Reactions mostly optimistic after Arizona’s hiring of Tommy Lloyd

Apr 14, 2021, 5:32 PM | Updated: 6:38 pm

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The Arizona Wildcats have found their new men’s basketball head coach.

Gonzaga’s associate head coach Tommy Lloyd will now take the helm in Tucson for the Wildcats.

Lloyd has spent the last 20 seasons with the Gonzaga Bulldogs as coach Mark Few’s right-hand man.

Despite not having any prior head coaching experience or a connection to the program, people are optimistic for Lloyd’s future in Arizona.

Here’s a look at some of the early reactions from the Lloyd hire:

Adam Morrison on Lloyd becoming head coach:

"He more than ready. He's been ready for a while. Tommy is going to be fine there. And the culture, based on what Gonzaga has had with Tommy and the whole staff, hopefully he can instill that at Arizona and have a successful program."

— Jim Meehan (@SRJimm) April 15, 2021

Wow. Tommy Lloyd leaving Gonzaga for Arizona. Tough job to pass up. Should be a great hire for the Cats. https://t.co/1vWtVDXUbV

— Derek Deis (@DerekKXLY) April 14, 2021

There's always risk hiring someone with zero head coaching experience to a program of Arizona's caliber, but count me among those who think Tommy Lloyd is a terrific choice.

— Jeff Eisenberg (@JeffEisenberg) April 14, 2021

So Tommy Lloyd is the new head coach at Arizona, per @GoodmanHoops. Good hire. But for the life of me, cant understand why it took seven days to hire a guy who would've accepted the job less than 10 seconds after it was offered to him 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) April 14, 2021

Some tidbits about new Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd:

– He was Mark Few's right-hand man at Gonzaga for two decades
– He's a master at international recruiting
– He's the youngest head coach in the Pac-12
– He helped Gonzaga build the best offense in CBBhttps://t.co/HxjVwVEEQV

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) April 14, 2021

Former Gonzaga Bulldog standout Dan Dickau had nothing but high praise for his former coach who helped him develop his game to the next level after transferring to Gonzaga in 2000.

T Lloyd has been instrumental in getting GU to the level they are! I can’t be happier for him! He was instrumental in my career especially during redshirt helping me improve and be ready.Terrific evaluator, recruiter and coach not to mention a great friend!Congrats and good luck!

— Dan Dickau (@dandickau21) April 14, 2021

Many people credit Lloyd for his international recruiting efforts by bringing in high-level talent such as Rui Hachimura, Kelly Olynyk, Domantas Sabonis and Ronny Turiaf, all of which got drafted into the NBA.

From @DarnayTripp in 2015:

"I think he's the main key to this program for getting international players over."- Domas Sabonis on Tommy Lloyd.

Arizona fans, get to know your new head coach: pic.twitter.com/YVsPckBFO7

— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) April 14, 2021

Tommy Lloyd has strong international recruiting ties, which bodes well for Arizona's roster.

Wildcats have 6 scholarship players from foreign countries. More notably: Kerr Kriisa (Estonia), Azuolas Tubelis (Lithuania), Bennedict Mathurin (Canada) and Christian Koloko (Cameroon) https://t.co/PsdypvPF6z

— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) April 14, 2021

Sabonis, Olynyk, Morrison, Hachimura, Karnowski, Pangos, Sacre, Turiaf, Tillie and many more.

There would be no Gonzaga today without Tommy Lloyd. The players he brought in were absolutely instrumental to the success of this program. No brainer hire for Arizona.

— Karthik Venkataraman (@KREMKarthik) April 14, 2021

However not everyone was happy to see Lloyd leave Spokane, as some Bulldog fans were sad to see one of their coaches depart to Tucson.

Sad to see Tommy Lloyd go, but he has deserved a head coaching gig for a long time now. Thank you for helping turn Gonzaga into the program it is! #zags https://t.co/pSye3V5ieq

— Ross Bernhardt (@ross_bernhardt) April 14, 2021