No. 2 Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd named to Naismith Coach of the Year watch list

The Arizona Wildcats (25-2) have been nationally recognized for their play at No. 2 in the country, and now their head coach Tommy Lloyd was named to the watch list for the 2026 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year.

Lloyd was among 15 coaches listed by the Naismith Awards committee, with three fellow Big 12 coaches joining him in Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Kansas’ Bill Self.

The 2021-22 Associated Press Coach of the Year has Arizona leading the Big 12 regular-season standings after upsetting then-No. 2 Houston Saturday on the road. With four games left before the conference tournament begins on March 10, Arizona holds a 1.5-game lead over Houston.

The Wildcats have the nation’s No. 13 total offense (87.2 points per game), are No. 9 in fastbreak points per game (17), No. 12 in field goal percentage (50.4%) and No. 25 in assists per game (17.4). Their total defense comes in at No. 49 (68.5 points allowed per game).

In Arizona’s first season in the Big 12 last year, the team lost to Houston in the conference championship game and bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16.

Through nearly five seasons leading the Wildcats, Lloyd has totaled a 137-35 record (79.7%), including the postseason. He has led Arizona to two conference championship titles (2022 and 2023) while the Wildcats were still members of the Pac-12.

In four NCAA Tournament appearances, the Lloyd-led Wildcats have posted a 6-4 mark, with three losses in the Sweet 16.

After visiting Baylor Tuesday night at 7 p.m., home matchups against No. 14 Kansas (Saturday) and No. 4 Iowa State (March 2) will be followed by Arizona’s regular-season finale in Boulder against Colorado (March 7).

Key players in freshman Koa Peat and senior Anthony Dell’Orso were listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game against Baylor.

2026 Naismith Coach of the Year watch list members

Brad Brownell (Clemson)

Mark Byington (Vanderbilt)

Fred Hoiberg (Nebraska)

Dan Hurley (UConn)

Tom Izzo (Michigan State)

Tommy Lloyd (Arizona)

Dusty May (Michigan)

Ryan Odum (Virginia)

T.J. Otzelberger (Iowa State)

Kelvin Sampson (Houston)

Josh Schertz (Saint Louis)

Jon Scheyer (Duke)

Bill Self (Kansas)

Travis Steele (Miami (OH))

Brad Underwood (Illinois)

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