Former longtime Gonzaga assistant Lloyd to remain Arizona HC

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, a former longtime Gonzaga assistant, said Friday he’s remaining with the Wildcats after being mentioned as a potential candidate to fill the coaching vacancy at blueblood program North Carolina.

“I’m happy to announce I’m staying at Arizona,” Lloyd, a graduate of Kelso High School in southwestern Washington, said during his pre-practice news conference at the Final Four. “We’ve been able to get some things done the past couple days.”

Arizona also announced it had reached an extension with Lloyd through the 2030-31 season, though it didn’t release financial terms. Lloyd had previously been under contract through the 2029-30 season worth an average of nearly $5.5 million in base and supplemental pay for the coming seasons, along with a buyout that dropped from $11 million to $9 million on Wednesday.

Lloyd, 51, had been considered a top potential target for the Tar Heels, who fired Hubert Davis on March 24 after five seasons. He had deflected questions about the UNC opening as the Wildcats (36-2) kept advancing in the NCAA Tournament to their first Final Four since 2001, including as recently as Thursday in Indianapolis.

Lloyd praised UNC as “a first-class organization” and said he appreciated “the way they’ve handled this.”

“Arizona basketball, you guys know what it means to me, and when I say it’s a special place, that always comes from the bottom of my heart,” Lloyd said.

“I didn’t want to make this entire Final Four about that because I’m just a small part of something much bigger. But on that same note, I’d also like to let you know that North Carolina is an amazing place. I mean, it’s a 1 of 1. It’s an honor to even be considered for that job.”

Lloyd is 148-35 in five seasons as Arizona’s head coach. Prior to that, he spent 20 seasons as an assistant on Mark Few’s staff at Gonzaga, where he played a major role in the program’s rags-to-riches rise. Lloyd grew up in Kelso and spent most of his college basketball playing career at Walla Walla Community College and Whitman College in Walla Walla.

Lloyd’s extension was announced a day before Arizona (36-2) was set to face Michigan in Saturday night’s national semifinals in a matchup of the two 1-seeds in Indianapolis.

Michigan coach Dusty May has also been mentioned as a possible UNC candidate, but said Friday he’ll “never respond to any job speculation.”

“I think it’s well documented how happy I am at Michigan,” May said. “Obviously my private life, my personal life, my family, their happiness is very important. Yeah, I love it at Michigan, but you’ll never hear me comment on any other job unless Michigan lets me go and then I’ll comment on every job.”

Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.

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