With Arizona on brink of title, Tommy Lloyd is the hottest coach in college basketball. Will he stay in Tucson or bolt for bluer pastures?

INDIANAPOLIS — Arizona fans would undoubtedly prefer that their first Final Four in 25 years was not happening under a cloud of uncertainty about the future of their coach, Tommy Lloyd.

But the North Carolina job is open. His contract negotiations with Arizona are ongoing. And Lloyd is leveraging this unique moment for absolutely everything it’s worth.

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That much was made clear Tuesday afternoon at his news conference when, despite the best efforts of the reporters in attendance, Lloyd once again refused to offer anything that would be considered reassuring to Arizona fans — or, more importantly, administrators — about his intentions after the season ends.

“People are going to speculate all they want,” Lloyd said. “Guys, this team has my full focus. Nothing, nothing, I promise you nothing is knocking me off that path. You guys might call them distractions because you’re distracted. That doesn’t mean I’m distracted or we’re distracted. You know what’s pretty cool? Once you get some experience in this deal and you’re a player or coach who’s been at it awhile, you get pretty good at eliminating distractions. So I think I’m pretty good at that and I can’t wait to get to practice today.”

It’s not difficult to see what’s going on here.

Lloyd is — rightly so — a top target for North Carolina, which fired Hubert Davis. The 51-year-old from Kelso, Washington, waited a long time to take on his first head coaching job after 20 years as Mark Few’s top assistant at Gonzaga, and he has absolutely crushed the opportunity with a 148-35 record and Final Four breakthrough in his fifth season. Among the current crop of college coaches, either Lloyd or Michigan’s Dusty May would be the slam dunk of all slam dunks for a North Carolina program that is finally ready to give the job to someone “outside the family.”

The Arizona Wildcats are back in the Final Four this week for the first time in 25 years. (Ben Solomon/Getty Images)

(Ben…


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Author : Dan Wolken

Publish date : 2026-04-01 19:37:00

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