Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd's honest take on possible Gonzaga matchup in Battle 4 Atlantis
11/18/2024 04:18 PM
It’s mid-November, and that means we’re just days away from tipping off nearly all of the early season tournaments that college hoops fans spend the latter half of the month feasting on. One of the marquee tournaments this year will be played at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas. The Battle 4 Atlantis field features a trio of ranked teams, including the 3rd-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs and the 17th-ranked Arizona Wildcats.
These two west coast powerhouses are expected to face off in the championship round, and if they do, it will be an away from home homecoming for Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd.
Lloyd began his coaching career as an assistant at Gonzaga the same year Mark Few took over for previous head coach Dan Monson. It wasn’t long until Lloyd became Gonzaga’s top international scout, playing a key role in the recruitment of players such as Ronny Turiaf, Kelly Olynyk, Rui Hachimura, and Domantas Sabonis. As of 2020, he had even been named the Zags’ official successor to Mark Few.
However, following the 2021 season, Lloyd accepted the job as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats. In the three seasons that would follow, Lloyd would lead Arizona to an 88-20 record and three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Within those 108 games, Arizona and Gonzaga were supposed to have played each other, but the two head coaches cancelled the home-and-home series because they didn’t want to compete against each other. Now, they may have no choice.
“I hope it’s in the Championship Game, not in the double loser consolation game,” Lloyd said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast with Jon Rothstein. “I’m sure our paths are going to cross at some point, but we’re on our path and they’re on their path. I love those guys like family.”
It should come as no surprise that the love is mutual. After Lloyd accepted the job is Tucson, Few had tremendously kind words to say about his former assistant.
"In our 20 years working together, Tommy has proven that he is one of the game's elite coaches and highest-character people. This is an incredible opportunity for him to lead an incredibly storied program, and was a decision I know he carefully considered after receiving head coaching interest from many other schools over the years.”
In order to get to the Championship Round of the 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis, the Wildcats will need to get by Davidson in the opening round, and then they’ll need to score another win over either Oklahoma or Providence in the semifinal round. On the other side of the bracket, Gonzaga opens with West Virginia, and then would play the winner of Indiana and Louisville.
In one previous appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis back in 2017, the Arizona Wildcats entered the tournament as the #2 team in the country, but lost all three of their games to unranked opponents. The Zags have a 2nd place finish (2019) and a 3rd place finish (2015) to their name.
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