Tommy Lloyd spent 22 years as Mark Few’s right-hand man turning Gonzaga into a national powerhouse.
He needed just one season to return Arizona to prominence.
Lloyd was named The Associated Press men’s college basketball coach of the year on Friday after leading the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 in his first season. He received 28 votes from a 61-person media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 to edge Providence’s Ed Cooley, who got 21 votes. No other coach got more than three.
Lloyd joins Indiana State’s Bill Hodges in 1979 and Drake’s Keno Davis in 2008 in earning AP coach of the year in their first season as a head coach.
“I always tell people, it’s an easy answer: I love coaching and teaching,” Lloyd said. “Everything basketball-wise, I’ve done, basically I’ve been a part of doing before, so I had a real comfort level and a conviction in what I wanted to do.”
Lloyd was expected to take over for Few whenever he retires. He had no reason to look anywhere else. When…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at NCAAB College Basketball Bracket Tournament…
