Subscribe now
Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd reportedly interviews for Arizona job

Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd, left, shouts instructions alongside head coach Mark Few in a 2019 game. (Libby Kamrowski/The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585

Arizona is three days into its search for a new men’s basketball coach and nothing has changed the perception that Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd is one of the leading candidates.

Lloyd has interviewed for the job, according to CBSsports.com. Arizona interviewed former Wildcats standout guard Damon Stoudamire on Thursday and Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Miles Simon, named most outstanding player of the tournament when Arizona won the 1997 national championship, was scheduled to interview Friday, according to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.

Lloyd’s name began gathering momentum as a potential candidate at the Final Four as Sean Miller’s status at Arizona became more precarious.

The Wildcats on Wednesday dismissed Miller after 12 seasons as head coach.

Stoudamire, Lloyd and Simon, in that order, are the favorites for the job, according to BetOnline.ag, which mistakenly referred to Lloyd as Floyd. Stoudamire is 1/1, Lloyd 5/2 and Simon 5/1.

Stoudamire, who has a 71-77 record in five seasons as Pacific’s head coach and was named the 2020 West Coast Conference Coach of the year, scored 1,849 career points and helped Arizona reach the 1994 Final Four.

He was a Wildcats assistant coach from 2013-15.

Simon was an Arizona assistant coach from 2005-08. He’s been a Lakers assistant since 2017.

Lloyd, 46, has been a big factor in Gonzaga’s rise to national prominence in his 20-plus years with the program. He’s regarded as one of the best assistant coaches in the country with his track record of player development and recruiting internationally and domestically.

“Let’s call it an educated guess,” CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish said on Friday’s Eye on College Basketball podcast. “If you go outside the (Arizona) family, it’s Tommy Lloyd. If they stay inside the family, it’s probably Damon Stoudamire.”

Lloyd has a coach-in-waiting provision in his contract should head coach Mark Few leave the position.

The Zags (31-1), who lost to Baylor 86-70 in Monday’s national championship, are the first program to post five consecutive 30-win seasons.

Lloyd’s son, Liam, recently completed his freshman season at Grand Canyon. The Phoenix-based school lost to Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.