Arizona basketball president takes oversight of Tommy Lloyd contract
Tommy Lloyd’s newly deal reshapes how Arizona men’s basketball decisions are handled, elevating the president’s role in finances and program resources.
University of Arizona president Suresh Garimella will have "exclusive authority" over performance and financial matters related to men's basketball coach Tommy Lloyd, rather than athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois, according to the coach's newly approved contract. The contract, obtained by the Star on Wednesday via a public records request, said Garimella now will directly evaluate Lloyd's job performance, compensation, operating budget and NIL (roster) budget — and will collaborate with Reed-Francois and UA CFO John Arnold. Lloyd's previous contract, agreed to in April 2025, said Lloyd "will report directly" to the UA's athletic director, "with additional oversight by the president of the university.
" Lloyd's new contract states that UA cannot require Lloyd to report directly to anyone other than the athletic director or the AD's successor, and UA spokesman Mitch Zak said Lloyd would continue to report to Reed-Francois. But the contract's language, and other indications to the Star, suggest that Lloyd will report to Garimella over matters of job performance, compensation, budget and NIL. Lloyd's five-year contract, which is scheduled to pay him $37.
5 million through 2030-31, was approved by the Arizona Board of Regents on April 16. However, UA's proposal to the Regents for contract approval did not include the language regarding Garimella's oversight, a nuanced structure unusual in college athletics. Specifically, section 1.
1 of Lloyd's new contract says Garimella will oversee "the budget for compensation for the university or university's approved 3rd party entity(ies) to student-athletes related to their Name, Image and Likeness. " That NIL language indicates Garimella will oversee both the university-paid "revenue-sharing" money it will give to players and the outside-paid NIL money that UA can now raise funds for. Together, the money represents a roster budget, which was reportedly about $10 million for UA men's basketball in 2025-26.
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