Lloyd’s new five-year contract was approved by the Arizona Board of Regents on April 16, but the side letter was not submitted in the public documents before the meeting, nor discussed during the public portions of the meeting.

However, UA spokesman Mitch Zak said side letters are “supplemental documents used in contract negotiations to memorialize specific understandings reached by the parties.” He said they are intended to be read together with the underlying agreement and don’t replace the governing employment contract.

“In this case, the side letter memorializes several negotiated items, including an NBA exception to the contractual buyout provision, commitments related to assistant coach compensation and staff incentives, and provisions related to governance and administration,” Zak said.

Section 1.1 of Lloyd’s new contract says Garimella will oversee “the budget for compensation for the university or university’s approved 3rd party entity(ies) to student-athletes related to their Name, Image and Likeness.” 

That NIL language indicates Garimella will oversee both the university-paid “revenue-sharing” money it will give to players, but also the outside-paid NIL money that UA can now raise funds for. Together, the money represents a roster budget, which was reportedly about $10 million for UA men’s basketball in 2025-26.

While Lloyd has declined to comment about the new reporting structure, issues over resources devoted to men’s basketball were believed to be central to negotiations for a new contract during the NCAA Tournament, when Lloyd held the leverage of a Final Four appearance and interest from North Carolina over its head coaching vacancy.

Because of the House settlement in June 2025, schools can pay their athletes a maximum of $20.5 million across all sports. UA will not release the amount it gave men’s basketball.