Tommy Lloyd wins Naismith Coach of the Year honors after Arizona’s Final Four run
Tommy Lloyd took home the Naismith Coach of the Year award on Sunday, becoming the first Arizona coach to win the honor.
Watch: Arizona Wildcats Final Four special: Tommy Lloyd's contract is renewed ahead of Michigan battle | 40 mins
INDIANAPOLIS — Tommy Lloyd took home the Naismith Coach of the Year award on Sunday to become the first Arizona coach to win the honor.
The Wildcats head coach was a finalist for the award along with Fred Hoiberg (Nebraska), Dusty May (Michigan) and Jon Scheyer (Duke).
Hoiberg was named AP Coach of the Year on Friday.
The four finalists were selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s national voting academy, which is made up of journalists, current and former head coaches, former award winners and conference commissioners.
A fan vote also accounted for 5% of the total vote.
Lloyd led Arizona to its first Final Four in 25 years and a program-record 36 wins, including a 23-0 start to the season, the best in program history.
Lloyd signed a new five-year deal on Friday, making him one of the five highest-paid coaches in college basketball.
The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for nine straight weeks and were a unanimous No. 1 selection for four straight weeks during that span.
Under Lloyd, Arizona led the Big 12 in scoring, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense during conference play on the way to the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles.
The Wildcats also went 14-3 against top 25-ranked opponents this season and posted an average margin of victory of 20.5 points in their four NCAA Tournament wins entering the Final Four. They fell 91-73 to Michigan Saturday, which set up a Michigan-UConn final for Monday night in Indianapolis.
Lloyd was also was the recipient of the AP Coach of the Year award in 2021-22 when he coached the Wildcats to a 33-4 (.892) season and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling in the Sweet 16.
The Wildcats’ coach was named Big 12 Coach of the Year earlier this season, for his second time winning his conference’s coach of the year award.
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Comments
15 Comments
Pretty simple: One is in a true "college town", no pro sports, with complete community support. Think Tallahassee, Oxford, Tuscaloosa, Austin, etc. Where as although Tempe has a college vibe, it's in the middle of the 5th/6th largest metro area in the Country, with pro sports, full of transplants, who are grads from all over the Country, and a TON of students who either commute, take on-line classes, or just want to get their degree and aren't into sports. Phoenix is a great place to live, and many U of A grads move up there, but the U of A experience (as well as NAU), is a way different one than being a Devil. Bennett will do just fine, win more games than Bobby, but his style doesn't translate well to the Big XII. He'll have a solid 5-7 year run, and then the Devils will get their big time coach.
For years, Arizona has been able to maintain a successful basketball program, recruiting really good players and hiring decent coaches. What is it about that school and town that attracts Players and coaches?
Why hasn’t Arizona State been able to be successful? I would think between the two schools and the two cities and overall environment, ASU would come out on top!
I may be a little biased, but who in their right mind would spend their college years in Tucson? Must be something in the water. Hopefully Bennett can start a positive and constructive trend for ASU👍
Got embarrassed on the second biggest stage.