NCAA Basketball: 10 college assistants poised to become head coaches
By Joey Loose
9. Tommy Lloyd – Gonzaga
In all respects, Lloyd should be higher than ninth on this list, but there’s a very significant reason why he’s not higher up. He’s been on Mark Few’s bench at Gonzaga since 2000 and is still just 44 years old, making him a favorite to take over the program when Few heads towards retirement. Regardless, Mike Hopkins (who took over at Washington two years ago) showed us that coaches aren’t willing to wait forever to take over; though is Lloyd ever going to leave Gonzaga?
He was born in Washington and has lived or worked in the state all but one year, when he briefly attended CSU-Pueblo nearly 25 years ago. Lloyd has been present on the Gonzaga bench for eighteen seasons and his contributions cannot be understated. He doesn’t just bring strategy to the table, but has become the key recruiter for international talent for the Bulldogs. Players like Kelly Olynyk, Rui Hachimura, Domantas Sabonis and Killian Tillie are just a few that Lloyd has brought to this program with his connections.
His entire coaching career has been under Few at Gonzaga and he’d likely build a new program in a similar image. He’d manage to find some gems on the international stage and I’m sure he can put together something special wherever he went. He’s Few’s right-hand man and leaving would be a surprise, but any West Coast job that opened up would do wonders with Lloyd in command. Obviously, he’s never run a program on his own and he can only copy Few’s tactics for running a ship, but he’s a smart, resourceful assistant who could dig up talent and really rebuild a program.