Arizona's Tommy Lloyd named Sporting News college basketball Coach of Year

Lloyd also received multiple national Coach of the Year honors in his first season of 2021-22, including from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the Associated Press and the United States Basketball Writers Association.

The NABC, AP and USBWA have yet to announce their choices, but the Sporting News award, which has been given out since 1964, indicates Lloyd will be strongly considered for them. Lloyd is contracted to receive a $40,000 bonus if he picks up the national coach of the year award from AP, NABC or Naismith.

Earlier this week, Lloyd was also named the Big 12’s Coach of the Year but made little of it.

“I'm a process guy,” Lloyd said. “I understand that result comes from a lot of different things. I'm just the guy that has a title as the head coach. They don't do Assistant Coach of the Year award.

“I'm not trying to be humble, but for me, it's cool, it's great. I'm honored to be in the Big 12 and compete against these coaches. These are guys I've grown up watch coaching, so it's cool from that deal. But what's more fun for me is competing against the best, rather than worrying about what honors come with it.”

Lloyd and the Wildcats have exceeded expectations so far this season. After losing several key players from last season, including standout guard Caleb Love and NBA first-round pick Carter Bryant, UA was ranked No. 13 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll and picked to finish fourth in the Big 12's official preseason poll.

Lloyd brought in a highly regarded recruiting class, then started three freshmen while moving two starters from last season's team to key reserve roles, forward/center Tobe Awaka and wing Anthony Dell’Orso. He wound up molding together a consistent eighth-player rotation led by point guard Jaden Bradley, who was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and a Sporting News third-team all-American earlier this week.

The Wildcats, 29-2, ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll and held that spot for eight straight weeks, and are now No. 2 behind only Duke. They also won the Big 12 regular-season title by two games over Houston, which was picked to win the league.