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The recent rumors surrounding Arizona athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois and a possible interest in another job likely did not come as a shock to most. While seemingly effective in her role (especially as it pertains to the athletic department’s finances), there have been rumblings of some discontent and the contract situation with men’s basketball coach Tommy Lloyd certainly raised some eyebrows.
Her leaving would likely not be a big deal to most, and there’s certainly a segment of the fanbase that would welcome her departure.
The same couldn’t be said of Lloyd, for whom there was a very real chance that fresh off one of the best seasons in program history was ready to leave for a job with North Carolina.
He didn’t, and instead signed an extension with Arizona. So everything’s cool, right?
In an era when the head coach of the team that just won the NCAA championship could decide to leave just a couple of months later for a job in the NBA, it’s worth remembering that nothing is guaranteed and that no coach, regardless of their deal with the school, is locked into much of anything.
That’s especially true for Lloyd, who already flirted with North Carolina and negotiated as part of his Arizona extension no buyout if he leaves for an NBA job.
And if Dusty May could do it, why couldn’t Lloyd?
Near as we can tell Lloyd is very happy being a college coach and is at least happy enough to be the college coach at the University of Arizona. He would not have agreed to the extension if he didn’t feel comfortable with the terms, especially when it comes to his ability to continue building elite rosters and compete in a sport where money is making an even greater impact.
For as long as he is in Tucson, Tucson is lucky to have him. Lloyd has proven to be an excellent coach and fit for the city, and it’s difficult to imagine the program falling off much at all with him in charge.
That’s why it was imperative that the school convinced him to stay back in April. It would have been devastating, a real gut punch, to see him leave just after taking Arizona to its first Final Four in 25 years.
Could Arizona have recovered? Sure. But maybe not.
This knowledge is why Arizona went to the lengths it did to keep Lloyd, who along with removing the buyout for a pro job also included language in the new contract that has him no longer reporting to Reed-Francois. It’s an unconventional arrangement and we’ll just have to see how things go with Lloyd instead reporting directly to school president Suresh Garimella.
It would seem that Arizona was able to survive the pitfalls that can come with success, at least this time.
Lloyd has been putting together another quality roster, one with key returnees, high-level freshmen and some interesting portal commitments. As a coach who has shown an ability to maximize the talent he has, we should expect next year’s team to look different in how it wins but not necessarily in how many wins it collects.
To expect another 3-loss season would be unwise, but is there any reason to think the Wildcats won’t again compete for the Big 12 title and a top-2 NCAA Tournament seed?
The feeling would likely not exist if Lloyd had left, and the pride we all felt watching Brayden Burries, Koa Peat and Jaden Bradley all get picked in last week’s NBA Draft would have been most definitely tempered some if the program was facing a less-certain future.
But in reality, the entire sport’s future is at least a little cloudy. If a coach like May, who seemingly had all he could need at Michigan, would leave for the professional ranks, any coach conceivably could. 247Sports reported that Michigan’s president said, “… among his reasons for leaving were uncertainties and pressures involving the Transfer Portal and NIL support for student athletes.”
Given that those issues are unlikely to change anytime soon, it’s likely May won’t be the last successful college coach to find the allure of the NBA too much to deny.
If Lloyd continues winning and producing NBA players, will one of the teams from the league look his way? If and when that happens will he, like May, decide that the college game as it is currently constructed is just not the place to be? Is there a world where after another couple of seasons Lloyd feels like he will have accomplished all he can at Arizona or the collegiate level and is ready to be one of 30 people who get to be an NBA head coach?
It’s certainly possible, though it’s worth noting there are definitely coaches who love college basketball, even with its faults, issues and challenges. For some the NBA just isn’t the move.
Lloyd’s revised contract would at least give the appearance of him not being of that ilk.
But that’s a problem for another day, if any day at all. For now Lloyd is Arizona’s coach and the Wildcats are better for it.
If the day comes where Lloyd is off to the NBA, let’s hope that like May with Michigan he at least leaves Arizona with a national championship.
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