SAN JOSE, Calif. — On the morning of the most crucial match of his head coaching career, Tommy Lloyd awoke disoriented. Two days had passed since his Arizona Wildcats had overwhelmed John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks in the Sweet 16. Now, on the cusp of achieving the institution’s inaugural Final Four appearance in a quarter-century, he had momentarily lost recall of the contest even occurring.
Perhaps sluggish due to the demands of playoff journeys — Arizona had engaged in seven games since its last home game on March 2 — Lloyd required a mental adjustment.
“I thought: Are we in the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight?” Lloyd stated after the Wildcats bested the Purdue Boilermakers to progress to the Final Four.
Self-assurance can stem from diverse origins, and for Lloyd, this fleeting moment of absent-mindedness became an improbable fount. Here he stood, at the precipice of college basketball history, utterly undisturbed.
“I knew we were all right,” Lloyd affirmed, “because I knew we weren’t making too big of a deal out of this.”
It’s a reasonable assumption that much of the University of Arizona and Tucson community did not wake up Saturday morning likewise oblivious to the significance of what lay ahead that day. The Wildcats’ last Final Four appearance was in 2001 — what felt like an age to the hoops-obsessed supporters — and this was a juncture many had long anticipated. They had advanced to the Sweet 16 in three out of the preceding four seasons under Lloyd but hadn’t reached the Elite Eight since 2015. However, propelled by the program’s finest initial run (23-0) to nine consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the AP poll, and having claimed both the Big 12 regular-season and conference titles, it appeared all efforts were converging on a journey to Indianapolis.
From the instant Lloyd arrived in 2021, following a 20-season stretch as an assistant at Gonzaga, he has been flooded with narratives from the past. The four Final Fours the Wildcats reached under Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson could be perceived as personal encounters now for Lloyd, who twice reached the national championship game as Mark Few’s chief aide.
“The people of Tucson are basketball historians,” Lloyd remarked. “The number of stories I’ve heard consistently about things that happened 10, 20, 30 years ago, it’s impressive. I mean, they really hold on to the things this program accomplishes, and they hold on to our struggles as well.”
It’s not that Arizona has faced difficulties since Gilbert Arenas guided the Wildcats to the national semifinals in 2001, at least not in the traditional meaning. They have only failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament four times during that period, consistently contended for — and secured — league championships in the Pac-12 and Big 12, but their March showings invariably concluded identically. And with each passing year since their last ultimate stage appearance, the external strain intensified. While regular-season triumphs hold some weight, in this sport, it is tournament outcomes that truly resonate with the typical supporter.
Associate head coach Jack Murphy is this team’s connection to history. He initially joined Tucson as a student manager under Olson prior to rejoining as an aide under Sean Miller in 2019, affording Murphy a viewpoint encompassing various eras of Arizona basketball.
“I feel like every year I’ve been here he’s just telling us the history,” said senior guard Jaden Bradley, who transferred to Arizona from Alabama in 2023. “Knowing the players that came before us, even the managers and everybody that came before us, the coaches. … I feel like they’re going to tell us even if you don’t want to hear it.”
Now, irrespective of the outcome against fellow No. 1 seed Michigan, this Arizona team will be revered among the finest in the institution’s annals. Its Elite Eight victory against Purdue shattered the single-season victory record (36) and guaranteed Arizona would conclude with a maximum of three defeats for the first time since 1988, the year of their initial Final Four appearance.
Before the Sweet 16 had even commenced, former Arizona coach Miller — who was also at the West regional with Texas — extolled Lloyd’s virtues.
“My perspective of just watching Arizona, they couldn’t have hired a better coach,” said Miller, who made three trips to the Elite Eight over 12 years in Tucson. “I mean, what he has done is just — it’s like legendary. I know that the team that they have this year might be the best team at Arizona, one of the best ever.”
Despite the extensive heritage encircling the team, one of this team’s distinguishing characteristics has been its aptitude for remaining focused on the current moment. This was evident once more on Saturday.
There was no alarm when they went into halftime trailing by seven points to Purdue. Lloyd merely conveyed his instructions and then withdrew.
“This is when we’re at our best,” Lloyd declared. “I said, ‘Guys, the coaching staff and I are going to leave right now. You guys got a few minutes to talk amongst yourselves and kind of figure this deal out, and let’s go kick their ass in the second half.”
And so it transpired. Even an experienced squad such as Purdue found themselves unable to hinder Arizona post-intermission, as the Wildcats secured a decisive 79-64 victory, which not only clinched their spot but also solidified the belief in their potential to claim the ultimate title.
Lloyd’s remarkable history of attracting and nurturing global athletes is widely acknowledged. It’s instrumental in transforming humble Gonzaga into a national force and part of what has helped Arizona become the most successful program in college basketball over the past five years. A full fifty percent of the current season’s 16-man roster hails from overseas.
But despite the global nature this program has adopted, the preeminent player of the regional was an Arizona native: freshman forward Koa Peat. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the West Regional after posting averages of 17.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and two assists.
Peat is a veritable Arizona high school icon. At Perry High in Gilbert, he secured four consecutive state championships and was named state Player of the Year on three occasions.
“They call him Mr. Arizona,” Lloyd said. “Koa is special.”
When recruiting Peat, Lloyd was attracted by the clear athletic prowess that made him one of the most coveted prospects in the 2025 class, but his consistent victories throughout high school — combined with his four gold medals claimed in FIBA international competitions with USA Basketball — elevated him to an even higher priority.
Even though he spent his formative years a hundred miles beyond Tucson, though, Peat said he was not particularly captivated by collegiate basketball. He was broadly cognizant of the Wildcats’ reputation, of course, but it was only upon the commencement of his recruitment that he truly delved into the archives.
“When you put on the Arizona jersey, you know you’re playing for people that played before you,” Peat stated. “So it’s bigger than yourself; it’s the program.”
Lloyd reiterated a comparable viewpoint in a manner that could stir some apprehension among Wildcats supporters amidst widespread conjecture about his potential consideration for the vacant position at North Carolina.
“This team and my leadership may currently be basking in success, but when success illuminates you, one must strive fiercely to safeguard and enhance it,” Lloyd expressed. “So that’s what I feel like my foremost duty is, to contend for the program’s preservation and development for both my predecessors and successors, because you know what, Arizona will undoubtedly have another capable coach after my tenure. I assure you. This location holds unique significance.”