Arizona hires Gonzaga’s Lloyd
Arizona hired longtime Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd as its men’s head coach.
The school said Wednesday that Lloyd will receive a fiveyear contract, pending approval by the Arizona Board of Regents. Lloyd replaces Sean Miller, who was fired after 12 years April 7 amid an NCAA infractions investigation.
“After speaking with a tremendous pool of candidates and with so many in and out of the college basketball world, it became clear that Tommy has the passion, the experience, the knowledge, the coaching and recruiting acumen and the drive to lead us to championships,” Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke said in a statement.
Lloyd, 46, spent the past 20 years as an assistant to Mark Few, helping turn Gonzaga into a national powerhouse. The Bulldogs have played for the national championship in two of the past four NCAA Tournaments and have reached the Sweet 16 in six straight seasons.
Lloyd was Few’s righthand man during the run and has proven to be an adept recruiter, particularly overseas, landing such recruits such as Rui Hachimura, Domantas Sabonis, Kelly Olynyk, Ronny Turiaf, Kevin Pangos and Killian Tillie.
Lloyd said in a statement, “I know how much Arizona basketball means to the institution, its fans, its community and the state, and I cannot wait to get started.”
Musselman gets raise: Arkansas signed former Warriors head coach Eric Musselman to a fiveyear agreement worth $4 million annually that could keep him with the Razorbacks through the 202728 season.
Musselman is 4519 in two years at Arkansas and 15553 in six years as a college head coach, including at Nevada from 2015 through ’19. This season, Arkansas advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1995 and won 25 games overall, finishing second in the SEC.
Wyking Jones to Huskies: Former Cal head coach Wyking Jones was hired as an assistant coach on Mike Hopkins’ staff at Washington. The Bears went 1647 in Jones’ two seasons (201719) leading the program.
UTEP finds coach: Joe Golding was named the head coach at UTEP after a decade at Abilene Christian that included an upset victory over Texas in this season’s NCAA Tournament.
Golding replaces Rodney Terry, who left after three seasons to become an assistant to new Texas head coach Chris Beard, who left Texas Tech.
NBAbound: Leaving early for the NBA draft after their sophomore seasons are Duke forward Matthew Hurt, the ACC’s top scorer (18.6 points per game) and Louisville guard David Johnson (12.6).
Stringer gets extension: Hall of Fame women’s coach C. Vivian Stringer has agreed to a fiveyear, $5 million contract extension that will keep her at Rutgers through the 202526 season. Stringer, 73, will begin her 27th season in the fall.