster last season, including Lithuanians Azuolas Tubelis and Canadian Bennedict Mathurin.
“There was never a master plan,” Lloyd told ESPN last year about his international prowess. “It was just one day at a time. A phone call, a relationship, a recruitment. And then when you start to be successful, more opportunities present themselves.”
He also played a key role in helping Gonzaga secure the prospects of five-star Jalen Suggs and Hunter Sallis in the last two recruiting classes, has positioned the Zags to get No. 1 recruit Chet Holmgren, and also led the way in landing impact transfers. with Brandon Clarke and Kyle Wiltjer.
Lloyd, the coach who was waiting for Gonzaga, had turned down multiple opportunities to interview other jobs in recent years. But Arizona, despite question marks appearing on the show, is considered one of the elite jobs in college basketball.
“I’m satisfied,” Lloyd told ESPN a year ago. “I love being in a bigger place than any of us in the coaching staff. We’re all part of something bigger than us. And I think it’s something pretty special.”
Lloyd replaces Sean Miller, who was fired earlier this month after 12 seasons at Tucson. He led the Wildcats to seven NCAA tournaments and three appearances in the Elite Eight, but had reached the second weekend of the NCAA tournament only once since 2016. They won at least a portion of five championships this season. regular Pac-12 under the direction of Miller.
Arizona had been embroiled in the 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption. Former assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to bribe after being accused of accepting $ 20,000 to direct Arizona players to aspiring sports agent Christian Dawkins. During Dawkins’ trial, prosecutors made a call intercepted by the FBI in which Richardson told Dawkins that Miller was paying $ 10,000 a month for former player Deandre Ayton.
Miller has consistently denied paying players to attend Arizona.
The NCAA charged the men’s basketball program with four Level I infractions, according to a statement of allegations released last month. The program was affected by two alleged cases of academic misconduct, while Miller was accused of failing to demonstrate “that he promoted a compliance environment and supervised his staff.”
Arizona self-imposed a one-year postseason ban for last season.