Tommy Lloyd officially named the Arizona Basketball Head Coach!!

[WILD]

Tommy Lloyd officially named the Arizona Basketball Head Coach!!

Former Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd is now the head coach of Arizona Wildcats Basketball.  Lloyd, 46, has been a big factor in Gonzaga's rise to national prominence in his 20-plus years with the program. He is regarded as one of the best assistant coaches in the country. with his track record of player development and recruiting internationally and domestically

Tommy Lloyd joined head coach Mark Few's staff prior to the 2001-02 season after serving as an administrative assistant the previous season. Lloyd's knowledge of the European game has been instrumental in placing Gonzaga players overseas to continue their basketball careers, as well as nurturing his contacts in recruiting circles as Gonzaga's recruiting base has extended worldwide.

In his 19 full seasons on staff, Lloyd has helped Gonzaga win 18 West Coast Conference regular season titles (all but the 2011-12 season) and 14 WCC tournament championships. He's mentored 16 All-Americans and 82 all-WCC selections, including 13 conference players of the year, eight conference newcomers of the year and six conference defenders of the year.

Gonzaga has reached the NCAA Tournament in each of Lloyd's 19 seasons on staff, including an appearance in the national championship game in the program's first-ever Final Four, three Elite Eights and Sweet 16 appearances in 2006, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. He also helped lead Gonzaga to its first-ever No. 1 national ranking during the 2012-13 season, another No. 1 national ranking during the 2016-17 team's 37-2 season, twice during the 2018-19 season, and once during the 2019-20 season.

A 1993 graduate of Kelso High School (Wash.), Lloyd attended Walla Walla Community College for two seasons and graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., in 1998. While at WWCC he was an All-Northwest Athletic Association of Community College (NWAACC) All-East Region selection in 1995. Following graduation from WWCC, he finished his career at Whitman College and earned a degree in biology and a secondary teaching credential. He went on to play two seasons overseas, with stops in Brisbane, Australia, in 1997 and Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1999.

Lloyd and his wife Chanelle were married in 1997. They have three children -- Liam (2001), Sophia Marie (2004) and Maria Alexis (2007). Sophia Marie's birth coincided with the ESPN documentary "The Season" that chronicled Gonzaga basketball and one segment centered on Tommy and Chanelle at the hospital leading up to the birth and following the birth.

The list of international players Lloyd has brought to Gonzaga is extensive: current players Martynas Arlauskas (Lithuania), Joel Ayayi (France), Oumar Ballo (Mali), and Pavel Zakharov (Russia). Former players include Japanese National Team member Rui Hachimura, Polish National Team member Przemek Karnowski; Lithuanian National Team member Domantas Sabonis (the son of Naismith Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis); Canadians Kevin Pangos, Kelly Olynyk, and Robert Sacre; Germans Elias Harris and Mathis Mönninghoff; JP Baptista of Brazil; Ronny Turiaf and fellow Frenchmen Killian Tillie and Mathis Keita; Filip Petrusev of Serbia; Guy Landry Edi of the Ivory Coast; and Addullahi Kuso of Nigeria.

Lloyd has also been a staff leader in recruiting, helping bring in and develop NBA players Hachimura, Brandon Clarke, Zach Collins, Kyle Wiltjer, Sabonis, Olynyk, Austin Daye, Sacre, Turiaf, Adam Morrison, Jeremy Pargo and Harris.

Interview with Lloyd. Skip to 26 min mark to learn about his offensive philosophy.

PPU was the first to break this news on April 8th! See tweet below.
https://twitter.com/playersprogramu/status/1380303562526191619

[WILD]

https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1382458032341258242

[Jdmarti]

I hope lloyd does well here ,
not sure what to expect since he has not been a head coach before.
I am little  disappointed  because  I wanted damon as coach.

We here he is a good recruiter  but can he recruit talent from the united states?
We will see, I hope he does  not turn us into a international  team.

[Jdmarti]

I will very disappointed  if he does not retain terry.

[Jdmarti]

I do think he should want to keep someone that has tied to Arizona.

[Keithjacksontucson]

I'm so pumped for basketball again. 3 years since we got smashed by Buffalo in the first round

[WILD]

https://twitter.com/JustinESports/status/1382482009415503872

https://twitter.com/APlayersProgram/status/1382481775377620994

More belo
https://t.co/WQZAqfMWkP?amp=1

[WILD]

Statement from Robbins

https://twitter.com/MattGOAZCATS/status/1382483544740556801

[KansasCityCats]

I will very disappointed  if he does not retain terry.

I assume that his #1 priority is signing Terry to an extension (with a raise) because that's the best method of retaining the existing players, recruits and alumni/boosters.  Even if Terry doesn't stick around, SOMEBODY from the Arizona tree (Blair, Simon, Brase, etc.) will probably be on staff.

[Paper_Bag]

I will very disappointed  if he does not retain terry.

I assume that his #1 priority is signing Terry to an extension (with a raise) because that's the best method of retaining the existing players, recruits and alumni/boosters.  Even if Terry doesn't stick around, SOMEBODY from the Arizona tree (Blair, Simon, Brase, etc.) will probably be on staff.

I get the feeling that Lloyd is much more likely to retain Murphy over Terry. I'd be surprised if he kept both. I'm sure he'll want to bring in some of his own guys

[soazbnb]

While the route wasn't ideal, the destination was reached. I think Coach Lloyd will be a good fit and make Arizona basketball a top-10 program again. For anyone unhappy with this because he's not a Lute Olson product or not a head coach, relax. His track record for recruiting and developing of players is enough to warrant his consideration. Add in the fact that he's stayed in freaking Spokane for 20 years speaks to his loyalty and appreciation of a good thing.

[AZip]

Been an AZBB fan since Bear Down Gym...I find this whole scene depressing. Time will tell....and I dont have much of that left.

[WILD]

https://twitter.com/BrennaGreene_/status/1382475901691064320

[WerderBremen]

Two remarks:

1) why is terry the key to keeping our current roster, when Murphy was the one that recruited Kriisa and Tubelis?

2) people keep assuming that Lloyd will fill our roster with international players. Just because he is good at it, does not mean that will be his only way to go. After all he was responsible for international recruiting. That does not mean he won't go after Americans.

[KansasCityCats]

Terry is the recent NBA PG that the players respect. Murphy did a great job finding a portion of our roster but I would assume that guards like Akinjo, Kriisa and Mathurin have better chances of sticking around if their positional coach is there.

JT is still a big name for future recruits. I can almost guarantee that Nowell will stick around if Terry is retained.

Lloyd isn't going to fill our roster with international players, yet he has a nice sales pitch to keep the current guys from transferring because of his resume.

Despite their massive success, recruiting at Gonzaga isn't easy. Spokane is a small town, the conference is weak, the school is very religious, the students lack diversity and there wasn't a lot of history before Lloyd arrived. He helped change the culture of the program by recruiting international players and I'd think that he created a pipeline that may still attract a few foreign players to Tucson over time. He'll definitely have an advantage when speaking to Tubelis, Gorener, Kriisa, Mathurin, etc.

[Azfansincebirth]

I'm so pumped for basketball again. 3 years since we got smashed by Buffalo in the first round

Now that u brought it up, it still stings

[Naterade]

I'm down with Tommy Lloyd being our new coach. Between him and Damon and Terry he definitely is the best coach with the most experience. Gonzaga has been one of the best, if not the best program in the country the last ten years when you look at their success in the tournament. I loved Arenas as a player, but he is a damn embarrassment to Arizona when he opens his mouth and tries to downplay his felony charge for bringing a gun to a basketball game and brandishing it. Plus he never reached out to Lute before he passed away so fuk him.

[CatInFL]

Basketball and Football coaching hires that have no head coaching experience and no connection to the U of A.  Heeke and Robbins will go down in our history as either morons or geniuses, and I don't think there's much in between.  Time will tell.

[KansasCityCats]

Agreed, FL.  Both hires have big risks and could end up with big rewards.  No reason to pummel the guys because they got their top choices in each respective sport.

Now we play the waiting game to see if they made the RIGHT choices.  Cautiously optimistic as I cheer on the new era of Arizona Athletics!

[Surgeon]

This reminds me of that old skit "Lowered Expectations"

[Keithjacksontucson]

The 2017 exit to Xavier stings more than the Buffalo loss, because that team was better.