New Arizona Basketball Coach Tommy Lloyd Fired Up To Lead: Q&A

TUCSON, AZ — It's been three weeks to the day since Tommy Lloyd's career trajectory changed course dramatically.

That's because Lloyd, who previously served as the associate head coach at Gonzaga University for 22 years, decided to take on the Arizona Wildcats' head coaching opening.

Lloyd was thrust into the warp-speed world of college basketball, losing a pair of starters from last year's roster, in guard James Akinjo and forward Jordan Brown, to the NCAA's transfer portal.

He also had to re-recruit Estonian guard, Kerr Kriisa, after he too announced he would enter the portal.

Kriisa decided to return to Tucson, while Akinjo committed to play at Baylor University. Brown has not announced where he'll play in 2021.

Lloyd has also landed one of his former players, in center Oumar Ballo, via the transfer portal.

The new head coach in Tucson sat down with Patch to discuss how he's settling into Southern Arizona; as well as his outlook on recruiting, scheduling and learning from his former boss at Gonzaga, Mark Few.

Below is a transcript of that conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: How are you settling into Tucson, especially with tomorrow likely being the first 100-degree day of the year down there?

A: [Laughing] Oh, wow, you're dropping that on me. I didn't even know that. I thought you were gonna ask 'how am I settling into Tucson, and it's my first Cinco de Mayo down here.'

But everything's been great. And it's obviously been a lot and getting to know a lot of people. But it's been a ton of fun. And the people down here have been great. The athletic department has been amazing, helping me adjust and helping with the transition.

And the people in the community have been super supportive, and seem to be really excited.

Q: Moving on to the basketball topics at hand. Given the fact you were pretty late in the recruiting cycle, how do you plan on rounding out the the Wildcats' roster for 2021?

A: Recruiting has really changed the past few years. So, obviously, you're getting hired after a season. Maybe you weren't able to find anybody early in this recruiting class.

But there's so much more movement. Now, in the offseason, that I that I think we're well-positioned to move forward and attract the type of players we think will be successful here.

And we have we have scholarships open right now. But we've put a lot of work in the last couple of weeks, kind of building the foundation, for some of these recruitments.

And I think we're in a very good position moving forward to hopefully get some results in the next week or two.

Q: When it comes to scheduling, and that's one thing that fans obviously, are always curious about, especially at this point of the year. What can you tell me about what your plan to schedule out for 2021? And can fans expect that long-running rivalry with Gonzaga to continue in the future?

A: Well, we basically, for the most part, inherited the schedule, and it was well done. So I'm glad that's something we don't have to spend much time on.

The Gonzaga game will probably happen, but it might be a few years down the road.

I think coach Few and I both thought, 'You know, maybe this first year, it's probably best for both programs to push [the rivalry] back a little bit just to give us a little space.'

Q: Out of curiosity, how often you've been in contact with coach Few, and how has that relationship been like, since you got to Tucson?

A: Well, we have a great relationship. I mean, we worked together for 22 years.

Our wives are best friends, our kids are more like cousins than friends. So obviously, we're close.

And we'll touch base a few times. But this time of year in college basketball, you're not usually doing a bunch of talking to other other schools, because everybody's so busy.

I mean, everybody has spots to fill or potential transfers on their own roster. Or scheduling all this stuff.

So I think once things settle down the next few weeks, we'll definitely be in touch more often.

Q: Take me through some of the decisions you've made on the coaching staff. You've retained Jack Murphy and Jason Terry, and you brought in a couple of guys with ties to Gonzaga. Take me through the decision-making behind each of those guys, and kind of what you're hoping to get out of your coaching staff in year one?

A: When I first got the job, I didn't want to come down here and have a bunch of preconceived notions about the place.

I kind of wanted to get my feet on the ground and get to know some people.

Arizona has had a ton of success. And so I kind of wanted to come down here and observe and figure out some of the things they did really well and continue those.

And as far as staffing, I knew it was important to have some continuity. With with [Jack Murphy] and [Jason Terry], in particular, they have such pride to this place. They know how this place works, which is huge for being able to operate.

Whether it's housing, admissions, academics, there's so many more things that go into the job than just coaching.

I really wanted guys that knew how to how those things work here. And so keeping them was really important.

And then, I wanted to bring a few of my own guys that know me and know how I want to play and know the type of culture that I like and can kind of help me build that model here.

So I feel like it's a great mix. Gonzaga and Arizona have been really strong power programs on the West Coast. And I think, when you combine elements of both programs, I think it's a winning combination.

Q: When you got hired, you mentioned that Arizona was one of the few places you'd ever leave Spokane for. I'm curious, now that you've been in the program, and you've kind of seen how the inside of the program looks? How has that kind of changed your perception of the program as a whole and what's been established before you got to Tucson?

A: I knew it was a great place. That's why I came here. And getting here and meeting all the people and seeing the infrastructure, it confirmed to me that it is a great place.

And that's what continues to excite me, because I see so much potential here. And I'm excited to be a part of it and do everything I can to help move it forward in a positive direction.

Q: I'm curious to get your opinion on how kind of a fan support for Arizona basketball in Tucson compares to what you saw firsthand. in Spokane. You were in Spokane for more than 20 years with Coach Few, I'm kind of curious how the two towns compare in terms of their basketball savvy or anything like that?

A: I would say this, I think they're both in the 100th percentile, in terms of passion, support, knowledge. And they're the best fan bases in the country.

And I knew that coming in here, because we played Arizona so many times, whether it's at McKale, or in Maui, or in the NCAA tournament, or at a neutral site.

When you played those games, and you walked around the town, back in normal times, you definitely felt Wildcat Nation.

And so, just to come here and be part of a fanbase that's so energized and passionate is really, really exciting.

Q: What would you would define as a successful first season in Tucson?

A: Honestly, I don't have any number of wins or anything like that, because I think that's what first season is, just establishing the culture on a day to day basis on how we want to do things, how we want to work, how we want to treat other people, and in getting everybody bought in and excited about that.

And on the court, establishing the way we want to play. With players, making well-reasoned decisions and playing the fundamentals and competing with a high level of effort and passion.

Those are the things I'm I'm looking for, and I think if we hit on those things, I think the results will come.

Q: I was wondering one thing, obviously, besides the Gonzaga game, kind of take me through your thoughts on regional rivalries and kind of how important it is to you to maybe restart or start a yearly rivalry with a team like GCU or somebody close and kind of building those rivalries from the ground up?

A: Well, I don't know where he played GCU, because my son plays there.

But I think scheduling is so complex now. There's so many factors that drive it that general fans wouldn't understand.

I mean, you play a 20-game conference season; you go to an [in-season tournament], or you play some neutral-site games. You need to get some guaranteed type games here to kind of build the foundation of the team and how you want to play and create some positive momentum.

And so it only leaves a couple opportunities for home-and-home type games. So, we'll probably, I would guess, stay on a similar path, scheduling-wise, because we're locked into a few things.

And as we get more comfortable, maybe we'll start having thoughts on adding some more regional type games. But it's just not as easy as it looks from the outside to do those types of things.

Because at the end of the day, you're trying to do the best job you can for the program; first-off, positioning yourself to get in that at-large bid and secondly, positioning yourself to get a favorable seed.

So, those are always the priority in scheduling. So it makes it a little bit more complicated than just on a whim playing other school, just because they're close.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to talk about and kind of tell the fans in Tucson and beyond?

A: I mean, I'm fired up to be here. To give this place everything I got, and I've got to wrap my arms around it. Embrace everything that comes with it and and hopefully make everybody proud.