How Arizona Coach Tommy Lloyd’s Mentor Mark Few Knew He Would Spurn North Carolina
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few hung out with his former pupil Tommy Lloyd throughout the past week and knew he would stay at Arizona.
Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd (left) and head coach Mark Few look on during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas Southern in 2017. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) Associated Press Mark Few knew the answer to the juiciest question of the NCAA basketball coaching carousel: Would his pupil, Tommy Lloyd, stay at Arizona or accept North Carolina’s offer to become head coach? Few, the Gonzaga head coach, and Lloyd talked throughout the entire NCAA Tournament, and their families spent the evening together Wednesday and Thursday night — days before Arizona’s Final Four matchup vs.
Michigan. So Few knew Lloyd would stay at Arizona, the school he has led to its first Final Four since 2001, instead of taking the North Carolina job. “He knows not to mess with happy,” Few said.
“I just knew they had to get things better at Arizona and make it right. ” Arizona made things right by reorganizing its power structure. School president Suresh Garimella now has authority over the basketball budget instead of athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois.
Per the announced extension on Friday, Lloyd will get a larger resource pool for player procurement, and he’ll start in 2026-27 at nearly $7. 2 million and will average $7. 5 million over the life of the deal.