Wilner – How Arizona lured Tommy Lloyd away from the comforts of Gonzaga: The inside story of a Final Four courtship

The man who hired the man who made the Final Four possible was in the stands for the final step. Former Arizona president Robert Robbins was seated roughly 25 rows behind the bench Saturday evening in the SAP Center when the Wildcats thumped Purdue to win the West and secure their first trip to the national semifinals in a quarter century.

“I was thinking how appreciative I was that Tommy would come to Arizona,” Robbins recalled a few days later.

“I believe it when he says Arizona is the only job he would have left Gonzaga for.”

The process by which Tommy Lloyd left the comforts of Spokane, where he was heir to the throne, and accepted Arizona’s offer played out against a roiling backdrop in April 2021.

The Wildcats had been swallowed whole by a multi-year recruiting scandal involving former coach Sean Miller.

The school had issued a self-imposed NCAA Tournament ban and awaited sanctions for multiple infractions.

The roster was expected to scatter to the winds. It was considered a task only a veteran coach could handle.

Upon naming Lloyd to the post, both Robbins and then-athletic director Dave Heeke received heavy criticism.

“People said, ‘How can you give the keys to a race car to a guy who has never been a head coach?’” Robbins said.

Little did the skeptics realize that Robbins and Heeke had found their version of Mario Andretti, albeit with a twist: Lloyd wasn’t like so many ace assistants who bounce from school to school desperate to command an elite program.

The Washington native had spent two decades on Gonzaga’s bench and rebuffed numerous offers to become a head coach. Lloyd’s contract included a stipulation that he would take over whenever Zags legend Mark Few stepped down, according to an ESPN report published in early 2020.

In fact, Lloyd wasn’t atop Arizona’s list when the school finally decided to part ways with Miller, on April 7, after a 12-year run that brought a slew of 30-win seasons but zero Final Fours and one gargantuan mess.

“We talked to a lot of people,” Robbins said, “and the consensus was we needed to hire a sitting or former head coach. After all that was going on with Sean, we wanted someone who had nothing tied to him.”

Tony Bennett, two seasons removed from a national championship at Virginia, was high on Arizona’s list. So, too, was Notre Dame’s Mike Brey and former Michigan coach John Beilein. And Few, of course.

Many Arizona stakeholders pushed Robbins to hire one of three former players, Damon Stoudamire, Miles Simon or Jason Terry, but he was interested in another alumnus.

“I called (Warriors coach) Steve Kerr and said, ‘How many more rings do you need in the NBA? Why don’t you come back?’” Robbins said.

The Wildcats interviewed Mark Pope, who was coaching BYU at the time, and Eric Musselman, who had just led Arkansas to the Elite Eight.

“Then we started asking if we could get the No. 1 assistant,” Robbins said. “But Bennett and Brey didn’t have assistants who worked.”

Few’s top lieutenant was well regarded, particularly for his international recruiting connections, but considered untouchable. Why would Lloyd, who had spent all but a few of his 46 years in Washington, leave Gonzaga given the contractual guarantee that he would eventually replace Few?

After all, the Zags were coming off a trip to the national championship game. Arizona hadn’t been on the sport’s biggest stage in 20 years and was bracing for the NCAA’s hammer.

“He had the perfect life,” Robbins said. “That made it tough.”

Arizona used every connection possible to perform due diligence and convince Lloyd to take the job.

Robbins, a heart surgeon, had operated on former Gonzaga player Ronny Turiaf years earlier. That was one.

During his time at Stanford, where he was chair of the cardiothoracic surgery department, Robbins trained surgeons who had moved to Spokane. More connections!

Also, Lloyd’s son, Liam, was just finishing his first season at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

Robbins and Heeke had known for months that a coaching change might be coming, which gave them time to scout the field. But the official search lasted one week. On April 14, the Wildcats handed the keys to Lloyd.

Then came the death threats.

Robbins said they were only on social media, and that he paid them no heed, but the outrage from a deeply passionate fanbase was clear.

“The fact that Tommy had never called timeout in his life didn’t matter,” Robbins said. “There was a lot of intentionality to what Dave and I had done. A lot of studying. A lot of due diligence. And then you have to get lucky.”

The Wildcats had followed a similar model months earlier when they selected Jedd Fisch, a career assistant, to overhaul the floundering football program.

Within 112 days, Robbins and Heeke had made two major hires. Both selections were first-time head coaches with no ties to Arizona.

And they nailed them both.

(Fisch left Tucson three years later, for Washington, after leading the Wildcats to a 10-win season.)

“Jedd had moved around a lot — he and Tommy could not be more different,” said Robbins, who first tried to hire Fisch in January 2018, after the Wildcats fired Rich Rodriguez.

“But Jedd wasn’t following Sean Miller. The expectations for football were not as high.

His hopes for the basketball program under Lloyd’s stewardship? “Stay out of the headlines and get us back to the Final Four.”

In five seasons, Lloyd has won 148 games, captured championships in two conferences, the Pac-12 and Big 12, received numerous Coach of the Year awards and positioned Arizona for its first national title in 29 years.

The Wildcats are a slight underdog against Michigan on Saturday, but the winner is expected to be favored Monday night in the national championship against either Connecticut or Illinois.

Robbins stepped down as president in the fall of 2024 and currently serves as a distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford’s renowned Hoover Institution. He follows the Wildcats closely and plans to attend the Final Four in Indianapolis.

“I’m happy for him and feel that way about the university,” Robbins said. “It’s just sheer joy. For the fans, too.

“It’s kind of like what LeBron James said once. I’m glad Tommy decided to take his talents to Tucson.”

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on the social media platform X: @WilnerHotline