'To have a coach that's loyal and stays means everything'

Someone on the plane had Wi-Fi, so almost in real time, the plane's passengers heard the news: Lloyd was staying put in Arizona.

"It was fantastic," gushed Rocky LaRose, the one-time University of Arizona athletic director who was on the plane. "The whole plane erupted. Everybody was thrilled."

"I'm beyond excited," said Corey Leff, a 2004 UA alumnus who was among hundreds of donors and fans attending a VIP reception/pep rally at Indianapolis' historic Union Station a few blocks from the stadium. "Tommy has us back (in the Final Four); he's certainly earned everything he's gotten and more."

Lloyd's announcement dominated the conversations at Friday's reception. It was almost as if a collective sigh of relief filled Union Station's cavernous Grand Hall as fans nibbled small bites and sipped cocktails. 

"Great news for Arizona," said UA Wildcat Club Development Officer Reggie Geary, a member of the UA's 1994 Final Four team led by Lute Olson. "Tommy Lloyd, I think, is without question one of the top coaches in the country. Now he's becoming a real fixture in the Tucson community ... and you can see he has a real, genuine love for our community. And so anytime you keep somebody as skilled as he is in terms of his craft and someone who loves our community and what he brings to it, it's a win on an enormous, enormous level."

Lloyd's name came up hours after UNC, one of college basketball's most storied programs, fired Coach Hubert Davis following his team's first-round March Madness exit on March 24.

Since then, the possibility that Lloyd would exit Tucson for Chapel Hill made daily headlines and hung like a cloud over the team's Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight victories, threatening to dampen Saturday's Final Four matchup against a powerhouse Michigan squad.

But Leff had no doubts that Lloyd would stay. 

"Maybe that's confidence in Tommy as a person, you know, but I was never really convinced that he was looking to go," said Neff, founder and CEO of JohnWallStreet, a sports intelligence firm in New Jersey that focuses on the business end of sports. "I'm very excited that he's here for the long haul, and very excited that this is in the rear view mirror as we're trying to win a national championship."

LaRose, who spent 35 years working in Arizona Athletics administration and has a post-retirement career as a photographer, said retaining Lloyd as UA's coach is "immeasurable," particularly in today's new college sports landscape with NIL deals and the revolving transfer portal with athletes seeking better financial deals.

"To have a coach that's loyal and stays means everything," she said as the Pride of Arizona band played "Bear Down" with the dance and cheerleading squads leading the anthemic cheer. "Our fans, I could tell, are over the moon, and that they announced it now really is special, instead of making everyone wait through the weekend."

Lloyd's announcement came after he and UA signed a new five-year contract that will pay Lloyd an average of $7.5 million a season and included assurances that resources would be dedicated to the program, according to reporting by the Star's Bruce Pascoe.