Tommy Lloyd’s unpretentious demeanor was forged in his formational years in rural Washington and professional years in Spokane.
He is able to measure thoughts, words, and decisions. The emotional tides of more mercurial coaches are a waste of his energy. Credit is diverted, attention for another.
This outwardly friendly nature hides a deep-seated confidence, determination and attention to detail that has fuelled No. Under its first coach, 2 Arizona has experienced an acceleration in its ascension.
Jack Murphy, Arizona associate head coach, said that Murphy knew exactly what he wanted and had a plan. “Every step of our journey, whenever any of us (me or anyone else on staff) wanted to speed things up, or jump steps, he was always a voice of reason and stuck to his plan.
When Lloyd was hired last summer, you could hear the scoffing from Tucson.
After Sean Miller’s firing, the FBI and NCAA investigated questionable recruiting practices. Arizona needed the right person in charge to bring the program back to prominence.
Lloyd was a top recruiter and top assistant. He helped Mark Few to create a national powerhouse at Gonzaga in just 22 years. He was not a coach.
People who are familiar with basketball and Lloyd saw Lloyd as the perfect match — and they were right.
Lloyd brought many of the same principles, systems and techniques that were so successful at Gonzaga with him. He also added some tweaks and he swept through one of college basketball’s greatest first-year seasons.
The Wildcats were unranked in the preseason, but they finished fourth in the Pac-12. They went 31-3 to win the tournament and regular-season titles. Lloyd was joined by Bill Hodges from Indiana State in 1979 and Bill Guthridge from North Carolina in 1998 to be the first-year coaches to win a No. The NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 seed.
Arizona will open the West Region against Wright State-Bryant on Friday in San Diego in its bid for reaching the Final Four for first time since 2001.
After Arizona defeated UCLA in the Pac-12 title match, Lloyd stated that “My only objective was to pour into them everything I have.” “That’s the way I approach it every day.”
Arizona lost four of its top six scorers last year, but those who stayed have been an excellent fit for the systems Lloyd created in the desert.
Arizona’s offense, like Gonzaga’s, requires players to be able to read and respond to multiple options. Bennedict Mathurin and Azoulas Tubelis, Christian Koloko and Dalen Terry, as well as Kerr Kriisa, are all returning players with high basketball intelligences. They make excellent decisions on both ends of the court and have made good choices in the past. Pelle Larsson, Oumar Ballo and Justin Kier are all transfers.
The players also believe that their coach is the best for them.
Koloko stated, “He is a player’s coach. He does everything for his team.” Koloko said, “He is a detail-oriented coach and goes into the details to teach you the game.”
This is Lloyd’s strongest part.
Player development is a key part of Gonzaga’s success over the years. While the Zags have been able to land top-tier recruits such as Jalen Sugs and Chet Holmgren in the last two years, their roster is mostly made up of players who grew over time.
Lloyd arrived in Arizona in January and has been a key player in Arizona’s off-season trainings and in-season practices.
Mathurin was an explosive freshman player. He has since transformed his playmaking skills and gained a lot of confidence to become a potential NBA lottery selection.
Koloko is now a bigger, more intimidating player with a wider offensive range. After being left on the bench at Gonzaga last year, fellow big man Ballo has made similar progress.
Terry is perhaps the greatest leap. Arizona’s ninth-leading scorer in last season’s campaign, the 6-foot-7 guard from Arizona has been an athletic help to the Wildcats. He even assumed point guard duties in this Pac-12 Tournament after Kriisa broke his ankle in quarterfinals.
“Did the pieces fit together? Murphy stated that they fit perfectly, but Murphy molded and developed them within the framework of our system. That’s amazing.
It’s not for Lloyd to boast about it. This is for someone else.
