Tommy Lloyd is excited for the future of the program and to continue the winning tradition

Jordan Pollock

September 29, 2021

On Sept. 29, the University of Arizona’s men’s basketball team held a media day in McKale Center and the Richard Jefferson Gym. The event began at 1 p.m. with a press conference in the McKale Press Conference room and then moved over to the Richard Jefferson Gym where the media was able to interview players and snap some photos.

On Wednesday, at the Arizona men’s basketball media day, Tommy Lloyd spoke with the media for the first time since being named the new head men’s basketball coach back in April.

Here are some highlights from the event.

Lloyd is looking to be fast and continue the winning tradition: “How I like to play is very up-tempo … I give them a ton of freedom, but on the same token, you know, too much given is much expected,” Lloyd said.

He continued to talk about playing at a fast pace: “We spent a lot of time on that, and the next part is to not worry about running plays, being able to play within the flow of the game and that takes five guys kind of playing together moving together, and we spent a lot of time on that this summer … .”

Sustainability and diversity seemed to be a calling point for how Lloyd wants the Wildcats to play: “I just think it’s really important if you’re gonna build a team that can sustain the ups and downs of recruiting from season to season,” Lloyd said. “I know from experience, in the NCAA Tournament, not every game is gonna be 97-94. You have to be able to win a lot of games.”

“It’s something [that] constantly takes fine tuning and film work and individual work and practice and getting the reps on in those areas, but yeah I feel good [with] where the guys are at,” Lloyd said. “And then a lot of it comes down to being a good decision maker and question your fundamentals.”

Lloyd discussed his meeting with Sean Miller since taking the head coaching job: “My main top takeaway [for] me is it really reinforced all the reasons I came down here. It’s fuel to my fire, to make sure we continue to build [Miller] and Lute [Olson’s] legacies,” Lloyd said. “This place has amazing tradition.”