Tommy Lloyd, Arizona Agree to New Contract Through 2029; Will Make Up to $6M Annually
Tommy Lloyd has found plenty of success during the start of his tenure as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team, and the school rewarded him with a contract extension on Monday.
According to ESPN's Jeff Borzello, Lloyd and the school agreed to an extension that will keep him in place through 2029 and pay him $5.25 million in the first year. That payout will increase to $6 million by the fifth and final year of the extension.
"I am humbled and grateful to finalize a long-term extension here at the University of Arizona. I am energized by the support of our fans, our players, our alumni, President Robbins, the Board of Regents and our donors," Lloyd said in the program's announcement.
"All of us are aligned on maintaining a highly competitive and nationally recognized basketball program that provides a great experience for the student athletes. We will continue to honor the Wildcat basketball heritage and give everything we have to make people proud to say 'Bear Down!'"
Arizona hired Lloyd in April 2021 to replace the fired Sean Miller, who was the program's head coach when it was involved in the federal investigation into corruption in college basketball.
Lloyd was a Gonzaga assistant coach under Mark Few for 20 seasons before taking the job with the Wildcats. He helped lead the Bulldogs to the national championship game two different times and was involved in establishing the program as a national power.
The 2021-22 season was his first as a head coach, and he wasted no time making an impact as the Pac-12 Coach of the Year and Associated Press Coach of the Year. Arizona went 33-4 and won the Pac-12 regular-season title and conference tournament title.
It earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament but lost to fifth-seeded Houston in the Sweet 16.
The Wildcats went 28-7 in his second season and won the Pac-12 tournament once again before they were stunned as a No. 2 seed in the first round of the Big Dance. That loss to 15th-seeded Princeton hovered over the start of the current campaign, but Lloyd's team is 20-5 and No. 4 in the country.
Arizona is one game ahead of Washington State in the loss column in the race for the Pac-12 regular-season title and will once again face elevated expectations in March.
Winning in the NCAA tournament isn't the only challenge Lloyd will face with this new extension. Arizona is also headed to the Big 12 starting next season and will face a new group of opponents as it looks to maintain its status as a basketball powerhouse.
It now knows the coach who will be trusted in accomplishing that task for the foreseeable future following this development.
