Tommy Lloyd opposes injury reports, which are now required for NCAA Tournament

That probably isn't welcome news to UA coach Tommy Lloyd, who has been vocal in his displeasure of the rising trend that is intended to lessen the push for inside information used in sports gambling. (Lloyd was not available for comment Thursday but is expected to hold his weekly news conference Friday).

Since taking over as Arizona's coach in April 2021, Lloyd has often declined to give detailed injury information. While some coaches decline to disclose injuries for gamesmanship reasons -- thinking they might be able to throw off an opponent's game plan -- Lloyd said he does so to protect players.

If an athlete plays through an injury that is disclosed, some coaches fear an opponent will target that area with physical contact, and some coaches also decline to specify injuries because they don't want NBA or other scouts to know about them, thus potentially hurting their pro draft stock.

"My deal is you just try to usually protect the kid," Lloyd said. "Not trying to be tricky."

The NCAA says player availability reports during the tournaments "can reduce the betting-related pressure, solicitations and harassment student-athletes receive connected to their playing status," and NCAA president Charlie Baker said he applauded the Division I men's and women's basketball committees for taking action after months of discussion.

 "Implementing player availability reporting is a major step to increasing student-athlete protections by alleviating pressures for the enhancement of their college experience," Baker said.

But Lloyd said he disliked seeing the Big 12's move to require injury reports overriding his instinct to protect players.

"It's crazy that we have to do this injury deal now," Lloyd said during Big 12 media day earlier this month. "And why are we doing it? We all know why we're doing it. It's crazy. I mean, I'm watching the NBA game yesterday, and coming out of halftime they have the prop bets, the second half bets.

"We know what's driving it, and then some kid is gonna make a mistake, and he's gonna impact the rest of his life when it's literally put in front of these kids, 24/7, and they're making coaches do injury reports."

The NCAA said teams must submit availability reports the night before NCAA tournament games and again two hours before game time to ensure accuracy and would make them publicly available.

The NCAA said players would be assumed to be available unless designated as "questionable" or "out" and that failure to comply or accurately report injuries may result in penalties that will be determined by the men's and women's basketball committees.

In Big 12 men's and women's basketball competition, teams will be required to file player availability reports the night before each game, with designations of "available," "game-time decision" or "out." The reports will be posted on Big12sports.com.