The Arizona Wildcats’ season has been a huge success so far. Tommy Lloyd’s fifth season at Tucson has brought the best regular-season record yet during his tenure, with a 34-2 mark that saw them become regular-season Big 12 champions and the No. 2 overall team in the nation.
They have since won the Big 12 Tournament and made the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament, where they face their toughest test yet in the form of the Arkansas Razorbacks this Thursday night.
In the backdrop to all of this, there have been discussions as to whether Lloyd will be staying with the Wildcats or looking for better opportunities. While the Arizona are truly a basketball school, and were for a long time serious contenders for the Pac-12 and the Big 12, they’re not one of the premier programs in the nation, having only won one national championship in 1997. Lloyd could find better options if he were to join the open market.
However, the University of Arizona’s authorities are doing all they can so Lloyd can stay in Tucson indefinitely. Athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois had this to say this Thursday about the coach’s future:
“Tommy has done a phenomenal job. He’s one of the best coaches in America. We have been engaged with his representatives about a new contract since before the start of the NCAA Tournament. Those discussions will continue and it is our goal that he retires as a Wildcat.”
Where Could Tommy Lloyd Go?
A truly blue-blooded vacancy has opened this week, after the North Carolina Tar Heels fired Hubert Davis after five seasons. The Tar Heels, one of the premier basketball schools in the nation, faced another early NCAA Tournament elimination this year, losing 82-78 in the first round to VCU.
While the Davis era started on a high note in 2021-22, with the Tar Heels making the national championship game that year, they fell to Kansas. While they missed the Big Dance the next season, the 2023-24 season increased hope at Chapel Hill as the team won the ACC regular-season championship and made it to the Sweet 16. What followed was a disappointment, with North Carolina being in the first round of March Madness in the last two seasons.
Now, Tommy Lloyd is considered a frontrunner for the role at Chapel Hill, in the hopes he can take the Tar Heels to national relevance again.
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