NCAA Basketball: Top 10 head coaching hires from 2021 offseason

4: Tommy Lloyd – Arizona Wildcats

Gonzaga associate head coach Tommy Lloyd was one win away from the national championship and an undefeated season.  The Gonzaga coach would have his own victory this offseason when he was chosen to be the next head coach of the Arizona Wildcats.

Gonzaga has prepared Lloyd for a couple of years to be Mark Few’s successor when the time comes, however, he landed the Arizona job after his help to build up the Bulldogs program over the last two decades.

Lloyd beat out several former Wildcat players, current Arizona coaches, and current coaches around college basketball for the job.

He has already brought in Gonzaga transfer Oumar Ballo. The 7-foot redshirt freshman averaged 2.5 points, 1.5 rebounds while shooting 63 percent from the field last season. Ballo nicknamed “baby Shaq” was the top international player in the class of 2019.

3: Mike Woodson – Indiana Hoosiers

Hoosier alumnus Mike Woodson will replace Archie Miller as the head coach of Indiana University men’s basketball program. He was serving as an assistant coach of the New York Knicks this season when he accepted the 6-year deal offered by the Hoosiers.

Woodson was a star under legendary head coach Bob Knight.  He posted 2,061 points over his collegiate career. He then went on to be selected 12th overall in the NBA Draft by the New York  Knicks.

This will be the first collegiate coaching job for Mike Woodson. He has coached at the NBA level since 1996. He has compiled a record of 315-365 as a head coach and he has led teams to the playoffs five out of nine times.

Woodson is familiar with the culture of the program which makes him a great hire for the job. However, the Hoosiers do have six names entered into the transfer portal which means Woodson will have to prioritize retaining these players for next season.